Program Notes: Noel Noel

DECEMBER 16, 17 & 18

NOEL NOEL

FEATURING BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL

HOLIDAY CONCERT

FRIDAY December 16, 2016 – 8:00pm SATURDAY December 17, 2016 – 2:00pm SATURDAY December 17, 2016 – 8:00pm SUNDAY December 18, 2016 – 7:30pm conductor Sameer Patel Brian Stokes Mitchell San Diego Master Chorale (See page 14 for roster and page 32 for bio) San Diego Children’s Choir

Performance at the Jacobs Music Center’s Copley Symphony Hall.

PROGRAM BRENT PIERCE MYKOLA LEONTOVICH / Arr. Richard Hayman Various ALAN SILVESTRI FRANZ XAVER GRUBER / Arr. Dan Walker Various

"Sing Noël" "Carol of the Bells" Brian Stokes Mitchell Suite from Polar Express "Silent Night" Brian Stokes Mitchell

INTERMISSION JOHN WILLIAMS / Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse EDWARD ELGAR Various DIMITRI TIOMKIN / Orch. Paul Marquart and Christopher Palmer; Revised by Patrick Russ and Paul Henning

"Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas" from Home Alone "Nimrod" from Enigma Variations, Op. 36 (Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus) Brian Stokes Mitchell "Christmas Eve Finale" from It's a Wonderful Life

All selections by Brian Stokes Mitchell to be announced from the stage.

Program subject to change

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

NOEL NOEL - DECEMBER 16, 17 & 18

Hall, beginning with his debut with the San Francisco Symphony through his televised performance in South Pacific opposite Reba McEntire to his sold-out solo concert, a version of which he continues to perform throughout the United States. Venues he has appeared at include Disney Hall, Tanglewood, Ravinia, The Hollywood Bowl, Radio City Music Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall Lincoln Center and The Kennedy Center. He has been invited twice to perform at the White House and has performed for Presidents Clinton and Obama.

BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL

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ubbed “the last leading man” by The New York Times, Tony Award-winner B R IA N STO K ES M ITCHELL has enjoyed a career that spans Broadway, television, film and concert appearances with the country’s finest conductors and orchestras. He received Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for his star turn in Kiss Me, Kate. He also gave Tony-nominated performances in Man of La Mancha, August Wilson’s King Hedley II and Ragtime. Other notable Broadway shows include Kiss of the Spider Woman, Jelly’s Last Jam, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and this past Broadway season, Shuffle Along. Off Broadway includes Do Re Mi, Carnival, Kismet and The Bandwagon at City Center Encores and Much Ado about Nothing at the Delacorte Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park.

Stokes (as he prefers to be called) was born in Seattle, Washington on Halloween. His father, George Mitchell, was a civilian electronics engineer working for the Navy and later the chief Radio officer with both Scripps Institute of Oceanography and Exxon. His father was also one of the original “Tuskegee Airmen,” having taught radio code at Moton Field.

His mother, Lillian Mitchell, was an educator.

Stokes spent his childhood in Seattle, San Diego, Guam and the Philippines. He moved back to the United States at the age of 14 and began studying acting, singing and dancing at San Diego Jr. Theatre. Within two years he was performing on various San Diego stages, including The Old Globe Theatre and San Diego’s Starlight Opera Company. A transfer to Los Angeles with the 12th Night Repertory Company gave him the opportunity to start a long career in television and film.

An extremely versatile and in-demand singer, Stokes has performed at venues all over the country, spanning jazz, opera, pops, country and musical theater worlds. He has performed with John Williams, Gustavo Dudamel, Marvin Hamlisch, Keith Lockhart, Michael Tilson Thomas, Leonard Slatkin, Bobby McFerrin, Dianne Reeves, The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Big Band, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and The Muppets. Stokes has made multiple appearances at Carnegie

Stokes has delved deeply into various music disciplines. In addition to singing, he began piano studies at the age of 6. His musical curiosity led him to an interest in orchestration, arranging and film scoring which he first started studying on his own in his late teens. He later studied film scoring, orchestration and conducting through UCLA, and he scored and conducted a number of Trapper John, MD episodes, a series on which he was also a regular cast member. His musical talent has extended to the present day as producer, arranger and orchestrator on his own albums including his last release, Simply Broadway. He is currently in the studio completing his latest album, Plays with Music, which will be released in the Spring of 2017.

