FWSO Program Guide | May 3-5, 2024

FWSO program guide

May/June 2024

Beethoven’s Violin Concerto

May 3-5

featuring Stephen Waarts, violin

LASTING IMPRESSIONS:

The Immersive 3D

Orchestra Experience

May 11

Will Rogers Auditorium

Dvořák’s Eighth:

Dvořák and Chopin

May 24-26

Season Finale:

Jennifer Higdon, Kevin Day, and Mahler 5

May 31, June 1-2

Stephenville | Fort Worth

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

FWSO STAFF

EXECUTIVE OFFICE

Keith Cerny, Ph.D. President and CEO

OPERATIONS

Victoria J. Moore Vice President of Operations

Matthew Glover Director of Operations

Branson White Production Manager

16

24

Program 1: Beethoven’s Violin

Taichi Fukumura 7 Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Roster 8

Concerto: Beethoven and Shostakovich

Artist Profile:

Stephen Waarts, violin

Program 2: Lasting Impressions:

The Immersive 3D Orchestra Experience

Artist Profile:

Adam Fisher, vocalist

Program 3: Dvořák’s Eighth:

Dvořák and Chopin

Artist Profiles:

Tomáš Netopil, conductor

Lukáš Vondráček, piano

Program 4: Season Finale:

Jennifer Higdon, Kevin Day, and Mahler 5

Peter Steiner, trombone

Constanze Hochwartner, piano

Jennifer Higdon, composer

Lacy McCoy Project Manager

Megan Brook Orchestra Personnel Manager

Wilson Armstrong Stage Manager

Gillian Boley Artistic Services Coordinator

Christopher Hawn Orchestra Librarian

David Sterrett Librarian Assistant

DEVELOPMENT

Meagan Hemenway Vice President of Development

Malia Lewis Development Manager, Board and Donor Relations

Carolyn Hudec Events Manager

Courtney Hughey Institutional Giving Manager

Veronika Perez Development Specialist, Operations

Sydney Palomo Development Associate

BOX OFFICE

Tess Todora Director of Ticketing Services

Preston Gilpatrick Box Office Associate

Veronica Morris Box Office Associate

Josh Pruett Box Office Associate

Patrick Sumner Box Office Associate

Paul Taylor Box Office Associate

Xochhitl Vasquez Box Office Associate

FINANCE

Michelline Malley Vice President of Finance

Lucas Baldwin Senior Staff Accountant

HUMAN RESOURCES

Jacque Carpenter Vice President of Human Resources

Raquel Kenston HR & Office Coordinator

MARKETING

Carrie Ellen Adamian Chief Marketing Officer

Monica Sheehan Director of Marketing

Emily Gavaghan Senior Marketing Manager

Melanie Boma Tessitura Database Senior Manager

Josselin Garibo Pendleton Senior Manager, Education and Community Programs

Joanna Calhoun Marketing and Social Media Coordinator

Mercedes T. Bass Chairman of the Board of Directors

Dear Friends,

As the season nears to a close, it has been such a pleasure to have you join us in what has truly been a remarkable year of artistic excellence. In the continued spirit of collaboration, a hallmark of the FWSO’s new musical era, this year’s finale will feature a brand-new double concerto for trombone and piano titled Departures by Texas Christian University alumnus, Kevin Day. This ensemble will be led by Music Director, Robert Spano spotlighting the brass instruments of the Orchestra.

This season the FWSO also continued expanding its reach into the community in meaningful ways including its Bridges to Music ticket program, discounted student tickets, and educational programming developed in partnership with FWISD. And don’t miss the new Sounds of the Summer Series which will include a free community concert on the Amon Carter Museum lawn in June. These initiatives are so important to the mission of the FWSO and have become invaluable to the North Texas community. Thank you for your support and patronage, which makes all of these projects possible.

With much appreciation and gratitude,

Mercedes T. Bass Chairman of the Board of Directors

Keith Cerny, Ph.D.

President and CEO

Dear Patron,

We are drawing towards the end of Music Director Robert Spano’s second season with the FWSO, and the orchestra continues to go from strength to strength. On our popular Theater of a Concert series, where we add visual, theatrical, and dance elements to productions, we presented Act I of Wagner’s Die Walküre in April with an exceptional international cast directed by James Robinson. Coming up in May, Maestro Spano will conduct Beethoven’s violin concerto with soloist Stephen Waarts paired with Shostakovich’s powerful Symphony No. 5. Next, the acclaimed Czech conductor Tomáš Netopil will lead an exciting program of Chopin and Dvořák, with piano soloist Lukáš Vondráček. For the season finale, the FWSO will partner with TCU and the International Trombone Festival to present a special weekend of concerts featuring the world premiere of a double concerto for Trombone and Piano by Kevin Day and Mahler’s dramatic Symphony No. 5.

We are equally proud of our expanded programming on the Pops and Specials series, especially when the programs introduce visual or dramatic elements. In May, the FWSO will present a special musical and visual immersive experience entitled Lasting Impressions, featuring 14 artists and more than 100 paintings paired with music by Debussy, Ravel, and others. There really is something for everyone on our Pops series!

Thank you for your support and attendance at all of the FWSO concerts, as we work to rebuild and grow our audiences following the pandemic. We are incredibly proud of the exceptional music we are producing at the FWSO, which we know you will enjoy.

Yours sincerely,

Keith Cerny, Ph.D

President & CEO

Robert Spano

Music Director

Robert Spano, conductor, pianist, composer, and teacher, is known worldwide for the intensity of his artistry and distinctive communicative abilities, creating a sense of inclusion and warmth among musicians and audiences that is unique among American orchestras. After twenty seasons as Music Director, he will continue his association with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as Music Director Laureate. An avid mentor to rising artists, he is responsible for nurturing the careers of numerous celebrated composers, conductors, and performers. As Music Director of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 2011, he oversees the programming of more than 300 events and educational programs for 630 students and young performers. Principal Guest Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra since 2019, Spano became Music Director Designate on April 1, 2021, and begins an initial three-year term as Music Director in August 2022. He is the tenth Music Director in the orchestra’s history, which was founded in 1912.

Spano leads the Fort Worth Symphony in six symphonic programs, three chamber music programs, and a gala concert with Yo-Yo Ma, in addition to overseeing the orchestra and music staff and shaping the artistic direction of the orchestra and driving its

continued growth. Additional engagements in the 2022-23 season include a return to Houston Grand Opera to conduct Werther. Maestro Spano made his highly-acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut in 2019, leading the US premiere of Marnie, the second opera by American composer Nico Muhly. Recent concert highlights have included several world premiere performances, including Voy a Dormir by Bryce Dessner at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor; George Tsontakis’s Violin Concerto No. 3 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Dimitrios Skyllas’s Kyrie eleison with the BBC Symphony Orchestra; the Tuba Concerto by Jennifer Higdon, performed by Craig Knox and the Pittsburgh Symphony; Melodia, For Piano and Orchestra, by Canadian composer Matthew Ricketts at the Aspen Music Festival; and Miserere, by ASO bassist Michael Kurth.

The Atlanta School of Composers reflects Spano’s commitment to American contemporary music. He has led ASO performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Ravinia, Ojai, and Savannah Music Festivals. Guest engagements have included the Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Minnesota Orchestras, New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, and the San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, With a discography of criticallyacclaimed recordings for Telarc, Deutsche Grammophon, and ASO Media, Robert Spano has garnered four Grammy™ Awards and eight nominations with the Atlanta Symphony. Spano is on faculty at Oberlin Conservatory and has received honorary doctorates from Bowling Green State University, the Curtis Institute of Music, Emory University, and Oberlin. Maestro Spano is a recipient of the Georgia Governor’s Award For The Arts And Humanities and is one of two classical musicians inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. He makes his home in Atlanta and Fort Worth. New World, San Diego, Oregon, Utah, and Kansas City Symphonies. His opera performances include Covent Garden, Welsh National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, and the 2005 and 2009 Seattle Opera productions of Wagner’s Ring cycles.

Kevin John Edusei

Principal Guest Conductor

German conductor Kevin John Edusei is sought-after the world over, dividing his time equally between the concert hall and opera house. He is praised repeatedly for the drama and tension that he brings to his musicmaking, for his attention to detail, sense of architecture, and the fluidity, warmth and insight that he brings to his performances. He is deeply committed to the creative elements of performance, presenting classical music in new formats, cultivating audiences, introducing music by under-represented composers and conducting an eclectic range of repertoire from the baroque to the contemporary.

In the 2022/23 season, Edusei makes his debut with many orchestras across the UK and US, including the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Hallé, Utah Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony and National Symphony (Washington) orchestras amongst others and he returns to the London Symphony, the City of Birmingham Symphony, Baltimore and Colorado Symphony orchestras. With the Chineke! Orchestra he returns to the BBC Proms for a televised performance of Beethoven 9 and also performs at Festivals in Snape, Hamburg, Helsinki and Lucerne. In recent seasons he has conducted many of the major orchestras across the UK, Holland, Germany and the US. He is the former Chief Conductor of the Munich Symphony Orchestra and 22/23 marks the start of his tenure as the Principal Guest Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (Texas).

In the 2022/23 season Edusei also makes his debut with the Royal Opera House conducting La Boheme with Juan Diego Florez and Ailyn Pérez. He recently made his debut at the English National Opera and previously has conducted at the Semperoper Dresden, Hamburg State Opera, Hannover State Opera, Volksoper Wien and Komische Oper Berlin. During his time as Chief Conductor of Bern Opera House, he led many new productions including Britten Peter Grimes, Strauss Salome, Bartók Bluebeard’s Castle, Wagner Tannhäuser and Tristan and Isolde, Janáček Kátya Kábanová and a cycle of the Mozart Da-Ponte operas.

