MUSIC AT EMORY
2022–2023
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 phones and all electronic devices. Photography, recording, or digital capture of this concert is not permitted.
Health and Safety
The Schwartz Center follows the Emory University Visitor Policy with additional protocols outlined at schwartz.emory.edu/faq.
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 Design: Lisa Baron | Cover Photo: Mark Teague
Acknowledgment
This season, the Schwartz Center is celebrating 20 years of world-class performances and wishes to gratefully acknowledge the generous ongoing support of Donna and Marvin Schwartz.
MUSIC AT EMORY
Paul Bhasin, conductor
Wednesday, February 22, 2023, 8:00 p.m.
Emerson Concert Hall
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts
Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra
2022–2023
Opening Remarks (2001)
Program
Jeffrey Dennis Smith (b. 1990)
Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra
Percussion Ensemble
Sonata pian e’ forte (1597) from Sacrae symphoniae Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1553/6–1612)
Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra
Brass Ensemble
An American in Paris (1928)
Capriccio espagnol, op. 34 (1887)
George Gershwin (1898–1937)
Nikolai Rimsk y-Korsakov
I. Alborada. Vivo e strepitoso (1844–1908)
II. Variations. Andante con moto
III. Alborada. Vivo e strepitoso
IV. Scene and Gypsy Song. Allegretto
V. Fandango of the Asturias
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Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra
The Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra (EYSO) program was founded in 2005 at Emory University. As one of the finest pre-college programs in the region, EYSO provides comprehensive orchestral performance opportunities while supporting the pedagogy of school directors and private teachers. All students and parents are offered the opportunity for pre-college counseling, assistance with college and scholarship applications, diverse masterclass and seminar offerings, and financial aid advice.
Apart from serving as dedicated members of their school orchestra and band programs, EYSO students go on to study a variety of disciplines at the college level, including top conservatories (the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, the New England Conservatory of Music, the Colburn School), as well as nationally ranked liberal arts colleges and universities. EYSO students are also regular participants in the country’s finest summer music festivals, including Interlochen, Tanglewood, National Youth Orchestra (NYO) and NYO2, Brevard, Eastern, Sewanee, and more.
EYSO students are coached by Emory faculty, including members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Opera Orchestra, and Atlanta Ballet Orchestra, as well as the Vega Quartet.
Learn more about the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra online at emoryyouthsymphony.org or by emailing youthsymphony@emory.edu.
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Program Notes
Opening Remarks (2001)
Jeffrey Dennis Smith’s work for four marimbas focuses on texture, melodic interplay, and dynamic contrasts to showcase the expressive qualities of the marimba quartet. Each part weaves in and out of the sound mixture in expressive and virtuosic ways while building towards an evocative and stirring climactic moment.
—Program note courtesy of Southern Percussion.
Sonata pian e’ forte (1597), from Sacrae symphoniae
Giovanni Gabrieli was one of the towering musical figures of the Italian Renaissance. A leading musician in the great city of Venice, Gabrieli was the organist at the San Marco Basilica, and the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. Many of Gabrieli’s compositions, both vocal and instrumental, were crafted to showcase San Marco’s extraordinary architecture and acoustics. The Sonata pian’ e forte, scored for two groups of four brass instruments, contrasts soft and forceful dynamics. The musical and dramatic impact of this work was no doubt heighted by a strategic positioning of the two groups within the San Marco Basilica.
An American in Paris (1928)
In March 1928, George Gershwin departed New York for Europe, with excursions to Paris, London, and Vienna. Prior to that time, Gershwin received a commission from conductor Walter Damrosch and the New York Symphony Society (later, the New York Philharmonic) for a new orchestral work. While in Paris, Gershwin stayed at the Hotel Majestic. In their book, The Gershwin Years, Edward Jablonski and Lawrence Stewart relate:
George worked on An American in Paris and readily played it for the usual stream of callers, among them the young British composer William Walton, Vladimir Dukelsky (better known as Vernon Duke), Dick Simon, the publisher, and pianist Mario Braggiotti. One day Leopold Stokowski dropped by and became greatly interested in the work in progress, but this lasted only until he heard that the first performance had been promised to Damrosch.
