10/28/2023, Emory University Symphony Orchestra by Schwartz Center for Performing Arts

2023 | 2024

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Audience Information The Schwartz Center welcomes a volunteer usher corps of about 40 members each year. Visit schwartz.emory.edu/volunteer or call 404.727.6640 for ushering opportunities. The Schwartz Center is committed to providing performances and facilities accessible to all. Please direct accommodation requests to the Schwartz Center Box Office at 404.727.5050, or by email at boxoffice@emory.edu. The Schwartz Center wishes to gratefully acknowledge the generous ongoing support of Donna and Marvin Schwartz. Cover Design: Lisa Baron | Cover Photo: Mark Teague

MUSIC 2023 | 2024

Emory University Symphony Orchestra

Elena Cholakova, piano Michael Tiscione, trumpet Paul Bhasin, conductor Saturday, October 28, 2023, 8:00 p.m. Emerson Concert Hall Schwartz Center for Performing Arts

Program Roman Carnival Overture, op. 9

Hector Berlioz (1803–1869)

Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, op. 35 I. Allegro moderato II. Lento III. Moderato IV. Allegro con brio

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975)

Elena Cholakova, piano; Michael Tiscione, trumpet

Symphonic Dances, op. 45 I. Non allegro II. Andante con moto (Tempo di valse) III. Lento assai; Allegro vivace

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943)

Welcome The 90-member Emory University Symphony Orchestra (EUSO) celebrated its 100th Anniversary in 2023. The EUSO performs repertoire spanning a variety of compositional genres, from the Baroque through the present day. With concert programming featuring both classic and emerging literature, the EUSO has been celebrated among tours (to New York City); recordings (on Atlanta’s NPR Affiliate); and collaborations with soloists and organizations including Janelle Monae, Matt Haimovitz, HBO, the National Basketball Association, and Ben Folds. Membership is by competitive audition and comprises undergraduate and graduate students from diverse disciplines. While the majority of the EUSO roster includes music majors, many minors and non-majors participate each season as well. The EUSO is recorded on the Centaur Record label, with a 2023 release (iTunes, Spotify) of works for Atlanta and Dallas Symphony wind soloists and orchestra. In fall 2022, the EUSO collaborated with professional archivist and photographer Sierra King (2022 Emory Arts and Social Justice Fellow). Our “re-imagined” class will partner EUSO with King to explore how an archivist and an academic symphony orchestra can join forces to build community, arts access, and new audiences within the City of Atlanta. Our work will center on the music of George Walker and combine archival, participatory, interpretive, photographic, and performative elements with documented activities taking place on campus and off.

Program Notes Roman Carnival Overture, op. 9 (1844) Hector Berlioz’s opera, Benvenuto Cellini, based upon the life of the Italian Renaissance sculptor, goldsmith, architect, writer, and musician, premiered at the Paris Opéra on September 10, 1838. The performance was a fiasco. As Berlioz recalled, the opera’s Overture was “extravagantly applauded; the rest was hissed with exemplary precision and energy.” Berlioz, however, maintained faith in Benvenuto Cellini. In 1850, he wrote: “I have just re-read my score carefully and with the strictest impartiality, and I cannot help recognizing that it contains a variety of ideas, an energy and exuberance and a brilliance of color such as I may perhaps never find again, and which deserved a better fate.” Five years after the premiere of Benvenuto Cellini, Berlioz composed his Roman Carnival Overture, based upon music from the opera. During the composer’s lifetime, the Roman Carnival enjoyed a dual life as both a second Overture to the opera Benvenuto Cellini and as an independent concert piece. The vivacious and brilliantly-scored work remains one of Hector Berlioz’s most popular overtures.

Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, op. 35 (1933) In spring 1933, Dmitri Shostakovich began work on his first Piano Concerto. The composer later confided to a student that he first intended the piece to be a concerto for trumpet and orchestra. However, Shostakovich finally decided to fashion the work as a piano concerto that also features a prominent, and quite brilliant, trumpet part. Shostakovich, a highly accomplished pianist, was the soloist in the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 1, featured as part of the Leningrad Philharmonic’s opening concert of the season. Fritz Stiedry conducted the performance, which took place on October 15, 1933. On December 9 of that year, Shostakovich was again the soloist in the Moscow premiere of the Piano Concerto. Five days later, Shostakovich offered the following commentary on his new work: What is the basic artistic theme of this concerto? I do not consider it necessary to follow the example of many composers, who try to explain the context of their works by means of extreme definitions borrowed from related fields

of art. I cannot describe the content of my concerto by any means other than those I used to write the concerto . . . I am a Soviet composer. Our age, as I perceive it, is heroic, spirited and joyful. That is what I wanted to convey in my concerto. It is for the audience, and possibly the music critics, to judge whether or not I succeeded. There often appears to be a dissonance between Shostakovich’s public characterizations shared with the Soviet government and people on the nature and meaning of his music, and its impact upon the listener. One could argue with justification that the Shostakovich First Piano Concerto also contains music that is melancholy, heartbreakingly poignant, acerbic, and, at times, smacking of parody (most notably in Shostakovich’s references to other composer’s works). The Shostakovich Concerto in C Minor is scored for an ensemble comprising solo piano and trumpet, with string orchestra. The work is in four movements, played without pause. The first (Allegro moderato) is based upon two contrasting principal themes, both introduced by the soloist. The slow-tempo second movement (Lento), in 3/4 time, journeys to a ffff outburst, before resolving to a peaceful close. The brief third movement (Moderato) serves as a bridge to the finale (Allegro con brio), featuring numerous comic touches.

Symphonic Dances, op. 45 (1940) On June 30, 1938, Russian choreographer Michel Fokine presented the world premiere of Paganini, his ballet adaptation of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s work for solo piano and orchestra, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, op. 43 (1934). Rachmaninoff hoped to attend the London performance, but an injury sustained after a fall made that impossible. Rachmaninoff soon regained his health, and the composer/pianist resumed a demanding European and American concert tour. Finally, in spring 1940, Rachmaninoff was able to enjoy a period of rest. He traveled to Orchard Point, an estate near Huntington, Long Island. There, Rachmaninoff composed his final work, the Symphonic Dances. It appears that Rachmaninoff first conceived the Symphonic Dances as another potential ballet subject for Fokine. Rachmaninoff originally titled the work Fantastic Dances, with the three movements representing Midday, Twilight, and Midnight (Rachmaninoff later discarded these titles and designated the various movements simply by their tempo markings). Prior to orchestrating the work, Rachmaninoff played excerpts of the

work on the piano for Fokine. However, the choreographer’s death in 1942 prevented any contemplated ballet from becoming a reality. Rachmaninoff initially scored his Symphonic Dances for two pianos, before completing the orchestration in autumn 1940. He dedicated the work to conductor Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, who gave the premiere of Symphonic Dances on January 3, 1941. The initial critical reception was not enthusiastic. But through time, Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances became widely admired as the composer’s finest orchestral achievement. Rachmaninoff himself was rather surprised by his accomplishment, observing: “I don’t know how it happened, it must have been my last spark.” Rachmaninoff, who died two years after the premiere of his Symphonic Dances, never composed another work. While it is not clear that Rachmaninoff intended the Symphonic Dances to be his final composition, the piece does have a decidedly valedictory character. The Symphonic Dances feature quotations of earlier Rachmaninoff compositions, as well as the Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) chant—a recurring leitmotif in the Russian pianist/composer’s music. Further, the masterful orchestration, captivating melodies, and brilliant juxtaposition of dramatic and lyric elements are all trademarks of Rachmaninoff’s art. The Symphonic Dances are in three movements. The first (Non allegro) opens with various winds, over furtive string accompaniment, introducing the movement’s principal descending “short–short–long” rhythmic figure. An expansive lyrical interlude features a solo alto saxophone, the only time that Rachmaninoff included this instrument in his music (for this, the composer sought the advice of his friend, Broadway orchestrator Robert Russell Bennett). The second movement (Andante con moto) is an extended and brilliantly scored waltz. The finale (Lento assai; Allegro vivace) is a fantasia on the Dies Irae plainchant. As in the opening movement, the finale offers a lengthy contrasting central episode in slow tempo before the Dies Irae returns in the propulsive conclusion. —Notes on the program by Ken Meltzer