In 2004 Edusei was awarded the fellowship for the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival by David Zinman, in 2007 he was a prize-winner at the Lucerne Festival conducting competition under the artistic direction of Pierre Boulez and Peter Eötvös, and in 2008 he won the First prize at the International Dimitris Mitropoulos Competition.

Assistant Conductor

Taichi Fukumura is a rising Japanese-American conductor known for his dynamic stage presence, resulting in a growing international career. Acclaimed for his musical finesse and passionate interpretations, he is praised by musicians and audiences alike across the United States, Mexico, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Hong Kong, and Japan. A two-time recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award in 2021 and 2022, Fukumura is the newly appointed Assistant Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra for the 2022-2024 seasons.

Highlights from the 2021/22 season include guest conducting debuts with La Orquesta de Cámara de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Selected by the Berlin Philharmonic as one of 10 Assistant Conductor Candidates, Fukumura conducted in the Siemens Conductors Scholarship Competition. Fukumura served as the Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta, where he previously received mentorship from Music Director Mei-Ann Chen as a Freeman Conducting Fellow.

Past engagements include guest conducting in the Boston Symphony’s Community Chamber Concerts, leading members of the BSO in Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat. Fukumura assisted the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Philharmonic as cover conductor. Equally adept in opera conducting, he has led full productions of Britten’s Turn of the Screw and Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Northwestern University Opera Theatre.

Born in Tokyo, Taichi Fukumura grew up in Boston and began music studies at age three on the violin. Professionally trained on the instrument, he received a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from Boston University, studying with Peter Zazofsky. Fukumura received both his Doctoral and Masters degrees in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University, studying with Victor Yampolsky. Additional conducting studies include Aspen Music Festival Conducting Academy, Pierre Monteux School and Festival, Paris Conducting Workshop, and Hong Kong International Conducting Workshop.

Taichi Fukumura

FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Robert Spano, Music Director, Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Chair

Kevin John Edusei, Principal Guest Conductor

Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Music Director Laureate

Taichi Fukumura, Assistant Conductor, Rae and Ed Schollmaier+ Foundation Chair

John Giordano, Conductor Emeritus

VIOLIN I

Michael Shih, Concertmaster

Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass Chair

Mr. Sid R. Bass Chair

Swang Lin, Associate Concertmaster

Ann Koonsman+ Chair

Eugene Cherkasov, Assistant Concertmaster

Mollie & Garland Lasater Chair

Jennifer Y. Betz

Ordabek Duissen

Qiong Hulsey

Ivo Ivanov

Nikayla Kim

Izumi Lund

Ke Mai

Kimberly Torgul

Albert Yamamoto

VIOLIN II

Adriana Voirin DeCosta, Principal

Steven Li, Associate Principal

Janine Geisel, Assistant Principal

Symphony League of Fort Worth Chair

Molly Baer

Suzanne Jacobson°

Matt Milewski

Kathryn Perry

Tatyana Smith

Rosalyn Story

Andrea Tullis

Camilla Wojciechowska

VIOLA

DJ Cheek, Principal

Anna Kolotylina, Associate Principal

HeeSun Yang, Assistant Principal

Joni Baczewski

Sorin Guttman

Aleksandra Holowka

Dmitry Kustanovich

Daniel Sigale

CELLO

Allan Steele, Principal

Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass Chair

Mr. Sid R. Bass Chair

Emileigh Vandiver, Associate Principal

Keira Fullerton, Assistant Principal Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation Chair

John Belk

Deborah Brooks

Shelley Jessup

Jenny Kwak

BASS

William Clay, Principal

Mr. & Mrs. Edward P. Bass Chair

Paul Unger, Assistant Principal

Jeffery Hall

Sean P. O’Hara

Julie Vinsant

The seating positions of all string section musicians listed alphabetically change on a regular basis.

FLUTE

Jake Fridkis, Principal

Shirley F. Garvey Chair

Gabriel Fridkis, Assistant Principal

Edna Jeon°

PICCOLO

Edna Jeon°

OBOE

Jennifer Corning Lucio, Principal

Nancy L. & William P. Hallman, Jr., Chair

Tamer Edlebi, Assistant Principal

Tim Daniels

ENGLISH HORN

Tim Daniels

CLARINET

Stanislav Chernyshev, Principal

Rosalyn G. Rosenthal Chair*

Ivan Petruzziello, Assistant Principal

Gary Whitman

E-FLAT CLARINET

Ivan Petruzziello

BASS CLARINET

Gary Whitman

BASSOON

Joshua Elmore, Principal

Mr. & Mrs. Lee M. Bass Chair

Cara Owens, Assistant Principal

Nicole Haywood°

CONTRABASSOON

Nicole Haywood°

HORN

Gerald Wood, Principal

Elizabeth H. Ledyard Chair

Alton F. Adkins, Associate Principal

Drs. Jeff and Rosemary Detweiler Chair

Kelly Cornell, Associate Principal

Aaron Pino

TRUMPET

Kyle Sherman, Principal

Cody McClarty, Assistant Principal

Dorothy Rhea Chair

Oscar Garcia

TROMBONE

Joseph Dubas, Principal

Mr. & Mrs. John Kleinheinz Chair

John Michael Hayes, Assistant Principal

Dennis Bubert

BASS TROMBONE

Dennis Bubert

Mr. & Mrs. Lee M. Bass Chair

TUBA

Edward Jones, Principal

TIMPANI

Seth McConnell, Principal

Madilyn Bass Chair

Nicholas Sakakeeny, Assistant Principal

PERCUSSION

Keith Williams, Principal

Shirley F. Garvey Chair

Nicholas Sakakeeny, Assistant Principal

Adele Hart Chair

Deborah Mashburn

Brad Wagner

HARP

vacant

Bayard H. Friedman Chair

KEYBOARD

Shields-Collins Bray, Principal

Rildia Bee O'Bryan Cliburn & Van Cliburn Chair

STAGE MANAGER

Wilson Armstrong

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL MANAGER

Megan Brook

ORCHESTRA LIBRARIANS

Christopher Hawn

David Sterrett

*In Memory of Manny Rosenthal

°2023/2024 Season Only

+Denotes Deceased

The Concertmaster performs on the 1710 Davis Stradivarius violin.

The Associate Concertmaster performs on the 1685 Eugenie Stradivarius violin.

BEETHOVEN Egmont Overture, Op. 84

BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61

INTERMISSION

SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47

8 | 2023/2024 SEASON

ARTIST PROFILES

“I’m convinced he is the real deal.” (Gramophone)

Stephen Waarts’ innate and poetic musical voice has established him as a firm favourite with audiences. With an unusually broad and voracious appetite for repertoire, he has already performed more than 30 standard violin concertos as well as rarely performed works.

Stephen has performed with orchestras such as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, hrSinfonieorchester, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, and Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, with conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, Marin Alsop, Constantinos Carydis, Nicholas McGegan, Maxime Pascal, and Elim Chan.

After a busy summer, including returns to the Aspen Festival, Münchner Symphoniker, and Wigmore Hall, the 2022/23 season sees Waarts make his debuts with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin with Stephanie Childress, and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with Sir András Schiff, with further concerts planned with Philharmonie Zuidnederland, Cappella Aquileia at Opera Festival Heidenheim, and the Nash Ensemble amongst others.

A passionate recitalist and chamber musician, Waarts has appeared in

recital at Philharmonie Luxembourg, Philharmonie Haarlem, Fundación Juan March, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Auditorium du Louvre, Vancouver Recital Society and Wigmore Hall in addition to the Boulez Saal and Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Waarts’ regular collaborators include Andras Schiff, Tabea Zimmermann, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Martin Helmchen, and Timothy Ridout. Waarts has appeared regularly at festivals including Aspen, Marlboro, Krzyżowa, Con Spirito Leipzig, Rheingau, and Jerusalem, with upcoming performances at Heidelberger Frühling, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schloss Elmau as part of Tabea Zimmermann’s residency, and SmorgasChord Festival in Oxford.

2022 saw the release of Waarts’ highly anticipated first concerto recording for Alpha Classics: Mozart Violin Concerto No.1 with the Camerata Schweiz under Howard Griffiths. Other releases include Hindemith Kammermusik No.4, as part of Ondine Classic’s Kammermusik cycle with Christoph Eschenbach, the Kronberg Academy Soloists and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra in 2020. He released his debut recital album for Rubicon Classics in November

Stephen Waarts, violinist

ARTIST PROFILES

2018, with pianist Gabriele Carcano, featuring works by Schumann and Bartók.

He was awarded the International Classical Music Awards Orchestra Award by the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra in 2019. In March 2017 he was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. He also won the Festspiele MecklenburgVorpommern’s soloist award the same year and has performed at the festival every year since then. In 2015, he was awarded the Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund scholarship following his appearance at the Krzyżowa-Music Festival. In the same year, his prize-winning success at the 2015 Queen Elisabeth Competition – including securing the majority vote of the television audience – boosted

international attention. Stephen is currently a Fellow at the Kronberg Academy, having graduated in 2021 studying under Mihaela Martin. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute, Philadelphia, where he studied under Aaron Rosand. Prior to this he worked with Itzhak Perlman at the Perlman Music Program and Li Lin and Alexander Barantschik in San Francisco. In 2013 he won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York, aged just 17. He was also prize-winner at the 2013 Montreal International Competition and won first prize at the 2014 Menuhin Competition. Stephen is part of the Development Programme of the Orpheum Foundation for the Advancement of Young Soloists.