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Gershwin returned to New York in June, where he completed An American in Paris a month before the work’s premiere. Walter Damrosch conducted the Carnegie Hall concert, which took place on December 13, 1928.
Gershwin provided a description of An American in Paris, which is included below (indented):
Allegretto grazioso
This new piece, really a rhapsodic ballet, is written very freely and is the most modern music I’ve yet attempted. The opening part will be developed in typical French style, in the manner of Debussy and the Six, though the themes are all original. My purpose here is to portray the impression of an American visitor in Paris, as he strolls about the city, and listens to various street noises and absorbs the French atmosphere.
An American in Paris opens with a jaunty “Walking Theme,” introduced by the violins and oboes, evoking a leisurely stroll along the City of Light. The inclusion of French taxi horns in the percussion section is a delightful, atmospheric touch (Gershwin went to great time and expense to secure these horns for the premiere). Other Parisian elements include the popular song, “La Maxixe,” played by the trombones. An episode featuring a magical combination of celeste and solo violin (Calmato) may, according to program notes for the premiere, suggest a brief conversation between the American and a Parisian woman.
Andante ma con ritmo deciso
As in my other orchestral compositions, I’ve not endeavored to represent any definite scenes in this music. The rhapsody is programmatic only in a general impressionistic way, so that the individual listener can read into the music such as his imagination pictures for him.
The opening gay section is followed by a rich blues with a strong rhythmic undercurrent. Our American friend perhaps after strolling into a café and having a couple of drinks, has succumbed to a spasm of homesickness. The harmony here is both more intense and simple than in the preceding pages.
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A solo trumpet (with felt crown) plays a haunting, espressivo blues melody, soon taken up by other instruments. The music builds to a Grandioso climax, and finally resolves to a hushed episode, featuring a lilting violin solo. The blues melody temporarily yields to a playful Charleston (Allegro), introduced by the trumpets.
Allegretto
The blues rises to a climax followed by a coda in which the music returns to the vivacity and bubbling exuberance of the opening part with its impressions of Paris. Apparently the homesick American, having left the café and reached the open air, has disowned his spell of the blues and once again is an alert spectator of Parisian life. At the conclusion, the street noises and French atmosphere are triumphant.
A varied reprise of material from the opening “Walking” section joins with a reappearance of the blues melody, as An American in Paris reaches its grand conclusion.
Capriccio espagnol, op. 34 (1887)
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov composed his brilliant Capriccio espagnol in summer 1887. For some time, the Russian composer had been occupied with the orchestration of his opera, Prince Igor. However, according to Rimsky-Korsakov: “In the middle of the summer this work was interrupted: I composed the Spanish Capriccio from the sketches of my projected virtuoso violin fantasy on Spanish themes. According to my plans the Capriccio was to glitter with dazzling color, and manifestly, I had not been wrong.”
It was Rimsky-Korsakov who led the October 31, 1887 premiere of his Capriccio espagnol. The concert took place at the Small Theater in St. Petersburg, as part of the Russian Musical Society’s concert series. RimskyKorsakov conducted the Orchestra of the Imperial Russian Opera House. The concert, according to Rimsky-Korsakov, “was played with a perfection and enthusiasm the like of which it never possessed subsequently . . . Despite its length, the composition called forth an insistent encore.”
Rimsky-Korsakov has long been hailed as one of the masters of orchestration. The composer himself acknowledged that the Capriccio espagnol, along with Scheherazade (1888) and the Russian Easter Overture (1888), marked the culmination of a period in “which my orchestration had reached a considerable degree of virtuosity and bright sonority . . . ”
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The five movements are played without pause.
I. Alborada. Vivo e strepitoso
The Capriccio espagnol opens with a scintillating Alborada (an aubade, or morning serenade).
II. Variations. Andante con moto
The horns introduce a languid, dolce theme that serves as the basis for a series of variations, showcasing the orchestra’s wide range of colors.
III. Alborada. Vivo e strepitoso
The third movement offers a repetition of the opening Alborada, now transposed from A to B-flat major.