Paul Bhasin, conductor Paul Bhasin serves as director of orchestral studies at Emory University where he holds the Donna and Marvin Schwartz Professorship in Music. In this capacity, he conducts the Emory University Symphony Orchestra and the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra, oversees music research programs, and teaches conducting. Praised for his “crisp, clear” conducting and “highly expressive” interpretations, Bhasin’s career began when he won the Yamaha Young Performing Artist Competition in 1998. Bhasin serves as music director and conductor of the DeKalb Symphony Orchestra and has recently led the Virginia Symphony Orchestra (including live radio broadcasts of subscription concerts), “President’s Own” United States Marine Band, American Youth Philharmonic, Williamsburg Symphony, performances at Interlochen, the Kennedy Center, and throughout the People’s Republic of China. He has also led performances as a guest conductor with members of the Richmond Symphony, National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra, and with honor orchestras and bands (including at the All-State level). He has presented at national conferences including the Midwest Orchestra Clinic and the National Music Teachers Association Conference. An avid proponent of chamber music, Bhasin serves as music director of the Atlanta Chamber Music Festival; has performed as a chamber musician on WFMT in Chicago, Detroit PBSTV; and developed residencies with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Musicorps program and the Grammy-winning sextet Eighth Blackbird. Bhasin has performed and recorded as a trumpeter with the Virginia Symphony and Opera; Columbus (OH) Symphony; New World Symphony; the Civic Orchestra of Chicago; at the music festivals of Aspen, Tanglewood, and Ravinia; and as a soloist on National Public Radio, Detroit PBS-TV, the International Computer Music Conference, and at the International Dvořák Festival (Prague, CZ) with conductors Michael Tilson Thomas, James Conlon, Leonard Slatkin, and Gustav Meier. He participated in the Aspen Conducting Academy orchestral program under David Zinman, and his trumpet students have won first prize at major competitions including the National Trumpet Competition. 9

Bhasin has recorded as trumpeter and conductor for both the Centaur and Interscope record labels. Bhasin’s compositions, transcriptions, and arrangements are published by Carl Fischer Music and have been performed and commissioned in the United States and abroad by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Opera Theater, and the Grand Tetons Festival Orchestra. In 2015, he composed and conducted the orchestral score to 9:23 Films’ motion pictures Sister Carrie (recently premiered at the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago) and Hogtown (award-winner at the Berlin, Los Angeles, and Nashville International Black Film Festivals) which was named a “Critic’s Pick” and one of the “Top 10 Films of 2016” by the New York Times. He received his musical education from Northwestern University, the University of Michigan, and the University of WisconsinMadison.

Elena Cholakova, piano Bulgarian pianist Elena Cholakova regularly performs in important musical venues in Eastern and Western Europe, South America, and the United States. She has given solo recitals at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary; the United States Embassy in Budapest, Hungary; Bulgaria Hall and Sofia Conservatory in Sofia, Bulgaria; Aosta Concert Hall in Aosta, Italy; Musikschule Fellbach in Fellbach, Germany; Fazioli Salon in Chicago; and more. She has toured the southeast United States as a member of the American Chamber Music Society. Cholakova’s performances have been broadcasted live on NPR, Atlanta’s WABE, Chicago’s classical music radio station WFMT, and Bulgarian TV and radio stations. During the 2022–2023 season, Cholakova performed at Musikverein in Vienna; Bulgaria’s premier “Balabanov’s House Music Days” International Festival; in Bogota, Columbia, with violinist Anyango Yarbo-Davenport; and the southeast United States with violinist Miroslav Hristov. Recognizing the impact of the pandemic on women’s careers in the arts, Cholakova is commissioning a CD of all new music written by women composers. The project will unfold as a series of collaborations and culminate in a recording of the pieces commissioned. 10