The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra dedicates

The May 3-5 performances to

Alann B. Sampson

The May 24-26 performances to

Priscilla and Joe Martin

The May 31-June 2 performances to John Wells and Shay McCulloch-Wells

PROGRAM NOTES : LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

by Jeremy Reynolds

EGMONT OVERTURE, Op. 84

DURATION: About 8 minutes

PREMIERED: Vienna, 1810

INSTRUMENTATION: Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings

“Goethe’s poems exert a great power over me not only by virtue of their content but also their rhythm; I am put in the right mood and stimulated to compose by this language, which builds itself into a higher order as if through spiritual agencies, and bears within itself the secret of harmony.”

—

Ludwig van Beethoven

(Born

1770, Germany; died 1827)

OVERTURE: An introduction to a large dramatic work, such as a ballet or opera, that demands listeners ears and sets the tone of the evening.

FURTHER LISTENING:

Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, Op. 62

Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72b

Wellington’s Victory, (“Battle Symphony”) Op. 91

Revolutions need powerful music. During demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2019, the protestors adopted the song “Glory to Hong Kong” as their anthem.

In Cuba in 2021, the rap song “Patria y Vida” became an unofficial rallying cry. In Ukraine in March 2022, shortly after the onset of the Russian invasion, a ragtag group of soldiers — some drafted from jobs as professional musicians — played the country’s national anthem as Russians advanced on Kyiv. That tune found its way into orchestra and opera halls around the world to show solidarity with the oppressed Ukrainians.

Beethoven was no stranger to revolution. He first celebrated and then despised Napoleon, who rose to power during the French Revolution. During the French bombardment of Vienna in 1810, he was forced to hide in his brother’s cellar for days. By this period, thoroughly enamored with the idea of a hero standing against oppression and tyranny, he had leapt at the chance to write “incidental music,” or a series of musical interludes for a play that express the mood and character, for the poet Goethe’s play Egmont, which details the story following a 16th-century count’s struggle for liberty against Spanish rule.

In the play, Count Egmont does not prevail. He is imprisoned, sentenced to death, and martyred.

The Overture is one of nine pieces of music. The introduction begins with a sharp blast of a single note, spaced throughout the orchestra, a cry of pain. Low strings deliver a weighty, noble

Continued on Page 14

PROGRAM NOTES : LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

by Jeremy Reynolds

VIOLIN CONCERTO in D MAJOR, Op. 61

I. Allegro ma non troppo

II. Larghetto

III. Rondo: Allegro

DURATION: About 42 minutes

PREMIERED: Vienna, 1806

INSTRUMENTATION: Flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, solo violin and strings.

“I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor. What I have in my heart must come out; that is the reason why I compose.

“Only the pure of heart can make a good soup.”

— Ludwig van Beethoven (Born 1770, Germany; died 1827)

CONCERTO: A composition that features one or more “solo” instruments with orchestral accompaniment. The form of the concerto has developed and evolved over the course of music history.

SCALE: A graduated sequence of notes that divide an octave, which itself occurs when any given pitch frequency is doubled. Different scales, major and minor, for example, divide the scale along different mathematical sequences.

FURTHER LISTENING:

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor Symphony No. 6 in F Major (“Pastoral”) Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major (“Kreutzer”)

Beethoven’s best-known rhythmic device has to be the opening of his Fifth Symphony, which is thoroughly saturated with the famous “short-shortshort-long” pattern that unifies the entire work into a coherent whole. Even as the mood and texture and melodies of the symphony shift and evolve over the course of that work, the new tunes are imbued with that same instantly recognizable rhythmic cell, tattooing the pattern into listeners’ ears.

This idea of making rhythm a more individuated, integral aspect of his compositions isn’t limited to the Fifth Symphony. Turning to the Violin Concerto’s opening, five knocking notes on the timpani form a nucleus around which the entire movement develops. It’s a simple, elegant gesture that leads into a sweet singing passage in the winds. Then, strings take up that knocking pattern once more, a clear indication to listeners that it’ll be a key component of the concerto as opposed to a mere introductory motif.

The rest of the movement unfolds with similar simplicity, as the next moment approaching anything melodic is an ascending D major scale, one of the foundational building blocks of European tonality. These three elements, the opening wind phrase, the five-knock rhythm and the scale, form the entire basis for this movement, which spins these motifs into fully twenty-five minutes of music. When the violinist enters, it’s to dance nimbly above these straightforward component ideas, embellishing and

Continued on Page 14

PROGRAM NOTES : DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

by Jeremy Reynolds

SYMPHONY No. 5 in D MINOR, Op. 47

I. Moderato—Allegro non troppo

II. Allegretto

III. Largo

IV. Allegro non troppo

DURATION: About 50 minutes

PREMIERED: Leningrad, 1937

INSTRUMENTATION: Two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets and E-flat clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, snare drum, triangle, cymbals, bass drum, tam-tam, glockenspiel, xylophone, two harps, piano, celesta and strings.

“The theme of my symphony is the making of a man. I saw man with all his experiences as the center of the composition…In the finale the tragically tense impulses of the earlier movements are resolved in optimism and the joy of living.”

— Dmitri Dmitrieivich Shostakovich (Born 1906, Russia; died 1975)

SYMPHONY: An elaborate orchestral composition typically broken into contrasting movements, at least one of which is in sonata form.

FURTHER LISTENING:

Shostakovich:

Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10

Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43

Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 60, (Leningrad)

Imagine being forced to create in a certain way on threat of death from the government. In 1936, Shostakovich was firmly under the Soviet microscope. Despite a meteoric rise to fame with his First Symphony a decade earlier, his Fourth Symphony and opera Lady Macbeth were more sharply dissonant and experimental than his previous works, earning him a threatening denouncement from the Communist Party. The composer, a famously anxious man, took to sleeping in the stairwell of his apartment for a time, in the hopes that he could be taken quietly and without fuss and his family might be spared if the authorities came for him in the merciless stillness of the night.

What’s more, Shostakovich’s first child was born during this period of disfavor. Much was at stake.

His response to these conditions — his Fifth Symphony — is a remarkable, humanistic testament to fortitude, passion and courage. It begins with a fierce, jagged tune in the low strings, upper strings following and snapping into line. Almost immediately, however, upper strings begin a softer song. There is nervousness. Resignation to fate, perhaps. While the symphony is not explicitly programmatic, it is of course reasonable to project the composer’s influences on the piece. There is a noticeable shift a few minutes in when the harp enters with a plucked chord; now, a trudging accompaniment propels the music along. Another when the piano enters, and brass take over the

Continued on Page 15

Program Notes

BEETHOVEN, p. 11

tune, answered by a plaintive wind chorale. Slowly, the music picks up speed, conveying tragedy and passion and urgency. When it arrives at its faster tempo, it is off kilter — Beethoven places emphasis at times on the first beat of each musical measure (where listeners would expect it) and at times on the second, perhaps a nod to the sarabande, a style of Spanish courtly dance. There are moments of joy and repose, but always the fierceness returns, capturing a sense of bitter struggle.

At the climax, brass repeat the opening low string tune much faster, answered by higher strings, alternating before a sudden descending interval in the strings captures the moment of Egmont’s execution. (In the play he declares at this moment: “Defend your land! And to liberate your loved ones, give yourselves joyfully, as I have given you an example!”)

There is a moment of mourning, and then a victorious, manic dash to the finish. The count’s martyrdom is immortalized.

About 150 years later, the people of Hungary adopted the overture as an unofficial anthem during an unsuccessful countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People’s Republic, then subordinate to the Soviet Union. Since then, Egmont — and Beethoven’s accompanying music — have become symbolic of standing against oppression. commenting and dialoguing with the orchestra as Beethoven cycles the tunes through a variety of moods and permutations, always retaining that straightforward frankness of the opening.

A slow second movement retains the first’s commitment to celebrating the fundamentals of

Western harmony with a set of variations on an uncomplicated melody. The finale is more boisterous and virtuosic, still built from another basic musical building block — the arpeggio, or broken chord, here adapted into a sort of “hunting horn” theme — in rondo form. Rondos introduce and repeat a principal melody that alternates with contrasting episodes, grounding such works with restatements of their opening music. Here, a soloist can exercise creative techniques to differentiate the repeated music, a dynamic shift here or a change in attitude there. This internal memory helps listeners track the work’s action through to the close, a fiery burst of call and response with the soloist and orchestra intended to bring listeners leaping to their feet.

The work is famous now, but it flopped at the premiere, delivered admirably by the prodigy Franz Clement, an influential critic. He alleged that “while there are

BEETHOVEN, p. 12

Program Notes

BEETHOVEN, p. 14

beautiful things in the concerto, the sequence of events often seems incoherent, and the endless repetition of some commonplace passages could easily prove fatiguing.” It was only later through the concentrated effort of violinist Joseph Joachim that the work became a staple of the repertoire.

melody. The movement constantly references its initial tunes and rhythmic gestures, an effective classical technique that likely helped the piece win favor with the censors and public.

It’s uncomfortable to think that the demands of the Party might actually have pushed Shostakovich into an artistic lane that did in fact yield great artistic fruit. But even a broken clock is right a couple of times a day. (He was fastidious about time. Not only were his clocks not broken, he synchronized them with obsessive compulsive frequency.)

It’s in the second movement that we begin to see glimmers of satire. The movement is patterned on an Austrian folk dance, the Ländler — a nod to Mahler, perhaps — but parodied in a grotesque manner, with stomping footsteps in the opening pivoting to a shrill dance in the woodwinds. These extreme shifts in dynamic and range give the movement a deliciously snide quality that subverts the occasional declamatory statements in the brass. Even a more soothing tune in the solo violin and then flute, almost a lullaby, smirks and winks waggishly.