His extensive screen credits began with a guest starring role on Roots: The Next Generations which led to a seven-year stint on Trapper John, MD. His 40-year-long TV/film run continued with memorable appearances on everything from PBS’ Great Performances to Frasier, The Prince of Egypt (singing “Through Heaven’s Eyes”), Glee, Jumping the Broom and Madam Secretary. For the past two seasons he has recurring roles on both HULU’s The Path and Mr. Robot on USA. As a voiceover artist he has portrayed dozens of characters on animated TV episodes. NPR aired his narration of Aaron Copland’s A Lincoln Portrait with the U.S. Marine Band. His second performance at the White House, A Celebration of American Creativity, was aired this year on PBS. Stokes has received a number of awards for both his charitable and artistic work, including the New Dramatist’s Distinguished Achievement Award, the Actors Fund Julie Harris Award, Canada’s Dora Mavor Moore Award (The Canadian “Tony”) and the Americans for the Arts Outstanding Contribution to the Arts Award. In 1998 he joined the likes of Helen Hayes, Sir John Gielgud, Alec Guinness and James Earl Jones when he became the sole recipient of the Distinguished Performance Award from the Drama League, the nation’s oldest theatrical honor, for his performance in Ragtime. In November of 2016 he was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.

Stokes is a great proponent of arts education and speaks passionately about the importance of art in all of our lives. This year he attended

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the Americans for the Arts National Arts Policy Roundtable at Sundance and was the entertainment host at the first night of Lincoln Center’s Global Exchange. He has enjoyed working with numerous other charitable organizations, from the March of Dimes to the USO. Stokes has been the Chairman of the Board of the Actors Fund for the last 13 years and this year received the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for his work with that organization.

For fun Brian Stokes Mitchell has been known to fly planes and jump out of them (usually not at the same time), and he can ride a bicycle on a high wire. He resides in New York City with his wife, son and rescued mutt, Diggidy. For more information, go to Brianstokes.com. n

SAMEER PATEL, ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR

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ncreasingly recognized by audiences and musicians for his musicality and passionate communication, SAMEER PAT E L is one of America's most engaging young conductors. He is one of 11 young American conductors to receive the 2016 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award.

He recently spent three seasons as Associate Conductor of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, where he conducted the orchestra in over 100 performances and invigorated the orchestra's engagement with the community. He joined the San Diego Symphony as Assistant Conductor in 2015, and was promoted to Associate Conductor in July of 2016.

In 2013 Mr. Patel was one of only six conductors selected by the League of American Orchestras for the Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, an event that showcases emerging and talented conductors to orchestra industry professionals. He was a 2011 Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Scholar, an honor given to him by former New York Philharmonic Music Director Kurt Masur.

As part of this award, Mr. Patel traveled to Europe to study with and assist Maestro Masur with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

NOEL NOEL - DECEMBER 16, 17 &18 Recent and upcoming engagements include appearances with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Reading Symphony Orchestra, Muncie Symphony Orchestra, Leipziger Sinfonieorchester, the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Sinfonietta.

The mission of the San Diego Master Chorale is “to promote and preserve the art of choral music through performance, education and diverse community outreach.” Their singers, who are all unpaid volunteers, also participate in the Chorale's community outreach programs, including on-site music workshops for groups ranging from elementary schools to senior centers. They regularly collaborate with the San Diego Youth Symphony, Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and other San Diego arts organizations. n

Mr. Patel began his musical training as a pianist and received both his graduate and undergraduate degrees at the University of Michigan, where he studied conducting with Kenneth Kiesler. He furthered his training internationally with acclaimed conductors Kurt Masur, Bernard Haitink, David Zinman, Gianandrea Noseda, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Larry Rachleff, JoAnn Falletta, Günther Herbig, Mei-Ann Chen and Marin Alsop. He has held prestigious conducting fellowships with the Boston Philharmonic and the Chicago Sinfonietta, and he credits his time with these organizations for developing his passionate approach to engaging with audiences of all backgrounds and to reimagining the concert experience. Also an enthusiastic advocate for music education, Sameer Patel has worked with school and youth orchestras in North America, South America, and Europe. n

THE SAN DIEGO MASTER CHORALE John Russell, music director

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eclared "The Voice of San Diego" by mayoral proclamation, THE SA N DI E G O M A ST ER CHO R A LE (SDMC) is the region’s premier choral ensemble, showcasing approximately 100 of San Diego's finest singers. Established in 1961, the SDMC is the preferred ensemble for the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Opera and other collaborating organizations, and it produces an annual series of concerts featuring the world’s greatest choral works.