Cholakova has performed Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring with the music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in a multi-media production hailed as “one of the most important collaborations of the year.” As a member of the Atlanta Chamber Players, Cholakova has appeared in the International Chamber Music Festival in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; has regularly performed in Atlanta’s premier Spivey Hall; and has premiered commissioned works by leading American composers. Cholakova has been featured in the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina; the International Days of Music Festival in Plovdiv, Bulgaria; the Sofia Musical Evenings Festival in Sofia; and more. During the summer, Cholakova serves on the faculty of the Interharmony Music Festival in Italy and the Prague Piano Festival in the Czech Republic. She is a recipient of Rislov Foundation Scholarship of the University of Michigan, awarded to musicians nationwide for their high achievements in the field of music. Specializing in Chopin’s Preludes, op. 28, she presented a lecture recital at the 3rd World Piano Conference in Novi Sad, Serbia, focusing on the different editions of the piece. A dedicated educator, Cholakova holds a special interest in teaching. Her students have won top prizes at numerous national and international competitions. Cholakova began her studies at the National Academy of Music “Pancho Vladigerov” under the tutelage of Atanas Kurtev. She has an MMus and DMus in piano performance from Northwestern University where she studied with James Giles. Cholakova serves as director of piano studies at Emory and director of the Emory Young Artist Piano Competition.

Michael Tiscione, trumpet Michael Tiscione, originally of Monroe, New York, joined the trumpet section of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) during the 2002– 2003 season. He left the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to join the San Francisco Symphony as second trumpet for the 2010–2011 season and has since returned to the ASO, where he is currently acting principal trumpet and associate principal trumpet.

Tiscione has traveled across the United States to perform with many notable ensembles, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Utah Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and IRIS Chamber Orchestra. During the summer months, he serves as second trumpet with both the Sun Valley Summer Symphony and the Bellingham Music Festival Orchestra. In 2015, he began performing as principal trumpet with Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, California, and in the section at the Strings Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Recent solo engagements have included appearances with the United States Military Academy at West Point, the Georgia Philharmonic, and the Georgia Brass Band at the 2012 International Trumpet Guild Conference. An avid chamber musician, Tiscione has been a member of the Atlanta Symphony Brass Quintet since 2005. He performs and records with the Burning River Brass, has recently toured China with the Chicago Symphony Brass Quintet, and performs regularly with the Atlanta Chamber Players, as well as at the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival. He is an artist affiliate in trumpet at Emory University following temporary appointments at the University of Georgia and Georgia State University. Tiscione is married to the principal oboist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Elizabeth Koch Tiscione. Tiscione has degrees from Indiana University (BM) and Northwestern University (MM). His teachers have included John Rommel, Charles Geyer, Barbara Butler, and John Charles Thomas.

Emory University Symphony Orchestra The Joel M. Felner, MD, and Edward Goodwin Scruggs Chairs The two named chairs, concertmaster and principal second violin, are in recognition of instruments given to the Emory University Symphony Orchestra in the value of $350,000. Joel M. Felner is associate dean at the Emory University School of Medicine; Edward Goodwin Scruggs was for 37 years a tenured member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The lives of both men represent distinguished careers and great philanthropy as patrons of music and friends of Emory University. The concertmaster plays a 1687 Grancino and the principal second an 1870 Scarampella. Violin I Carol Xu : H | Dallas, TX | Human Health/Economics and Music Performance Joel M. Felner MD Concertmaster Chair Performing on the Giovanni Grancino violin, Milan, 1687 Doowon Kim, assistant concertmaster • s | Suwanee, GA | Business and Music Seyon Kim : | Santa Clara, CA | NBB Ruth Jao | Clarksburg, MD | NBB Louisa Ma | Phoenix, AZ | Business and Economics Kaitlyn Kaminuma s | Chulmsford, MA | Music and Human Health Seongchang Min s | Chandler, AZ | Mathematics and Computer Science Robin Meyer s | Grand Rapids, MI | Music and Environmental Sciences Harutoshi Okumura | Nara, Japan | Physics and GT Dual Degree Brandon Lee | Duluth, GA | Chemistry Alex Zhu s | Wilmington, MA | Undecided Christopher Li | Holmdel, NJ | Biology Katie Shin • s | Auburn, GA | Engineering Sciences and Music Alexander Koeppel | New York, NY | NBB Noah Kann | Bethesda, MD | Business and Music Christy Song | Ringgold, GA | 23C, Biology and Music