This is in sharp contrast to the lamentations of the third movement. Here, the music aches and keens. There is no brass in this movement, and Shostakovich achieves a thick, rich texture of sound by dividing the strings more than was typical. Normally, there are two violin sections, violas, cellos and basses. In this movement, violins are split into three sections, and violas and cellos

are both split into two complements each. Technique aside, there is great tragedy here. Listeners at the premiere were moved to tears.

In another sharp turn, the brass and timpani open the finale with a hulking tune that soon speeds into a wild theme in the strings and winds. The movement is crazed with triumph that rings hollow after the desolation of the Largo movement. The movement slows, and themes from earlier in the work appear in a lengthy transformation (again, another nod to his critics’ demands for more formal cohesion, perhaps) that builds to a ferocious conclusion. The work’s first ovation lasted nearly a half an hour — the Russian public are thought to have heard and understood the symphony in a subversive way. Shostakovich wrote in a manner that would please the authorities, still managing to capture the fears and hopes and determination of an age.

SHOSTAKOVICH, p. 13

Ma mère l’Oye

ARTIST PROFILES

Adam Fisher, vocalist

Equally versatile in Opera, Musicals and contemporary music, Adam Fisher is known for his charismatic stage presence and wide range of repertoire. A graduate of University of British Columbia and Santa Barbara's Music Academy of the West, Adam has sung in several contemporary and classic operas, including Candide with Edmonton Opera’s illfated production of Leonard Bernstein’s classic satire Candide, Julius Caesar with Industry Opera and LA Phil's live recording of Young Caesar, Edward, a troubled young soldier in Opera on the Avalon’s premiere of “OURS”, Father Alexander in Tapestry Opera’s powerful

2017 production Oksana G, Paris in Boston with Odyssey Opera’s “sparkling” production of La Belle Helene, Rodolfo in Edmonton with Mercury Opera’s genre bending production of La Boheme in the infamous strip club Chez Pierre.

His musical credits include, Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar and Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat both with the Westben Music Festival, Joe Cable in South Pacific with Calgary Opera and numerous Broadway review concerts across North America.

Adam’s upcoming highlights include a tour across the United States with the America’s Wonders 3D cinematic experience, Lasting Impressions Orchestral, a five-song EP of classical arrangements of popular songs with renowned Canadian Composer Brian Finley, including Don Maclean’s classic song, “Vincent”.

The Movement

The ideas of Impressionism can be traced to the 1860s when Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and others pursued “en plein air” (painting in open air) together. John Rand’s radical invention of paint tubes allowed such a move. New bright, synthetic colors opened a new world for the painters.

In 1874, an expanded group of these painters took the art world by storm. Ignoring the Académie des Beaux-Arts’ Salon de Paris, (the official exhibition and influencer of the art world), this ragtag bunch pooled their money and their works, rented a studio, and set a date. Calling themselves the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Printmakers, they opened against the annual Salon in May 1874.

The art world, and our world, was forever changed.

Originally a pejorative term, Impressionism shook the art world to its roots. Critics said the works seemed unfinished and were just “impressions.” What they did not understand was that cameras could now capture realism and the artist was freed to show us their own piercing perceptions. Impressionism is considered the first modern movement in painting.

Over time, this style became widely accepted—even by the Salon—as the way to present modern life. Loose brushwork of unblended primary colors, short brushstrokes that often only outline that which they represent, and always, the impact of the light. Never simply black and white, shadows are rendered in highlights of color.

Impressionists strove to depict a specific moment in time by capturing atmospheric conditions—moving clouds, a ray of sun, a sudden fall of rain. And always the light—the light, illuminating, fading, flickering; their goal to make you see what they saw.

Lasting Impressions takes viewers into the works of some of the most famous names in art: Gaugin, Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, Caillebotte, Cézanne, Renoir, Sisley, Seurat, Pissarro. These masterpieces are seen in an entirely original perspective.

Impressionism was spurred by technology: New, vibrant synthetic colors, paint in a tube and the advent of the camera spurred and allowed artists to paint in a different way. Lasting Impressions capitalizes on technology as well to spur and allow audiences to see these works as never before.

The Artists

Lasting Impressions presents the works of fifteen of the world’s most famous artists.

Gustave Caillebotte (1848 – 1894)

Caillebotte is unusual in the pantheon of impressionist artists. Independently wealthy, he did not need to sell his paintings which had the ironic effect of cementing his obscurity. Still, he was a master painter obsessed with the City of Paris, often capturing the goingson in the modern metropolis known as the geographic center of Impressionism. He is the only impressionist to serve as artist, curator, financier, organizer, and patron of the movement.

Paul Cézanne (1839 – 1906)

Cézanne is considered “The Father of Modern Art” not only because he painted in the Impressionist, Post-impressionist, Cubist and Modern styles, but also because his vivid colors, analytical brush strokes and innovative approach to perspective led Picasso to call Cézanne “the father of us all.” While working closely and being exhibited with the impressionists, he developed a unique and recognizable style. His unique brushstrokes and colorful palette are on full display in Lasting Impressions.

Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917)

In much the same way Cézanne captured the landscape, Degas captured the ballet. “People call me the painter of dancing girls,” he once said. “It has never occurred to them that my chief interest in dancers lies in rendering movement and painting pretty clothes.” Yet Degas focused not on the glory of performance instead opting to reveal the simple moments and hard work of art. Much like a photographer (which he also became), he framed odd angles and unique perspectives to capture striking moments.

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Henri Fantin-Latour (1836–1904)

Despite his association with the impressionists, Fantin-Latour was a traditional painter throughout his career. It is his portrait of Edouard Manet that brings him to Lasting Impressions. He is best known for his still-life paintings, particularly his exquisite flowers.

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

Gauguin came to art late in life, a thirty-something successful stockbroker when he became a student of Pissarro who invited him to join the impressionists. It took a stock market crash to convince him to join the artists fulltime. He famously spent a summer en plein air with Vincent Van Gogh before turning his back on not only the current art world, but the modern world altogether. He became associated with symbolism and primitivism and is often used as an example of ultimate artistic freedom.

Edouard Manet (1832-1883)

Like many of the impressionists, Manet was born into an upper-class family and his had high aspirations for Manet as a lawyer or military leader. After failing entrance exams twice, he enrolled in art school. His “alla prima technique” –successive layers of paint on a light ground –created energetic canvases whose opaque flatness and sketch-like passages changed the acceptable norms of painting. Manet weathered severe reviews and never achieved financial or critical success in his lifetime. He once wrote a friend, “They are raining insults on me. Someone must be wrong.” Could he have imagined his paintings now fetching upwards of twenty-six million dollars?

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Known as the “father of Impressionism” it was his Impression: Sunrise that gave the movement its name. Obsessed with the light, Monet learned to paint outdoors and quickly to capture its impact. Most people think of “waterlilies” as a painting but in fact, he created over 250 “waterlilies” to capture the effect of the light at different times of day. He not only painted them, but he also grew them(!), and the subject of these paintings were found in his gardens at Giverny. When asked, he surprisingly said, "My finest masterpiece is my garden."

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)

Pissarro differed from his fellow impressionists in at least two ways: he preferred to live in the countryside away from Paris and he is the only painter to have exhibited in all eight impressionist exhibitions. He also chose to often focus on rural peasants and strove to show the dignity

in their labor and lives. He continually sought our younger painters to work with (including Seurat) and his color theory had a “lasting impression” on them and the larger art world.

Jean Francois-Raffaelli (1850-1924)

Raffaelli had aspirations as an opera singer and actor before moving to painting in 1870. Degas introduced Raffaelli to impressionism and impressionists despite the reservations of others in the group and he exhibited with them only twice, in 1880 and 1881. He moved on to realism and created a specific style of it (caractérisme) striving to depict more than a simple moment in time so to understand the characters more fully.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

Renoir once trained as an opera singer, eventually taking a job in a porcelain factory. Fortune found his father’s home next to the Louvre and when the porcelain factory closed, he turned to visual art. He became one of the most famous painters of all time, known for broken brushstrokes of complimentary colors that exquisitely capture the light. Renoir’s subjects always seem to be enjoying themselves and he clearly enjoyed painting them. (Look carefully for his wife in the Luncheon of the Boating Party. She is in the left foreground with the dog.) Stricken with severe arthritis in his later years he painted through the pain. “The pain passes,“ he said, “the beauty remains.”

Henri Rousseau (1844-1910)

Rousseau was a post-impressionist known for his naïve or primitive style. He took an early retirement from the Army so that he could pursue his painting hobby full time and shortly after his death, was one of the most respected artists of the day. Often ridiculed by critics, he was admired and feted by some of the world’s greatest artists including Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh and Dali.

Georges Seurat (1859-1891)

Like several of the impressionists, Seurat was born into wealth. He is most famous for the technique of pointillism and for Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte which made the technique famous. Pointillism uses dots of unblended primary colors side-by-side so that the eye does the mixing. The 10-foot-tall painting took two years to complete and now hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago. It also inspired the musical, Sunday in the Park with George by Stephen Sondheim. In it, George’s girlfriend, (played in the original by Bernadette Peters) is aptly named “Dot.”

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Alfred Sisley (1839-1899)

Sisley was likely the most dedicated to impressionism, rarely painting in doors or anything other than landscapes. Most artists moved on from impressionism after a time but Sisly remained an impressionist throughout his life and career. Consequently, his skills as an impressionist continually grew and he became known for his intense colors and the power of his expression. Like many artists, he struggled financially and his works became monetarily valuable only after his death. Several of his works were stolen by Nazis and have never been found.

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)

Van Gogh is likely the most famous impressionist and masses have learned of him through Don McLean’s Starry, Starry Night, or from one of the many screen versions of his life in which he is portrayed by Kirk Douglas, Willem Dafoe, Benedict Cumberbatch and others (even Scorsese himself had a go of the role). He worked closely with Gaugin and it was after an argument with him that Van Goh cut off his own ear. Van Gogh struggled with mental illness throughout his short life (today he would likely be diagnosed as bi-polar) and died by suicide at the age of 37.

