2021–2022
MUSIC@ EMORY
This concert is presented by the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. 404.727.5050 | schwartz.emory.edu | boxoffice@emory.edu
Audience Information Please turn off all electronic devices. Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result is required for all patrons attending this event. Full details are available at schwartz.emory.edu/FAQ Face masks covering the nose and mouth are required at all times in the Schwartz Center. The concert hall capacity has been reduced in order to allow distance between seated parties. Please be mindful of distancing.
Photographs and Recordings
Digital capture or recording of this concert is not permitted.
Ushers
The Schwartz Center welcomes a volunteer usher corps of approximately 60 members each year. Visit schwartz.emory.edu/volunteer or call 404.727.6640 for ushering opportunities.
Accessibility
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.
Design and Photography Credits
Cover and Program Design: Lisa Baron | Cover Photo: Mark Teague
Acknowledgment
The Schwartz Center gratefully acknowledges the generous ongoing support of Donna and Marvin Schwartz.
2021–2022
MUSIC@ EMORY
Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra Paul Bhasin, conductor Käthe Wright Kaufman, organ
Wednesday, November 17, 2021, 8:00 p.m.
Emerson Concert Hall Schwartz Center for Performing Arts
Program Fanfare pour précéder La Péri Paul Dukas (1865–1935)
Roman Carnival Overture, op. 9 Hector Berlioz (1803–1869)
Vltava (The Moldau) from Má vlast (My Fatherland) Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884)
Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, op. 78, “Organ Symphony” Camille Saint-Saëns II. Allegro moderato; Presto. Maestoso; Allegro (1835–1921) Käthe Wright Kaufman, organ
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Program Notes Fanfare pour précéder La Péri (1912) French composer Paul Dukas’s ballet (or “Poème dansé”), La Péri, is based upon a Persian legend that tells the story of a Prince’s fatal infatuation with a beautiful fairy. La Péri received its premiere in Paris on April 22, 1912. The program also featured compositions by Vincent d’Indy, Maurice Ravel, and Florent Schmitt. In each case, the composer conducted his own work. The exotic harmonies, lush melodies, and transparent orchestration have earned Dukas’s La Péri a place of importance in the concert hall. The work opens with a noble Fanfare.
Roman Carnival Overture, op. 9 (1843) 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 colour 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.
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The Roman Carnival Overture begins with a brief statement of a lively Italian dance, the saltarello (Allegro assai con fuoco). In an extended lyrical passage (Andante sostenuto), the English horn introduces a beautiful melody, derived from the opera’s first-act trio “O Teresa, vous que j’aime plus que ma vie” (“Oh, Teresa, you whom I love more than my life”). Ascending and descending woodwind flourishes signal a return of the saltarello (Allegro vivace), which soon explodes with uninhibited vigor. The bassoons reprise the English horn melody, now accompanied by the dance rhythm. The saltarello returns to dominate the frenetic conclusion.
Vltava (The Moldau) from Má vlast (My Fatherland) (1872–1879) In autumn 1874, Bedřich Smetana found himself totally deaf. He resigned his public appointments and it appeared the career of the first great Czech nationalist composer was at an end. But Smetana’s passion to express unbounded love for his homeland was too powerful. Though devastating, this period yielded the triumphant creation of Smetana’s orchestral masterpiece, Má vlast (My Fatherland). He composed the collection of six orchestral tone poems during the period from 1872 to 1879. Smetana dedicated Má vlast to the city of Prague and its first integral performance of occurred in November 1882 with Adolf Čech conducting. In his biography of Smetana, Václav Zelený described the event: “Everyone rose to his feet and the same unending storm of applause was repeated after each of the six parts . . . At the end of (the concert) the audience was beside itself and the people could not bring themselves to take leave of the composer.” The following is Smetana’s description of The Moldau: Two springs gush forth in the shade of the Bohemian forest, the one warm and swift flowing, the other cool and tranquil. Their waters join and rush joyously down the rocky bed, glistening in the light of the morning sun. The hurrying forest brook becomes the River Moldau (Vltava), which flows across the land of Bohemia, widening as it goes. Passing through dark forests, the sounds of the hunter’s horn are heard ever nearer. Through meadowlands it passes where a wedding feast is being celebrated by peasants with song and dance. At night, water nymphs play in its gleaming depths in which are reflected fortresses and castles from the glorious past. At the Rapids of St. John, the stream becomes a roaring cataract, beating its way through rocky chasms, widening at last into the majestic river that flows through Prague, greeted by the mighty old fortress, Vyšehrad, where it vanishes over the horizon lost to the poet’s sight. 6
Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, op. 78, “Organ Symphony” (1886) Camille Saint-Saëns composed his Third Symphony at the request of London’s Royal Philharmonic Society. Saint-Saëns had been contemplating a new symphony for some time. A few months after the 1885 commission, the composer informed the Philharmonic that the work was “well under way. It will be terrifying, I warn you . . . This imp of a symphony has gone up a half-tone; it didn’t want to stay in B minor and it is now in C minor. It will be a treat for me to conduct it. Will it be a treat, though, for the people who hear it? That is the question. It’s you who asked for it. I wash my hands of the whole thing.” The premiere of the Third Symphony took place in London’s St. James’s Hall on May 19, 1886. The evening was a great personal triumph for SaintSaëns. The composer led the Royal Philharmonic Society in his new Symphony and was also the soloist in his Fourth Piano Concerto. The London audience’s response to the Symphony was generally positive. After the concert, Saint-Saëns was given an audience with the Prince of Wales, later crowned King Edward VII. The January 9, 1887 Paris premiere, again conducted by Saint-Saëns, was yet another success. After the performance, as Saint-Saëns descended the podium, composer Charles Gounod proclaimed, “There goes the French Beethoven!” The Saint-Saëns Third, with its stunning orchestration and ingenious thematic manipulation, is one of the most important French symphonies of the second half of the 19th century. Camille Saint-Saëns did not compose another symphony during the final 35 years of his life. As he remarked, “I have given all that I have to give . . . What I have done I shall never do again.” The opening section of Part II (Allegro moderato), serving the function of a traditional scherzo, starts with a dialogue between the strings and thundering timpani. A quicksilver Presto episode introduces, according to the composer, “a fantastic spirit.” The final portion of the “Organ Symphony” (Maestoso; Allegro) brings the work to a majestic close. —Program notes by Ken Meltzer.
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Paul Bhasin, conductor Paul Bhasin serves on the faculty of Emory as director of orchestral studies. He conducts the Emory University Symphony Orchestra (EUSO) and the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra (EYSO), and he teaches conducting. Praised for his crisp, clear conducting and highly expressive interpretations, Bhasin has led a variety of university, youth, and professional ensembles throughout North America and abroad, including performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., throughout the People’s Republic of China, and later this year in Vienna, Austria, with the EUSO and vocal studies program. Bhasin’s guest engagements include appearances with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, American Youth Philharmonic, Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra, at Interlochen Arts Academy, and performances with members of the Richmond Symphony, National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra. He has served as a guest orchestral clinician throughout the United States, and presented at national conferences, including the Midwest Orchestra Clinic and the National Music Teachers Association Conference. Bhasin serves as music director of the Atlanta Chamber Music Festival. He has performed as a chamber musician on WFMT in Chicago and Detroit PBS-TV, at festivals nationwide, and with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York. His chamber music program development experience includes work with Chicago’s Music Integration Project, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Musicorps program, and residency development with the Grammy–winning sextet Eighth Blackbird. Bhasin is an accomplished orchestral trumpeter, having performed and recorded with the Virginia Symphony and Opera, Columbus (Ohio) Symphony, New World Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and at the music festivals of Aspen, Tanglewood, and Ravinia, under the batons of David Zinman, Tilson Thomas, James Conlon, James DePriest, and Gustav Meier. Bhasin’s trumpet students have attended prestigious conservatories and have won first prize at major competitions, including the National Trumpet Competition. Bhasin has recorded as trumpeter and conductor for both the Centaur and Interscope record labels. A forthcoming CD project will feature Atlanta Symphony Orchestra principal soloists with Emory ensembles. 8
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 St. Louis Opera Theater, Grand Tetons Festival Orchestra, La Unió Musical l’Horta de Sant Marcel·lí (Valencia, Spain), and the Washington (DC) Symphonic Brass. Bhasin’s score to 9/23 Films’ motion picture HOGTOWN (award-winner at the Berlin, Los Angeles, and Nashville International Black film festivals) was praised by the Chicago Sun-Times as “ . . . scored beautifully by composer Paul Bhasin . . . better than the entirety of the last few features I’ve seen, period.” In 2016, reviewer Ben Kenigsberg of the New York Times named the film a Critic’s Pick and one of the Top 10 Films of 2016. Bhasin’s previous appointments include positions at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Triton College, and the College of William & Mary. He received his musical education from the University of WisconsinMadison, Northwestern University, and the University of Michigan.
Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra As one of the finest pre-college programs in the region, the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra (EYSO) supports the pedagogy of school directors and private teachers while providing additional performance opportunities and ensemble experience. In addition, all students and parents are offered the opportunity for extensive pre-college counseling, assistance with college and scholarship applications, and related endeavors. The orchestra is open to string, wind, and percussion musicians from ninth through twelfth grade. The home of EYSO is the nationally renowned Emerson Concert Hall in the world-class Schwartz Center for Performing Arts on Emory’s campus, where the orchestra performs three concerts during the school year. Members receive regular sectional instruction from Emory’s outstanding roster of artist affiliates, which includes the Vega String Quartet and members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. In 2009–2010, the orchestra was featured on the nationally broadcast From the Top, National Public Radio’s program dedicated to the most outstanding young musicians in the country. EYSO has also been featured at Spivey Hall, performed with guest soloists from several major American symphony orchestras, and has appeared in concert with Emory’s string quartet in residence, the Vega String Quartet. In 2014, the orchestra began a regular tour cycle with a performance at New York’s Lincoln Center attended by major donors and supporters of the program, Donna and Marvin Schwartz and Ted Turner. 9
Käthe Wright Kaufman, organ Käthe Wright Kaufman is the newly appointed associate director of music and worship arts at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church in Atlanta, serving as principal keyboardist and accompanist, overseeing the maintenance of the 1982 Casavant Frères organ, and aiding the director of music and worship arts. Prior to her appointment, Kaufman served as organ scholar at Peterborough Cathedral in the UK from September 2019 to August 2020, where she assisted in rehearsing and training the choristers and played several services a week. Kaufman was launched into church music early on when she became a chorister in the choir of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Evanston, Illinois, at age eight under the direction of Richard Webster. Her growing love of the Anglican choral tradition inspired her to begin organ studies in 2007. She studied with James Brown at the Music Institute of Chicago and attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where she studied organ, harpsichord, and improvisation with William Porter and Edoardo Bellotti, as well as organ with David Higgs for her master’s degree. During her undergraduate studies at Eastman, Kaufman worked as a VanDelinder Fellow at Christ Church, Rochester, and as the organ scholar at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Buffalo. In 2016, Kaufman spent a gap year in Truro, UK, where she served as organ scholar at Truro Cathedral, playing two to three services a week, maintaining the music library, and training the boy probationers. She then returned to Eastman where she obtained an MMus degree and worked as an organ scholar at St. Paul’s, Rochester. Kaufman most enjoys accompanying choirs and sharing her love of choral and organ repertoire. Kaufman has played in master classes and coachings with Ann Elise Smoot, Stephen Farr, and Alan Morrison, among others. She has performed for the radio program Pipedreams Live!, and in venues such as St. Thomas Church, New York City; Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; Clare College Chapel, Cambridge; and St. Michael’s Cornhill, London. In 2013, she was awarded the Gerald Barnes Award for Excellence in Pipe Organ from Eastman. In both 2014 and 2015, she received the inaugural VanDelinder Prizes in Liturgical Organ Skills from Christ Church, Rochester. In 2015, she placed first in the West Chester University International Organ Competition. She is an associate of the American Guild of Organists. 10
Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra Jessica Stinson, orchestra manager All musicians listed alphabetically within instrument section. Flute and Piccolo Ryan Clever (Pinecrest Academy) Ivy Lee (Greater Atlanta Christian School) Alexandra Tarassenko (Paul Duke STEM High School) Oboe and English Horn Christopher Lee (Johns Creek High School) Benjamin Lee (Johns Creek High School) Ashley Na (Lambert High School) Clarinet Daniel Kim (North Gwinnett High School) Stan Lee (Lambert High School) Nicholas Wandrick (Cambridge High School) Bassoon Lucas Black (Homeschool) Andrew Guthrie (The Paideia School) Rob Liberman (Weber School) Saxophone Raymond Liu (Brookwood High School) Horn Cathleen Bolger (Lambert High School) Aidan Christensen (Kell High School) Lyle Foley (Lakeside High School) Irene Tang (Johns Creek High School) Trumpet Toby Johnson (Northgate High School) Justin Oh (North Gwinnett High School) Freddy Wendelburg (Northgate High School) Trombone and Bass Trombone Christopher Park (Parkview High School) Scott Rasher (West Forsyth High School) Nathaniel Wasihun (Parkview High School) Tuba Ryan Lofland (Etowah High School)
Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra All musicians listed alphabetically within instrument section. Timpani and Percussion Camden Briggs (Cass High School) Jace Park (East Coweta High School) Ezekiel Werner (Decatur High School) Piano and Celeste Albert Zhang (Innovation Academy) Harp Emma Burnsworth (Homeschool) Erin Howard (Drew Charter School) Violin Isaac Bryan (Johnson Ferry Christian Academy) Benjamin Cha (Peachtree Ridge High School) James Chen (Alpharetta High School) David Chung (The Paideia School) Elizabeth Domashchenko (GSMST) Mary Gilbert (Pope High School) Nevin Gregory (GSMST) Christian Hable (George Walton Comprehensive High School) Irene Ha (Johns Creek High School) Ashley Heo (Northview High School) Revin Jun (Northview High School) Jeremiah Jung (Northview High School) Christina Kim (Peachtree Ridge High School) Lee Kim (Johns Creek High School) Nathan Kim (North Gwinnett High School) Ryan Kim (South Forsyth High School) Rebekah Kim (Peachtree Ridge High School) Alyssa Lee (GSMST) Janice Lee (Chattahoochee High School) Alicia Li (Northview High School) Carol Li (Chamblee Charter High School) Violet Lorish (Capstone Academy) Ella Grace Malcolm (Milton High School) Hermes Mejia-Holguin (Duluth High School) Danielle Najarian (Milton High School) Daniel Ng (GSMST) Madison Park (River Ridge High School) Joshua Sampson (The Weber School) 12
Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra All musicians listed alphabetically within instrument section. Violin (continued) Ryan Shin (GSMST) Katie Son (Peachtree Ridge High School) Ethan Son (GSMST) Ranjani Vasudevan (Fulton Science Academy) Sophie Wang (The Westminster Schools) Brayden Wilson (Georgia Connections Academy) Caeley Woo (Chamblee Charter High School) Salome Won (Lambert High School) Jeffrey Xu (Johns Creek High School) Joseph Yeo (Collins Hill High School) Eric Yu (Fulton Science Academy) Dianne Zhao (Northview High School) Viola Lynden Baek (North Gwinnett High School) Nicholas Chang (Duluth High School) Danielle Chun (Mill Creek High School) Aria Cox (Paul Duke STEM School) Kevin Cromer (Woodward Academy) JaeHyun Im (Northview High School) Joshua Jeon (GSMST) Bryan Kim (GSMST) Hyeonju Kim (Callaway High School) Sarah Kim (The Westminster Schools) Erika Tay (Lanier High School) Chaeyoung Park (Wesleyan School) Seungmin Pyo (North Gwinnett High School) Jihwan Shin (North Gwinnett High School) Jason Xu (Walton High School) Olivia Yu (Alpharetta High School) Cello Jonathan Fuller (Grady High School) Julia Gaines (Homeschool) Tyler Gemmell (Mill Creek High School) Charlton Hills (Riverwood International Charter School) Yeseo Han (North Gwinnett High School) Salome Ho (Lambert High School) Dean Kim (Lambert High School) Elly Kim (Peachtree Ridge High School) 13
Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra All musicians listed alphabetically within instrument section. Cello (continued) Joshua Kim (North Gwinnett High School) Theodore Kim (Johns Creek High School) Jaime King (Chamblee Charter High School) Alex Ko (Lambert High School) Owen Lear (Midtown High School) Jeremy Lee (Duluth High School) Gabriel Liu (GSMST) Kelsey Queen (Dekalb School of the Arts) Bass Sreya Ambadipudi (Northview High School) Madeline Bower (Marietta High School) David Cooper (Druid Hills High School) E’LissaAnn Jones (Northview High School) Audrey Nguyen (Alpharetta High School) Elena Scharris (Lakeside High School) Richard Zhou (North Gwinnett High School)
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, undergraduate and graduate students experience a rich diversity of performance and academic opportunities. Undergraduate students in the 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, the faculty and ensembles also welcome the participation of nonmajor students from across the Emory campus. Become a part of Music at Emory by giving to the Friends of Music. A gift provides crucial support to all of the activities. To learn more, visit music. emory.edu or call 404.727.1401.
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Upcoming Music Events Many fall music events at Emory will require free online registration or tickets. Visit music.emory.edu or schwartz.emory.edu to view upcoming music events and their attendance requirements. To register, visit tickets. arts.emory.edu or call the Schwartz Center Box Office at 404.727.5050. Ticket prices are listed in the following order: Full price/Emory student price (unless otherwise noted as the price for all students). Friday, November 19, noon, Mozart at the Museum, ECMSA: Cooke Noontime Series, Michael C. Carlos Museum, free online registration required Saturday, November 20, 8:00 p.m., Emory University Symphony Orchestra, Emory Wind Ensemble, Composer’s Project, Schwartz Artist in Residence, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free online registration required Tuesday, November 30, 8:00 p.m., Emory Jazz Ensembles, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free online registration required Wednesday, December 1, 8:00 p.m., Fall Composition Showcase, Performing Arts Studio, 1804 N. Decatur Rd., free online registration required Thursday, December 2, 8:00 p.m., Emory Tango Ensemble, Performing Arts Studio, 1804 N. Decatur Rd., free online registration required Friday, December 3, noon, Rachelle McCabe, piano, ECMSA: Cooke Noontime Series, Michael C. Carlos Museum, free online registration required Friday, December 3, 8:00 p.m., and Saturday, December 4, 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, Glenn Auditorium, $20/$10, tickets required Friday, December 10, and Saturday, December 11, 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, December 12, 4:00 p.m., Christmas with Atlanta Master Chorale, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, $35/$10 all students, tickets required
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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. As you explore Music at Emory, we hope you enjoy this variety by 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.
404.727.5050 music.emory.edu