Bass Clarinet Rodrigo Salinas | Lakeland, FL | Chemistry

Tuba Graham Wells | Atlanta, GA | 07C, Chemistry

Piano and Keyboard Vivian Zhao | Phoenix, AZ | NBB and Music Performance

NBB: Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology • Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra Alumnus s Woodruff/Music Woodruff Scholar/Music LAS Award Recipient H Dean’s Achievement Scholar : Edward Goodwin Scruggs Scholarship holder u Emory Friends of Music Scholarship holder

Emory String, Wind, and Percussion Faculty Violin

Trombone

Tuba

Justin Bruns • Jay Christy • Emily Daggett Smith H Jessica Wu H

Ed Nicholson s Nathan Zgonc •

Michael Moore •

Percussion

Gary Paulo

Viola Yinzi Kong H Paul Murphy •

Clarinet

Scott Pollard Mark Yancich •

Euphonium Adam Frey

Flute

Bassoon

Christina Smith • Jim Zellers s

Trumpet Mark Maliniak • Michael Tiscione •

Horn Jason Eklund s

Harp Elisabeth Remy •

Justin Stanley

Anthony Georgeson • Shelly Unger

Saxophone

Oboe Emily Brebach • Sasha Shatalova Prior

Cello Karen Freer • Roee Harran Guang Wang H

Bass Michael Kurth •

• Atlanta Symphony Orchestra s Atlanta Opera Orchestra H Vega Quartet

Department of Music Administration Paul Bhasin, Interim Chair Kristin Wendland, Director of Undergraduate Studies Laura Emmery, Director of Undergraduate Research Martha Shockey, Senior Secretary Kathy Summers, Academic Department Administrator Julia Hudgins, Academic Services Program Coordinator Simone McGaw Evans, Program Coordinator

Music at Emory The Department of Music at Emory University provides an exciting and innovative environment for developing knowledge and skills as a performer, composer, and scholar. Led by a faculty of more than 60 nationally and internationally recognized artists and researchers, our undergraduate and graduate students experience a rich diversity of performance and academic opportunities. Undergraduate students in our department earn a BA in music with a specialization in performance, composition, or research, many of whom simultaneously earn a second degree in another department. True to the spirit of Emory, a liberal arts college in the heart of a research university, our faculty and ensembles also welcome the participation of non-major students from across the Emory campus. Become a part of Music at Emory by giving to the Friends of Music. Your gift provides crucial support to all of our activities. To learn more, visit our website at music.emory.edu or call 404.727.6280.

Upcoming Emory Music Concerts Many concerts at Emory are free to attend. Visit music.emory.edu or schwartz.emory.edu to view complete event information. If a ticket is required for attendance, prices are indicated in the listings below in the following order: Full price/Emory student price (unless otherwise noted as the price for all students). Sunday, November 5, 4:00 p.m., Bethany Mamola, soprano, Faculty Recital, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free Wednesday, November 8, 8:00 p.m., Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free Sunday, November 12, 4:00 p.m., Emory Chamber Ensembles, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free Sunday, November 12, 7:00 p.m., Collaborative Piano, Performing Arts Studio, free Thursday, November 16, 8:00 p.m., Midori and Festival Strings Lucerne, Candler Concert Series, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, $70/$10, tickets required Friday, November 17, noon, Adam Frey, euphonium, ECMSA: Cooke Noontime Series, Carlos Museum, free, registration required Saturday, November 18, 4:00 p.m., Emory Gamelan Ensemble, Performing Arts Studio, free Saturday, November 18, 8:00 p.m., Emory University Symphony Orchestra and Emory Wind Ensemble, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free Tuesday, November 28, 8:00 p.m., Emory Big Band and Jazz Combos, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free Wednesday, November 29, 8:00 p.m., Fall Composition Showcase, Performing Arts Studio, free Friday, December 1, noon, Ying Huang, piano, ECMSA: Cooke Noontime Series, Carlos Museum, free, registration required

Music at Emory Music at Emory brings together students, faculty, and world-class artists to create an exciting and innovative season of performances, lectures, workshops, and master classes. With more than 150 events each year across multiple Emory venues, audiences experience a wide variety of musical offerings. We hope you enjoy sampling an assortment of work from our student ensembles, community youth ensembles, artists in residence, professional faculty, up-and-coming prodigies, and virtuosos from around the world.

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