Friday, May 24, 2024 at 7:30 PM

Saturday, May 25, 2024 at 7:30 PM

Sunday, May 26, 2024 at 2:00 PM

Bass Performance Hall

Fort Worth, TX

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

Tomáš Netopil, conductor

Lukáš Vondráček, piano

DVORÁK Slavonic Dance in C Major, Op. 46, No. 1

DVOŘÁK

CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11

I. Allegro maestoso

II. Romanze: Larghetto

III. Rondo: Vivace

Lukáš Vondráček, piano

INTERMISSION

DVORÁK Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88

DVOŘÁK

I. Allegro con brio

II. Adagio

III. Allegretto grazioso

IV. Allegro, ma non troppo

Video or audio recording of this performance is strictly prohibited. Patrons arriving late will be seated during the first convenient pause. Program and artists are subject to change.

ARTIST PROFILES

An inspirational force, particularly in Czech music, Tomáš Netopil celebrates his tenth and final season as General Music Director of the Aalto Musiktheater and Philharmonie Essen in 2022/23. This season features Wagner’s Tannhäuser, Kampe’s Dogville and Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. This season will also see him lead a production of Janáček Káťa Kabanová at Grand Théâtre de Genève.

Tomáš Netopil is also Principal Guest Conductor with Czech Philharmonic Orchestra with whom, in addition to concerts at the Rudolfinum Hall in Prague, he performs on tour including for the Ostrava and Litomyšl Festivals. Guest-conducting performances during 2022/23 include Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre National de Montpellier.

In Summer 2018 Tomáš Netopil created the International Summer Music Academy in Kroměříž offering students both exceptional artistic tuition and the opportunity to meet and work with major international musicians. In Summer 2021, in association with the Dvořák Prague Festival, the Academy established the Dvořákova Praha Youth Philharmonic with musicians from conservatories and music academies, coached by principal players of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Tomáš Netopil has held a close relationship with the Dvořák Prague Festival for some time and was Artist in Residence in 2017, opening the Festival with Essen Philharmoniker and closing the Festival with Dvořák’s Te Deum and Wiener Symphoniker.

Operatic highlights beyond Essen include Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (La clemenza di Tito, Rusalka, The Cunning Little Vixen, La Juive, The Bartered Bride,

and Busoni’s Doktor Faust), Vienna Staatsoper (his most recent successes include Idomeneo, Der Freischütz, and a new production of Leonore) and for Netherlands Opera (Jenůfa). His concert highlights of recent seasons have included Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich as well as engagements with Orchestre de Paris, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Orchestra Sinfonica della Rai and Aspen Music Festival.

His discography for Supraphon includes Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass (the first ever recording of the original 1927 version), Dvořák’s complete cello works, Martinů’s Ariane and Double Concerto, and Smetana’s Má vlast with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. During his tenure in Essen, he has recorded Suk Asrael and Mahler Symphonies No.6 and 9.

From 2008 – 2012 Tomáš Netopil held the position of Music Director of the Prague National Theatre. He studied violin and conducting in his native Czech Republic, as well as at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm under the guidance of Professor Jorma Panula. In 2002 he won the 1st Sir Georg Solti Conductors Competition at the Alte Oper Frankfurt.

Tomáš Netopil, conductor

ARTIST PROFILES

Following recent highlights such as collaborations with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Boston Symphony and London Symphony orchestras, the 2022/23 season sees Lukáš Vondráček work with renowned orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lille, West Australian Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Sympony Orchestra and Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra amongst many others. He will also return to long term partners such as Saarbrücken State Orchestra, Janacáček Philharmonic, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège. Recital engagements lead him to the Flanders Festival, Flagey in Brussels for their Piano Days Festival and to Luzern’s KKL as part of the “Le Piano Symphonique” Festival before the season ends with performances together with the Ensemble 1704 under Vaclav Luks at the "Chopin and his Europe" Festival in Warsaw and the Beethovenfest Bonn.

Over the last decade Lukáš Vondráček has travelled the world working with orchestras such as the Philadelphia and Sydney Symphony orchestras, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Symphony

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Radio Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic and Netherlands Philharmonic orchestras under conductors such as Paavo Järvi, Gianandrea Noseda, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Marin Alsop, Christoph Eschenbach, Pietari Inkinen, Vasily Petrenko, Jakub Hrůša, Anu Tali, Xian Zhang, Krzysztof Urbański, Stéphane Denève and Elim Chan.

Recitals have led him to Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, the Flagey in Brussels, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Wiener Konzerthaus, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and to renowned festivals such as Menuhin Festival Gstaad, PianoEspoo in Finland, Prague Spring Festival and Lille Piano Festival.

At the age of four, he made his first public appearance. As a 15-year-old in 2002 he made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy which was followed by a major US tour in 2003. His natural and assured musicality and remarkable technique have long marked him out as a gifted and mature musician. He has achieved worldwide recognition by receiving many international awards, foremost the Grand Prix at the 2016 Concours Reine Elisabeth in Brussels alongside first prizes at the Hilton Head and San Marino International Piano Competitions and Unisa International Piano Competition in Pretoria, South Africa, as well as the Raymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award at the 2009 International Van Cliburn Piano Competition.

After finishing his studies at the Academy of Music in Katowice and the Vienna Conservatoire, Lukáš Vondráček obtained an Artist Diploma from Boston's New England Conservatory under the tutelage of Hung-Kuan Chen, graduating with honours in 2012.

Lukáš Vondráček , piano

PROGRAM NOTES : ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK

by Jeremy Reynolds

SLAVONIC DANCE No. 1 in C MAJOR, Op. 46

DURATION: Around 35 minutes

PREMIERED: London, 1879

INSTRUMENTATION: Two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, cymbals, bass drum, triangle, and strings

“I am quite a simple Czech musician and do not care for such blatant humiliation and, despite the fact that I have moved considerably in great music circles, I still remain what I have always been – a simple Czech musician.”

— Antonín Dvořák (Born 1841 in what is now the Czech Republic; died 1904)

MUSICAL NATIONALISM: the use of musical ideas or motifs that are identified with a specific country, region, or ethnicity, such as folk tunes and melodies, rhythms, and harmonies inspired by them.

FURTHER LISTENING:

Dvořák: Moravian Duets, Op. 38

Serenade for Winds in D minor, Op. 44

Brahms: Hungarian Dance

In the 1800s, launching a career in the arts wasn’t just about talent: who you knew mattered almost as much. (Things aren’t so different now, really.) Antonín Dvořák, compositionally something of a late bloomer, began submitting his music to European competitions in his 30s. Judging one of those competitions was none other than the estimable Johannes Brahms, further along in his career and one of the continent’s most celebrated composers.

Brahms was so taken with Dvořák’s work that, in addition to awarding him first prize, he personally sought out the younger composer to help kickstart what he correctly assumed would be a brilliant career. Brahms introduced Dvořák to Simrock, the top publisher in the music business at the time. Simrock quickly commissioned a series of dances from Dvořák in both a piano four-hands arrangement — composing works playable by amateur pianists was all the rage at the time and a surefire way to earn some cash — as well as an orchestral arrangement.

The popularity of the resultant series catapulted Dvořák to international fame. The Slavonic Dances are loosely inspired by Brahms’ own Hungarian Dances, which also exist in piano four-hands and orchestra form. Rather than adapting actual Slavonic melodies as Brahms’ had adapted Hungarian tunes, Dvořák invented his own tunes and wrote them in the style of a variety of Czech dance patterns.

Continued on Page 30

PROGRAM NOTES : FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN

by Jeremy Reynolds

PIANO CONCERTO No. 1 in E MINOR, Op. 11

I. Allegro maestoso

II. Romanze – Larghetto

III. Rondo – Vivace

DURATION: About 40 minutes

PREMIERED: Warsaw, 1830

INSTRUMENTATION: Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, trombone, timpani, strings, and solo piano

“I did not have the slightest trace of stage fright and I played as if I were alone. Everything went well. The hall was full. ... Then came yours truly with the Allegro in E minor; on the Streicher grand piano it seemed to play itself. Ear-splitting ‘Bravos.’”

— Frédéric Chopin (Born 1810, Poland; died 1849)

CONCERTO: A composition that features one or more “solo” instruments with orchestral accompaniment. The form of the concerto has developed and evolved over the course of music history.

FURTHER LISTENING:

Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21

Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante in E-flat Major, Op. 22

Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C Major, Op. 3

When writing concertos, some composers strive to integrate the solo instrument with the orchestra so that the ensemble is in duet with the soloist rather than merely accompanying. Chopin is not one of those composers.

Although his First Concerto begins with a lengthy, lyrical introduction in the orchestra that introduces the music’s brooding primary material, once the pianist enters, it is entirely a work for piano with orchestral accompaniment. This isn’t a criticism — Chopin’s rise to fame as a pianist was meteoric. Dubbed “the second Mozart” before the age of 10, his talent for performance was universally respected due to his sensitivity. By all accounts, Chopin developed a style of playing that made the piano seem to sing its melodies, and listeners responded rapturously.

So, when the piano does finally enter, it is a burst of fire, cutting through a beautiful but conservatively written orchestral introduction. From here, the orchestra quietly adds shading and shadow and texture, making the occasional exclamatory transitions, but the piano is master. Chopin was 20 when he premiered this concerto, full of vim and about to depart his home in Poland to travel and make his mark on the world.

