Program Notes: Noel Noel

PROGRAM JOHN WILLIAMS / Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse "Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas" from Three Holiday Songs from Home Alone TRADITIONAL / Arr. Alice Parker "Adeste, fideles" from Gaudete TRADITIONAL "March of the Kings" GEORGES BIZET / Ed. by Fritz Hoffmann "Farandole" from L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2 TRADITIONAL / Arr. Mack Wilberg "The First Nowell" PIETRO ALESSANDRO YON / Arr. William Ryden "Gesù Bambino" PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from Nutcracker Suite No. 1, Op. 71a EDWARD ELGAR "Nimrod" from Enigma Variations, Op. 36

Saturday, December 16 | 8PM Friday, December 22 | 8PM Saturday, December 23 | 2PM, 8PM

NOEL NOEL A City Lights Concert

conductor Sameer Patel bass-baritone and narrator Kevin Deas narrator Audrey Fundingsland San Diego Master Chorale SDMC Music Director John Russell San Diego Children's Choir SDCC Music Director Ruth Millgard

LUCAS RICHMAN Hanukkah Festival Overture ADOLPH-CHARLES ADAM / Arr. Gary Fry "O Holy Night"

INTERMISSION JERRY HERMAN / Arr. Robert Wendel "We Need a Little Christmas" LEROY ANDERSON Sleigh Ride FRANZ XAVER GRUBER / Arr. Dan Walker "Silent Night" ALAN SILVESTRI Suite from Polar Express ALBERT HAGUE / Arr. Matthew Naughtin The Grinch Medley JAMES STEPHENSON A Holly and Jolly Sing-Along DIMITRI TIOMKIN / Orch. Paul Marquart and Christopher Palmer; Revised by Patrick Russ and Paul Henning "Christmas Eve Finale" from It's a Wonderful Life Suite

All performances at the Jacobs Music Center's Copley Symphony Hall Program is subject to change.

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PROGRAM NOTES | NOEL NOEL – DECEMBER 16, 22 & 23

ABOUT THE ARTISTS Internationally recognized for his versatile musicianship and passionate communication, SAMEER PATEL is one of America's most exciting young conductors. A recipient of 2016 and 2017 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Awards, Mr. Patel is the Associate Conductor of the San Diego Symphony. Mr. Patel is also the Associate Conductor of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony whose distinguished musicians come from many of America's finest orchestras.

In the 2017-18 season, Mr. Patel makes his highly anticipated subscription debut conducting two programs with the San Diego Symphony. He also leads operatic masterworks with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, and he conducts modern masterpieces of the 20th and 21st centuries with the La Jolla Symphony. Mr. Patel’s work as a conductor has taken him across North America, South America and Europe. Further recent and upcoming guest conducting engagements include appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, Pacific Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Fresno Philharmonic, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Reading Symphony Orchestra, Leipziger Sinfonieorchester, Orchestra Giovanile Italiana, the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Sinfonietta.

In the summer of 2016 Mr. Patel was selected out of a field of more than 120 conductors to study at the renowned Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, with Daniele Gatti, Chief Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Immediately following his participation in the masterclass, Mr. Patel was selected by Maestro Gatti for further concerts in Europe, and he immediately returned to Italy to lead two acclaimed programs with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo. He was also a 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. 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 conductors to industry professionals and which led to subsequent, multiple engagements with that orchestra.

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Prior to joining the San Diego Symphony in the summer of 2015, Sameer Patel served as Associate Conductor of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. He has also held prestigious conducting fellowships with the Boston Philharmonic and the Chicago Sinfonietta, and credits his time with these organizations for developing his passionate approach to engaging with musicians and audiences. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Mr. Patel furthered his training with some of the greatest conductors of our time, including Gianandrea Noseda, Daniele Gatti, the late Kurt Masur, Bernard Haitink, David Zinman and Neeme and Paavo Järvi. n

KEVIN DEAS has gained international renown as one of America’s leading bass-baritones. He is perhaps most acclaimed for his signature portrayal of the title role in Porgy and Bess, having performed it with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony and the symphonies of Atlanta, Baltimore, Calgary, Columbus, Detroit, Florida, Hartford, Houston, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Montreal, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Utah, and Vancouver, and at the Ravinia, Vail and Saratoga festivals.