IV. Scene and Gypsy Song. Allegretto
A roll of the snare drum introduces a series of cadenzas for the horns and trumpets, violin, flute and clarinet, and harp. A vibrant Gypsy song dominates the latter part of the movement, gathering impressive momentum as it proceeds directly to the finale.
V. Fandango of the Asturias
The final movement opens with a Fandango, a lively dance in triple meter. The Gypsy song briefly returns, as does the opening Alborada, bringing the Capriccio espagnol to a dazzling Presto conclusion. —Program notes by Ken Meltzer, unless otherwise indicated.
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Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra
Samantha Frischling, orchestra manager
All musicians listed alphabetically within instrument section.
Flute and Piccolo
Eunice Kim (North Gwinnett High School)
Chloe Park (Walton High School)
Alexandra Tarassenko (Paul Duke STEM High School)
Oboe and English Horn
Alysia Guo (Parkview High School)
Benjamin Lee (Johns Creek High School)
Ashley Na (Lambert High School)
Clarinet
Kevin Jin (Mill Creek High School)
Kyunghwan Lim (Chattahoochee High School)
Nicholas Wandrick (Cambridge High School)
Bassoon
Owen Quick (Whitewater High School)
Andrew Tang (Cherokee High School)
Ethan Thompson (North Forsyth High School)
Saxophone
Raymond Liu (Brookwood High School)
Horn
Cathleen Bolger (Lambert High School)
Eric Chastain (North Cobb)
Kylin Manly Liske (Chamblee High School)
Lyle Foley (Lakeside High School)
Trumpet
Nick Harrison (Chamblee High School)
Henry Kim (Lambert High School)
Justin Oh (North Gwinnett High School)
Zhong Zhang (The Westminster Schools)
Trombone and Bass Trombone
Joshua Antony (North Gwinnett High School)
William Brown (Walton High School)
Gabriel Silva (Buford High School)
Tuba
Kushal Maganti (Lambert High School)
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Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra
Timpani and Percussion
Alonzo Marshall (Kennesaw Mountain High School)
Issac Jung (North Gwinnett High School)
Grayson Pruitt (Kell High School)
Nicholas Stone (Chattahoochee High School)
Piano and Celeste
Dahyun Yang (Innovation Academy)
Harp
Emma Burnsworth (Homeschool)
Violin
Ajay Balasubramaniam, principal second (Lambert High School)
Isaac Bryan (Johnson Ferry Christian Academy)
Ashley Chang (Duluth High School)
James Chen (Alpharetta High School)
Maria Victoria Correa (North Gwinnett High School)
Samuel Crespino (Decatur High School)
Elizabeth Domashchenko (GSMST)
Xiaojun Ge (Northview High School)
Mary Gilbert (Pope High School)
Adelmo Gimenez (North Gwinnett High School)
Irene Ha (Johns Creek High School)
Samantha Hamilton (Homeschool)
Michael Hou (Johns Creek High School)
Nyneishia Janarthanan (FCS Innovation Academy)
Revin Jun (Northview High School)
Abigail Kim (Johns Creek High School)
Lee Kim (Johns Creek High School)
Nathan Kim (North Gwinnett High School)
Sunyoung Kim (Northview High School)
Sarah Kwon (Seckinger High School)
Alicia Li (Northview High School)
Carol Li (Chamblee High School)
Isabella Lin, concertmaster (Johns Creek High School) (continues)
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Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra
Violin (continued)
Abigail Lee (Hebron Christian Academy)
Geonhee Lee (Johns Creek High School)
Violet Lorish (Capstone Academy)
Ella Grace Malcom (Milton High School)
Ellie Millette (Artios Academy)
Lucas Nyman (Starrs Mill High School)
Aeden O’Shields (Allatoona High School)
David Park (Lambert High School)
Ryan Shin (GSMST)
Eric Sun (Alpharetta High School)
Ranjani Vasudevan (Fulton Science Academy)
Luca Veni (North Gwinnett High School)
Aaron Wang (Alpharetta High School)
Ezekiel (Zeke) Werner (Decatur High School)
Hayden Yi (North Gwinnett High School)
Eric Yu (Fulton Science Academy)
Aniston Zhang (Chattahoochee High School)
Steven Zhou (GSMST)
Viola
Ethan Braswell (Greater Atlanta Christian School)
Lindsey Carpenter (Roswell High School)
Danielle Chun (Mill Creek High School)
Dylan Gutierrez (Collins Hill High School)
Jaehyun Im (Northview High School)
Bryan Kim (GSMST)
Erin Park (Peachtree Ridge High School)
Jiyu Kim (Peachtree Ridge High School)
Chaeyoung Park (Wesleyan School)