Something more of that youth is apparent in the second movement, about which Chopin wrote:

It was not meant to create a powerful effect; it is rather a Romance, calm and

Continued on Page 30

PROGRAM NOTES : ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK

by Jeremy Reynolds

SYMPHONY No. 8 in G MAJOR, Op. 88

I. Allegro con brio

II. Adagio

III. Allegretto grazioso; Molto vivace

IV. Allegro ma non troppo

DURATION: Around 35 minutes

PREMIERED: Prague, 1890

INSTRUMENTATION: two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings

“The music of the people is like a rare and lovely flower growing amidst encroaching weeds. Thousands pass it, while others trample it under foot, and thus the chances are that it will perish before it is seen by the one discriminating spirit who will prize it above all else. The fact that no one has as yet arisen to make the most of it does not prove that nothing is there.”

“I have composed too much.”

— Antonín Dvořák (Born 1841 in what is now the Czech Republic; died 1904)

SYMPHONY: An elaborate orchestral composition typically broken into contrasting movements, at least one of which is in sonata form.

SONATA FORM: A type of composition generally in three sections (exposition, development, and recapitulation) in which at least two themes or subjects are explored according to set key relationships.

SUGGESTED READING:

Antonín Dvořák Letters and Reminiscences, by Otakar Sourek Dvořák, by John Clapham

FURTHER LISTENING:

Symphony No. 7 in D minor Symphony No. 9 in E minor Piano Quintet No. 2

IA noble, rhapsodic melody opens Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, the perfect vehicle for the woody timbres of cellos and clarinets. This first tune serves as an introduction to each major section of this first movement, heralding first the exposition and development sections before appearing a third time as a thunderous trumpet punctuated by trombone blasts and hurried along by string scales call to usher in the recapitulation.

To contrast, the flute presents the second tune, a rising triad in G major that lilts into a bird call before the music takes off in earnest, a variety of Bohemian-tinged melodies following in quick succession and alternating between the melancholy of the introduction and the cheer of the flute tune.

At the time of the symphony’s writing, Dvořák remarked famously that “melodies simply pour out of me,” evidently true given his rapid progress with the symphony, which took only about 10 weeks to compose at his country home in Vysoká in the Czech Republic. Like Beethoven’s famous Pastoral Symphony, also composed in a rustic environment, the music retains an earthy, rugged character, inflected heavily with folk tunes and rhythms.

The second movement continues to juxtapose somber, serious music with warmer, more lighthearted tunes, carrying a great deal of momentum despite its “Adagio” designation. The third movement is a stylized waltz, the

Continued on Page 30

Program Notes Continued

DVOŘÁK, p. 27

The first dance is a brilliant Furiant dance in C Major, a fastpaced, fiery affair that changes its rhythmic emphasis often. Written in ¾ time, listeners can note the shifting patterns (it moves from a conventional ONE two three ONE two three to a ONE two THREE one TWO three and back frequently and fluidly). Like most stylized classical dances, it repeats itself frequently and has a contrastingly lyrical middle section before reprising the exuberant opening.

CHOPIN, p. 28

melancholy, giving the impression of someone looking gently toward a spot that calls to mind a thousand happy memories. It is a kind of reverie in the moonlight on a beautiful spring evening. Hence the accompaniment is muted; that is, the violins are muffled by a sort of comb that sits over the strings and gives them a nasal and silvery tone.

I wonder if that will have a good effect. Well, time will tell.

Months previously, the composer had met a girl, you see, a certain Konstancja Gładkowska, a soprano whom he worshipped but never made his feelings plain. In the Romanze, there is shyness, coyness, a touch of melancholy and longing.

But then, sharp utterances in the orchestra initiate the finale, a Polish polonaise bursting with vigor and color. The piano spins the tunes as though from gold, with little trills and twirls ornamenting the melodies. Here, there is more of a back and forth with the orchestra, though all the most delicious material goes of course to the soloist. “The Rondo, I think, will go down well with everyone,” Chopin remarked, rather astutely.

The orchestral parts have a certain “textbook” feel to them, but this may have been a practical matter.

Chopin premiered the concerto at a “farewell”

concert before departing Poland, intending to perform his concerto around the continent. Rehearsal time would likely be limited, and such an arrangement would help ensure successful performances.

DVOŘÁK, p. 29

tune embellished by burbling arpeggios in the winds and pizzicato (plucked) strings.

As is customary, this movement is in three sections and follows an ABA pattern, where the B section contrasts the opening material and that opening material returns to close the movement. The middle section here is introduced in the oboes, set against a stuttering rhythmic pattern in the upper strings, elegiac in its affect.

Despite an initially slow burn to his career as a composer, Dvořák had become famous by the 1880s and 1890s, so much so that he was allegedly enraged by his publisher lowballing him for his

Program Notes Continued

DVOŘÁK, p.30

long-awaited Eighth Symphony. Simrock, his publisher as well as Johannes Brahms’, offered him only a third of what it had paid for his previous symphony four years earlier, preferring to nudge Dvořák toward writing shorter, more easily published works that provided better profits. The composer

split from this firm to sell the rights to a publishing house in London, though he later reconciled with Simrock.

The finale of this symphony begins with a trumpet fanfare that introduces a theme in the cello section, built on the same triad as the flute tune near the beginning of the symphony. What

MAHLER, p. 38

tonality and reminiscing over the pleasantries of the scherzo.

Mahler didn’t attach a program to this work, but it’s easy to hear his affection for country melodies as a preference for the simple life, with the more militant, earlier movements as a source of tension.

Mahler himself was born to a humble family. He wrote his Fifth Symphony in the summers of 1901 and 1902, coincidentally the same time that he met, wooed, and wed Alma Schindler. The pair were expecting their first child when Mahler completed

follows is a set of variations that flicker from mood to mood as they explore the emotive possibilities of such a simple opening, winding down to a gentle conclusion with a lush clarinet solo.But then, Dvořák tosses in a final few seconds of pure adrenaline intended to bring the audiences leaping to their feet. Accounts of the premiere confirm his success.

the work, which, at the time, was quite poorly received by the public. At the premiere, Mahler allegedly remarked, “Nobody understood it. I wish I could conduct the first performance fifty years after my death.” More than a century later, orchestras continue to perform it frequently.

Friday, May 31, 2024 at 7:30 PM

Saturday, June 01, 2024 at 7:30 PM

Sunday, June 02, 2024 at 2:00 PM

Bass Performance Hall

Fort Worth, TX

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

Robert Spano, conductor

Peter Steiner, trombone

Constanze Hochwartner, piano

JENNIFER HIGDON riversingsasongtotrees

KEVIN DAY

DEPARTURES: Double Concerto for Trombone, Piano, & Orchestra (WORLD PREMIERE)

I. New Horizons

II. Confrontation

Cadenza

III. Dance Hall

Constanze Hochwartner, piano

Peter Steiner, trombone

INTERMISSION

MAHLER Symphony No. 5

Part I

1. Trauermarsch: In gemessenem Schritt. Streng. Wie ein Kondukt

2. Stürmisch bewegt. Mit grösster Vehemenz Part II

3. Scherzo: Kräftig, nicht zu schnell

Part III

4. Adagietto: Sehr langsam

5. Rondo-Finale: Allegro giocoso. Frisch

Video or audio recording of this performance is strictly prohibited. Patrons arriving late will be seated during the first convenient pause. Program and artists are subject to change.

ARTIST PROFILES

Constanze Hochwartner, piano, and Peter Steiner, trombone Pianist/organist Constanze Hochwartner and trombonist Peter Steiner have been performing together as a Duo since 2017. Their 2022/2023 season will feature a 5-month US tour as well as concerts in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Korea, Italy, Japan, and Singapore. Together they have toured Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.

The first collaboration album

SAPPHIRE was released in July 2019 under the Berlin Classics label, followed by BINARY STAR, on which Constanze plays organ (released in May 2021).

In addition they also recorded THE FIRST NOËL – a Christmas Collection including both instruments (organ and piano) paired with trombone was released in December 2021. The most recent album 2022 was released in July 2022.

The May 31st - June 2nd performances are in partnership with the International Trombone Festival, an annual multi-day event featuring all things trombone. Artists, teachers, students, professionals, industry leaders, and hobbyists gather to celebrate and explore the many facets and styles of trombone playing, teaching, and craftsmanship. The location of the ITF moves around the world on an annual basis. Most festivals occur in the United States, but the ITF frequently occurs in other countries worldwide.

ARTIST PROFILES

Jennifer Higdon, composer

Jennifer Higdon is one of America’s most acclaimed figures in contemporary classical music, receiving the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, a 2010 Grammy for her Percussion Concerto, a 2018 Grammy for her Viola Concerto and, most recently, a 2020 Grammy for her Harp Concerto.

Higdon’s first opera, Cold Mountain, won the International Opera Award for Best World Premiere and the opera recording was nominated for two Grammy awards.

In 2018, Higdon received the prestigious Nemmers Prize from Northwestern University, awarded to contemporary classical composers of exceptional achievement who have significantly influenced the field of composition. Most recently, she was invited to become a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Higdon enjoys several hundred performances a year of her works and her works have been recorded on more than seventy CDs.

Kevin Day, composer

An American whose music has been characterized by "propulsive, syncopated rhythms, colorful orchestration, and instrumental virtuosity," (Robert Kirzinger, Boston Symphony) Composer Kevin Day has quickly emerged as one of the leading young voices in the world of music composition today, whose music ranges from powerful introspection to joyous exuberance.

Kevin Day is an internationally acclaimed composer, conductor, and pianist, whose music often intersects between the worlds of jazz, minimalism, Latin music, fusion, and contemporary classical idioms.