Engagements during the 2016-17 season included Handel’s Messiah with the Houston Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic and National Cathedral; Vaughn Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with the Richmond Symphony, Verdi’s Requiem with the Virginia Symphony, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with the Jacksonville Symphony, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with Baltimore Choral Arts, Mozart’s Requiem with VoxAmaDeus and Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with JoAnn Falletta at SUNY Potsdam.

Kevin Deas has recorded Wagner’s Die Meistersinger for Decca/ London with the Chicago Symphony under the late Sir Georg Solti and Varèse's Ecuatorial with the ASKO Ensemble under the baton of Riccardo Chailly. Other releases include Bach's Mass in B minor and Handel's Acis and Galatea on Vox Classics; Dave Brubeck's To Hope! with the Cathedral Choral Society on the Telarc label; and Haydn's Die Schöpfung with the Virginia Symphony and Boston Baroque for Linn Records. June 2014 marked the release of Dvořák in America (Naxos), featuring Mr. Deas performing the world premiere recording of Dvořák’s Hiawatha Melodrama and Dvořák’s arrangement of “Goin’ Home” with the PostClassical Ensemble. n

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PROGRAM NOTES | NOEL NOEL – DECEMBER 16, 22 & 23

Declared "The Voice of San Diego" by mayoral proclamation, SAN DIEGO MASTER CHORALE (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 and other collaborating organizations, and it produces an annual series of concerts featuring the world’s greatest choral works.

The Chorus was presented the with the prestigious ASCAP/Alice Parker Award for Innovative Choral Programming 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.

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. They regularly collaborate with the San Diego Youth Symphony, Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and other San Diego arts organizations. n See page 29 for performance roster.

DR. JOHN 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 serves on the summer conducting faculty at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey where he teaches master classes in conducting for the annual Westminster Summer Choral Festival.

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, St. John Passion (Evangelist) with Pepperdine University, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana with the Lisbon Summer Choral Festival Chorus and Orchestra in Lisbon, Portugal, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Bach Collegium San Diego.

Dr. Russell was previously the Director of Choral Activities at California State University, San Bernardino, and has held similar positions at Albion College (Michigan), Los Angeles City College,

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Cypress College and the San Diego Children’s Choir. Prior to his work in California, Dr. Russell was the principal choral conductor at the LaGuardia School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (the Fame School) in New York City. At LaGuardia he was the assistant chairperson of the Music Department, conductor of the symphonic chorus and voice instructor for the school’s advanced vocalists. While in New York he conducted in over 20 performances with the world-renowned Orchestra of St. Luke’s, served as a clinician for the New York Philharmonic’s Education Department and was a guest conductor with New York City National Chorale.

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 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

Founded in 1990, the SAN DIEGO CHILDREN'S CHOIR is the area's oldest and largest choral training program serving children ages four–18 at locations throughout San Diego County.

The San Diego Children’s Choir provides children with 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.

Our instructors are passionate about providing the highest quality of music education. Music literacy is taught at every level and includes healthy vocal technique, pitch matching, sight reading music, identifying structural elements and working well as a group. For our choristers, that translates to confidence, poise and cooperation.

The San Diego Children's Choir teaches music education through creative rehearsal techniques that engage the whole child in healthy vocal production and music literacy as well as encouraging self-confidence and a sense of community and belonging. San Diego Children's Choir choristers also gain leadership skills during their time in the choir that are nurtured through opportunities in rehearsal and, at the older levels, through formal leadership roles. Because of their training, San Diego Children's Choir choristers have the tools to pursue a wide variety of musical outlets, and the confidence to pursue their goals! n

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