Jensi Perng (Northview High School)
Erika Tay (Lanier High School)
Raymond Xue (Johns Creek High School)
Athena Yang (GSMST)
George Young, principal (Walton High School)
Olivia Yu (Alpharetta High School)
Jordan Zheng (Northview High School)
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Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra
Cello
Chase Choi (North Gwinnett High School)
Yeseo Han (North Gwinnett High School)
Elly Kim (Peachtree Ridge High School)
Joshua Kim (North Gwinnett High School)
Alex Ko, principal (Lambert High School)
Katherine Lamback (Holy Innocents Episcopal School)
Andrew Laughlin (McIntosh High School)
Kevin Lee (Chattahoochee High School)
Jiayi Lu (Northview High School)
Kathy Park (Northview High School)
Kelsey Queen (DeKalb School of the Arts)
Dylan Song (The Westminster Schools)
Mia Song (Alpharetta High School)
Alex Woloschinow (Hillgrove High School)
Bass
Madeline Bower (Marietta High School)
Cecilia Clarke (Decatur High School)
Ethan Huang (Chamblee High School)
Alex Na (The Westminster Schools)
Audrey Nguyen (Alpharetta High School)
Connor Oneacre (Milton High School)
Hazel Patty (Decatur High School)
Richard Zhou, principal (North Gwinnett High School)
Paul Bhasin, conductor
Paul Bhasin holds the Donna and Marvin Schwartz Professorship in Music at Emory University where he serves as director of orchestral studies and director of undergraduate research in the Department of 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.
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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 PBS-TV, 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 (Ohio) Symphony; New World Symphony; the Civic Orchestra of Chicago; and 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, Czech Republic). He has performed under the batons of Michael Tilson Thomas, James Conlon, James DePriest, Leonard Slatkin, Andreas Delfs, and Gustav Meier, and 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. 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 picture, 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 Wisconsin-Madison.
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Upcoming Emory Music Concerts
Many spring music events at Emory are free to attend. Visit music.emory. edu or schwartz.emory.edu to view descriptions and information for upcoming music events. If an event requires a ticket 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).
Friday, February 24, noon, Vivaldi Four Seasons, ECMSA: Cooke Noontime Series, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free
Saturday, February 25, 8:00 p.m., Emory University Symphony Orchestra with Elisabeth Remy Johnson, harp, and the Vega String Quartet, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free
Sunday, February 26, 4:00 p.m., Emory Wind Ensemble, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free
Thursday, March 2, 8:00 p.m., West-Eastern Divan Ensemble with Michael Barenboim, Candler Concert Series, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, $50/$10, tickets required
Saturday, March 4, 8:00 p.m., Elena Cholakova, piano, and Anyango Yarbo Davenport, violin, Schwartz Artist-in-Residence Program, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free
Friday, March 10, and Saturday, March 11, 8:00 p.m., Magnificat: Bach, Byrd, Rachmaninoff, Stanford, Howells, and Pärt, Atlanta Master Chorale, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, $38/$10 all students, tickets required
Friday, March 17, 8:00 p.m., Lawrence Brownlee, tenor: Rising, Schwartz Artist-in-Residence Program, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, $50/$10, tickets required
Saturday, March 18, 2:00 p.m., Athena Grasso, Junior Piano Recital, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free
Saturday, March 18, 5:00 p.m., Vivian Zhao, Junior Piano Recital, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free
Sunday, March 19, 2:00 p.m., Thomas Sarsfield, Senior Violin Recital, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free
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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.
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.
404.727.5050
music.emory.edu