PROGRAM NOTES : JENNIFER HIGDON

by Jeremy Reynolds

“RIVER SINGS A SONG TO TREES” from CITY SCAPE

DURATION: About 18 minutes

PREMIERED: Atlanta, 2002

INSTRUMENTATION: Two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four French horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, harp, timpani, percussion, and strings

“I always tell people that my music should speak to them... and that they shouldn’t feel obligated to say why or how. All reactions are valid; the important thing is to have the experience.”

— Jennifer Higdon (Born Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1962)

PROGRAM MUSIC: Music that follows a narrative or musically illustrates an idea; works like tone poems or works with descriptive titles.

FURTHER LISTENING:

Blue Cathedral

Tuba Concerto

Soprano Sax Concerto

Jennifer Higdon, one of America’s most thoroughly decorated and celebrated living composers, spent her early childhood in Atlanta, when the city’s skyline was undergoing rapid development and Civil Rights leaders were organizing. Though she moved with her family to Tennessee, her relationship with her birth city deepened with time. While studying music at Bowling Green University she met conductor Robert Spano, sparking a friendship and collaboration that has spanned decades.

Spano became the music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in the year 2000, and he commissioned Higdon multiple times during his tenure there. One of the fruits of those commissions is the work City Scape, a three-movement tone painting of Higdon’s recollections of her youth in Atlanta. The middle movement, “river sings a song to trees,” begins flutteringly, hesitantly in the percussion and strings, chimes perhaps evoking breezes in branches. Flutes and other woodwinds chime in — there is a sense of nature and open spaces and a deep tranquility.

The piece is loosely inspired by a creek that ran through Higdon’s childhood yard, but rather than explicit musical representations, Higdon has said that work is more impressionistic, an orchestral snapshot of an era. She describes the piece in her own words:

Drawn from my work, “City Scape”, this particular movement (which also serves as a separate work) focuses on

Continued on Page 38

PROGRAM NOTES : KEVIN DAY

by Jeremy Reynolds

DEPARTURES: DOUBLE CONCERTO for TROMBONE, PIANO, & ORCHESTRA

I. New Horizons

II. Confrontation

Cadenza

III. Dance Hall

DURATION: About 20 minutes

WORLD PREMIERE

INSTRUMENTATION: Two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons and contrabassoon, two French horns, two trumpets, two trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, strings, solo trombone, and solo piano

“Each piece is a representation of a part of me. I’m constantly thinking about, OK, what haven’t I shown yet? What haven’t I said yet musically that I could say in these moments?”

— Kevin Day (Born 1996, United States)

CONCERTO: A composition that features one or more “solo” instruments with orchestral accompaniment. The form of the concerto has developed and evolved over the course of music history.

FURTHER LISTENING:

Kevin Day: Concerto for Wind Ensemble Blue Fantasia Lightspeed

Composer, conductor and jazz pianist Kevin Day was born in Arlington and attended Texas Christian University. Currently, he’s based in Toronto and teaching composition at Wilfrid Laurier University, but he’s spoken in interviews about considering North Texas his home. (He’s also mentioned a predilection for Texas Roadhouse and Red Hot & Blue.)

Day’s musical influences range from hip-hop and gospel to the film music of John Williams and a traditional classical education. His music has been performed around the world — he’s a member of a generation of composers building a career in part through social media, and several of his compositions have gone “viral.”

The composer himself describes this new work as follows:

DEPARTURES is a four-movement double concerto for trombone, piano, & orchestra that encompasses the idea of getting away from ways that I used to write and think about musical composition and move to writing more carefree and intentional. This work is about embarking on new paths forward, leaving behind the person that I was and embracing the newness of where life has taken me now.

The difficult part for me for this particular concerto was how to feature both of them and give them both ample time to play virtuosically as soloists, and in tandem with one another. At that point in my life, I had already written seven

Continued on Page 38

36 | 2023/2024 SEASON

PROGRAM NOTES : GUSTAV MAHLER

by Jeremy Reynolds

SYMPHONY No. 5

I. Trauermarsch

II. Stürmisch bewegt

III. Scherzo. Kräftig, nicht zu schnell

IV. Adagietto

V. Rondo-Finale

DURATION: About 75 minutes

PREMIERED: Cologne, 1904

INSTRUMENTATION: Four flutes (two doubling piccolo), three oboes and English horn, three clarinets and bass clarinet, three bassoons and contrabassoon, six horns, four trumpets, three trombones and tuba, timpani, cymbals, bass drum, bass drum with cymbals attached, snare drum, triangle, glockenspiel, tam-tam, slapstick, harp, and strings

“Heavens, what is the public to make of this chaos in which new worlds are forever being engendered, only to crumble into ruin the next moment? What are they to say to this primeval music, this foaming, roaring, raging sea of sound, to these dancing stars, to these breathtaking, iridescent, and flashing breakers?”

— Gustav Mahler (Born 1860, Bohemia; died 1911)

SYMPHONY: An elaborate orchestral composition typically broken into contrasting movements, at least one of which is in sonata form.

FURTHER LISTENING:

Mahler: Symphony No. 6

Symphony No. 7

Rückert-Lieder

Gustav Mahler, the consummate perfectionist that he was, discovered a severe miscalculation after the first rehearsal of his Fifth Symphony: too much percussion! Drums were outright overwhelming the other sections of the orchestra. Upon this realization, he slashed many of the percussion lines in red and cut even more after the 1904 premiere. He’d continue to tinker with the orchestration until his death in 1911, tweaking the instrumentation to better match up the music with what he heard in his head.

Mahler’s Fifth also begins with a direct homage to Beethoven’s famous Fifth Symphony, in fact: a series of three short notes followed by a longer note (da-da-da-duh!), the fate theme in Beethoven’s work. Brahms also mimicked this rhythm in his own First Symphony — it’s an earworm that has spanned generations of composers. In Mahler’s symphony, however, rather than a declamatory statement for the entire orchestra, the tune is a fanfare for the trumpet, a lonely strident voice that gains resolve and is shortly joined by the full orchestra. What follows is a lament, a massive Trauermarsch (funeral march) that maintains this initial sense of doom almost entirely throughout the movement.

Mahler’s symphony is about three times the length of a typical classical symphony, and he grouped the movements into three distinct parts. Part I includes the opening funeral march movement as well as the second

Continued on Page38

Program Notes Continued

HIGDON, p. 35

a different aspect of cities… the nature within. In contrast to the metallic and concrete structures lay the parks, large and small. Feeding this greenery and sometimes lush carpet are tributaries, hidden streams, small creeks, and occasionally rivers. The waters represent constant change: under smooth, calm waters and over powerful currents, and in doing so feeding a part of the city’s exquisite beauty. This is ‘river sings a song to trees.’

City Scape was commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony as part of Robert Spano’s tenure as music director. Spano’s vision of commissioning was visionary in that he repeatedly returned to a group of composers (known as the Atlanta School) who were given the opportunity to develop their skills and musical voice through readings, rehearsals,

performances, and commercial recordings (and in the process of repeat visits, the composers got to know the performers and the audience members). The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra commissioned six works from Higdon and recorded many more.

DAY, p.36

other concertos that mostly revolved around single soloists, so I had to figure out how to handle two instruments that already have certain perceptions as it relates to orchestra writing. There are parts of the piece that change the roles of what you would expect from trombone and piano and turn them on their heads completely. Parts where they are playing with one another and against one another, which was cool to explore in this context.

This concerto is written in dedication to Robert Spano, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and international soloists Peter Steiner and Constanze Hochwartner.

MAHLER, p. 37

movement, which doubles down on the stormy opening by accelerating the music and dramatizing the score’s action, with great whooping French horn rips and whizzing violin scales and crashing percussion. These opening movements actually share thematic material, mimicking each other’s moods and melodies at times.

The second large-scale section is the Scherzo movement, which launches with the horns declaring a bright break in the clouds. The music is rustic, a folk dance for large orchestra, a respite from the turbulence of the first half hour of the music. The third section comprises the final two movements, the slow, nostalgic adagietto, which makes generous and touching use of the harp, and the Rondo-Finale, which once again opens with a pinging horn call. The bassoon answers, establishing the movement’s major-key

Continued on Page 31

24/25 SEASON

Symphonic, Pops & Specials

Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman, Tony Bennett, The Black Panther, Kings of Soul, and so much more!

10-Concert Symphonic Subscriptions start at $210!

6 Pops Performance Packages as low $181!

Subscriptions also available for the Family Series and the Chamber Series at the Kimbell Art Museum

But wait, there’s more! The season also includes 6 spectacular Specials and a glamorous Gala featuring multi-Grammy Award winner Joyce DiDonato.

For more information or to subscribe visit:

Ways to Give

Annual Fund

Your generous gift to the annual fund allows the FWSO to continue bringing the joy of music to more than 150,000 adults, students, and children through an average of 125 performances each season. Annual fund donors are vital to the FWSO, which is why we show our appreciation by offering annual fund donors access to a range of exclusive benefits beginning at the $100 membership level.

The FWSO also makes it easy to give in the way that best fits your lifestyle! Make a one-time donation to the annual fund, or join Metronome—the FWSO’s monthly giving program that helps us keep a steady tempo year-round.

Tribute Gifts

Celebrate or commemorate friends, family, or loved ones by making a tribute gift to the FWSO in their honor. A special letter acknowledging your donation is then sent to the honoree or the honoree’s next of kin to inform them of your thoughtful and generous act.

Brooks Morris Society

Gain entry to the Brooks Morris Society and ensure your legacy leaves and impact by investing in the future of the FWSO through a charitable bequest.

Endowment Fund

Established in 1984, the FWSO’s endowment fund was established in order to provide an additional source of financial security for our institution. Gifts to the endowment fund ensure that the rich artistic traditions of the FWSO are secured in perpetuity as a part of the city’s cultural fabric for generations to come.

Donate Today!