Legendary choral composer Alice Parker personally presented the San Diego Master Chorale with the prestigious ASCAP/ Alice Parker Award for Innovative Choral Programming at the 2009 Chorus America Convention, in recognition of its debut performance of Daniel Kellogg's The Fiery Furnace with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. In 2012 The San Diego Master Chorale was also chosen to perform under the direction of the celebrated Chinese composer Tan Dun in the San Diego premiere of his Water Passion According to St. Matthew, which was lauded by reviewers as “riveting” and the La Jolla Music Society SummerFest’s “finest hour” since the annual event was launched 25 seasons ago.

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Choral Music from the University of Southern California. His primary conducting mentors are Craig Arnold, Joe Miller and Jo-Michael Scheibe and he has studied voice with William Appel, Curt Peterson, Jeanne Goffi-Fynn and Gary Glaze. He currently resides in San Diego with his wife, Jill and son, Parker. n

THE SAN DIEGO CHILDREN’S CHOIR

DR. JOHN RUSSELL, MUSIC DIRECTOR

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O HN RUSSELL is the Director of Choral and Vocal Studies at Palomar College and the Music Director of the San Diego Master Chorale and. At Palomar he conducts the Chamber Singers and the Palomar Chorale oversees the vocal music program. As Music Director of the SDMC, Dr. Russell conducts and coordinates all artistic activities of the chorale, which include preparing the chorus for performances with San Diego Symphony and other San Diego orchestras including the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra and La Jolla Symphony.

In addition, he is the Music Director for the San Diego Pro Arte Voices, and during the summer he serves on the conducting faculty at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey and the San Diego Summer Choral Festival and Conducting Workshop.

Dr. Russell is also frequently in demand as a tenor soloist and was recently noted for his “heart-melting legato”. His recent solo performances include Hector Berlioz’s Te Deum with the San Diego Symphony, Igor Stravinsky’s Persephone with the La Jolla Symphony Orchestra, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana with the Lisbon Summer Choral Festival Chorus and Orchestra in Lisbon, Portugal, and J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory Bach Festival. He made his Walt Disney Concert Hall debut as the tenor soloist for Handel's Messiah with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, under the direction of Grant Gershon.

Dr. John Russell is a native of Kalamazoo, Michigan and is a graduate of Western Michigan University and Columbia University.

He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts in

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he SAN DI EGO C HI L DR E N'S C HOI R (SDCC) was founded in 1990

by Polly Campbell, a devoted music professional and educator, who directed the choir until her passing in the year 2000. SDCC was established to provide access to choral music education that had been diminished or removed from the public school curricula.

What began as a single branch with two choir levels and 42 enrolled children, has grown to eight branches with four age-based ensembles, an early years program, an after-school neighborhood choir program, and more than 300 participants. SDCC is the area's oldest and largest choral music program for children.

SDCC's mission is to provide children with choral music education and performance opportunities that foster performance excellence and collaboration at the highest artistic level, nurturing individual development and creating a foundation for lifelong success.

The Choir enriches the cultural fabric of San Diego County through the transformative power of music.

Since 1993, SDCC has toured both nationally and internationally. The choir's first tour was to Northern California to participate in the Golden Gate International Children's Choral Festival. Subsequent tours include Great Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Hawaii, Australia, Alaska, Oregon and Louisiana. They have seen the hills alive with music in Mirabell Gardens, Salzburg (where The Sound of Music was filmed), serenaded Michelangelo's David in Florence and let their voices echo in La Cathédrale de Chartres.

Entering their 27th season, the SDCC recognizes the importance of progress in the Arts where schools leave off. The Choir is open to girls and boys ages 4-18 from all racial, ethnic, religious and economic backgrounds. n

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