To learn more about donor benefits and ways to give to the FWSO, please visit our website, fwsymphony.org/support/personal-giving or call the FWSO’s Donor Services Team at (817) 665-6603

Officers

Board of Directors

Mercedes T. Bass

Chairman of the Board

Marianne Auld

Chairman of the Executive Committee

Lee Hallman

Secretary

Don C. Plattsmier

Interim Treasurer

Keith Cerny, Ph.D.

President and CEO

Board of Directors

Marianne Auld+

Amy Roach Bailey

Mercedes T. Bass+

Dr. Rebecca Beasley

Connie Beck+

Ashli Blumenfeld

Anne Marie Bratton+

John Broude

J. Brooks+

Karen Burchfield+

Anne Carvalho

Dr. Joseph Cecere

Brenda Cline

Dr. Mary Costas

Barbara Cox

Juana-Rosa Daniell

Tim Daniels

Dr. Benge Daniel

Mitzi Davis

Dr. Asad Dean+

Dr. Tom Deas

Dr. Jeffrey G. Detweiler

Joseph DeWoody

Willa Dunleavy

Brandon Elms

Dr. Jennifer Freeman+

Charlotte French

Aubrey Gideon

Pamela Gilchrist

Gail Aronoff Granek

Lee Hallman+

Aaron Howard+

Kim Johnson

Dee J. Kelly, Jr.+

Kelly Lancarte

Mollie Lasater+

Nico Leone

Mary Hart Lipscomb

Misty Locke

Kate Lummis

Priscilla Martin

Louella Martin+

Dr. Stuart D. McDonald

Ellen Messman

Justin Newton

Don C. Plattsmier+

Dana Porter+

Don Reid

Jean Roach+

Henry Robinson+

Jude Ryan

Alann B. Sampson+

Jeff Schmeltekopf

Dr. Russ Schultz

Kal Silverberg

Whit Smith

Clare Stonesifer+

Jonathan T. Suder+

Carla Thompson+

Dr. Amy Tully

John Wells+

Dr. James Williams

J.W. Wilson+

Gerry Wood

Emeritus Council

Marvin E. Blum

Dr. Victor J. Boschini, Jr.

Gail Cooke

Vance A. Duffy

Katie Farmer

Joan Friedman

Tera Garvey

John B. Giordano

Barry L. Green

Genie Guynn

Kathleen Hicks

Robert L. Jameson

Teresa King

Michelle Marlow

Colin McConnell

Dr. Till Meyn

Erin Moseley *

Frasher H. Pergande

Thomas “Tommy” L. Smith

Dwayne Smith

Kathleen B. Stevens

Ronda Jones Stucker

Lon Werner

Chairman Emeriti

William P. Hallman, Jr.*

Adele Hart*

Ed Schollmaier*

Frank H. Sherwood

Life Trustee

Rosalyn G. Rosenthal

Rae and Ed Schollmaier*

President Emerita

Ann Koonsman* + Executive Committee Member

* Denotes Deceased

Supporters of the FWSO

The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra expresses its deepest gratitude to Board Chairman Mercedes T. Bass for her recent transformative gift alongside the generous individual, institutional, endowment, and legacy supporters of this world-class orchestra and cultural pillar of Fort Worth.

Individual Giving

Chairman’s Level

$500,000 and above

Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass

Mr. & Mrs. John B. Kleinheinz

Maestro’s Level

$250,000- $499,999

Mr. & Mrs. J. Luther King, Jr. / Luther

King Capital Management

John Wells & Shay McCulloch-Wells

Principal Guest Conductor’s Level

$150,000- $249,999

In memory of Marie A. Moore

Associate Conductor’s Level

$100,000- $149,999

Ms. Marianne M. Auld and Mr. Jimmy Coury

Mollie & Garland Lasater at the NTCF Fund

Priscilla & Joe* Martin

Concertmaster’s Level

$50,000-99,999

Connie Beck & Frank Tilley

Mr. & Mrs. William S. Davis; Davoil, Inc.

Aaron Howard & Corrie HoodHoward

Mrs. Louella Martin

Dana & David Porter

Alann Bedford Sampson

Principal’s Level

$25,000- $49,999

Sasha and Edward P. Bass

Annette & Jerry* Blaschke

Mr. & Mrs. Douglas K. Bratton

James Brooks

H. Paul Dorman

Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Koonsman

Nancy & Don Plattsmier

Mr. & Mrs. Mitchell Wynne

For the full donor listing, please visit fwsymphony.org/support/donor-listing

As of April 1, 2023 to April 1, 2024

* Denotes deceased

Artist’s Level

$10,000- $24,999

Carol Margaret Allen

Megan & Victor Boschini

Greg & Pam Braak

John Broude & Judy Rosenblum

Dr. and Mrs. Joseph C. Cecere, DMD

Sue & John Allen Chalk, Sr.

Brenda & Chad Cline

Mrs. Jeanne Cochran

Mr. John & Dr. Mary Costas, in honor of their grandchildren

Barbara A. & Ralph F. Cox

Dr. & Mrs. Atlee Cunningham, Jr.

Kim & Glenn Darden

Drs. Jeff & Rosemary Detweiler

Mr. Brandon Elms

Mr. & Mrs. Ben J. Fortson, Jr.

Dr. Jennifer Freeman

Tera & Richard Garvey

Gary & Judy Havener

Matthew & Kimberly Johnson

Dee Kelly Foundation

Deborah Mashburn & David Boddie

Ellen F. Messman

Berlene T. & Jarrell R. Milburn

Nesha & George Morey

Estate of Virginia & James O’Donnell

Mrs. Susan S. Pratt

Don & Melissa Reid

The Roach Foundation

C. Edwards & R. Schroeder

Ms. Patricia A. Steffen

Tim and Clare Stonesifer

Jonathan and Medea Suder; MJR Foundation

Mr. Gerald E. Thiel

Mr. & Mrs. Kelly R. Thompson

Charles White

Dr. James C. Williams

Mr. and Mrs. Philip C. Williamson

Mr. & Mrs. J.W. Wilson

Benefactor

$5,000- $9,999

Mr. & Mrs. Tull Bailey

Drs. Becky Beasley & Roger Gates

Ellen & Larry Bell

Anonymous

Ashli & Todd Blumenfeld

Judge Tim & Celia Boswell

Debbie Brooks; DFW Musicians Services

LLC

Mr. & Mrs. Michael Burchfield

Mary Cauble

Dr. & Mrs. Lincoln Chin

Dean & Emily Crocker

Doug & Carol English

Gary Glaser and Christine Miller

Susan & Tommy Green

Carolyn & Randall Hudson

Mr. and Mrs. Jacob M. Huffman III

Ms. Nina C. Hutton

Mr. Maynard K. Johnson

Tim & Misty Locke

Katherine Lummis

McCallum Family Foundation

Dr. & Mrs. Stuart D. McDonald

Anonymous

Mr. & Mrs. Richard W. Moncrief

Stephen & Brenda Neuse

Mr. Justin Newton

Mr. & Mrs. Omas Peterson

Mr. & Mrs. Thomas B. Reynolds

Dr. Deborah Rhea & Ms. Carol Bollinger

Rosemary Riney

Jeff & Judy Schmeltekopf

Dr. & Mrs. Russ A. Schultz

Kal & Karen Silverberg

Dr. Richard Turner

Anonymous

Contributor

$3,000- $4,999

William & Kathryn Adams

Mr. Bill Bond

Linda Brookshire

Frances Jean Browning

For the full donor listing, please visit fwsymphony.org/support/donor-listing

As of April 1, 2023 to April 1, 2024

* Denotes deceased

Honorable H.D. Clark III and Mrs. Peggy

Sue Branch-Clark

Gary Cole

Angela L. Evans

Mr. & Mrs. Kirk French

Ms. Clara Gamache

Dr. & Mrs. William H. Gibson

Anonymous

John W. Goodwin

Steve* & Jean Hadley

Dr. Christy L. Hanson

Richard Hubbard, M.D.

Gordon & Aileen Kanan

Ms. Trina Krausse

Mr. Nico Leone

Art & Cheryl Litke

L. Lumley

John & Anita O’Carroll

Jeanne O’Connor

Paul & Mary Kay Park

Mary Pencis

Ms. Jane Rector

Jude & Terry Ryan

Punch Shaw & Julie Hedden

Emmet G. & Judith O. Smith

Susan & James Smith

Dr. Mary Alice Stanford & Mr. Don Jones

Jim & Judy Summersgill

David Turpin

Dave & Julie Wende

Laurie & Lon Werner

Arthur & Carolyn Wright

Sustainer

$2,000- $2,999

Mr. & Mrs. David R. Atnip

Edwin Augustat, MD

Mary Frances & George Barlow Charitable Fund at the NTCF

Dr. Joyce Beck

Mr. Kenneth Blasingame

Lowell & Kathryn Bryan

Henry & Diana Burks

Mr. and Mrs. Orlando Carvahlo

Daniel & Soraya Caulkins

Dr. & Mrs. Martin F. Conroy

Mr. and Mrs. Laurence Cooke

Susan Jackson Davis

Dawn Ellison

Dr. Oscar L. Frick

Dotty & Gary Hall

Ms. Lee Hallman

James & Mary Ann Harris

Michelle & Reagan Horton

Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Jameson

Mr. John Kroemer

In memory of Laura Elizabeth Bruton

Dr. & Mrs. James D. Maberry

Gregory L. McCoy

McCraw Family Charitable Fund

Shannon McGovern

Cecile Montgomery Charitable Account

Mr. & Mrs. David B. Morrow

Harris Franklin Pearson Private Foundation

Frasher H. & John F. Pergande

Lynne B. Prater

William Proenza

Barbara Roels

Tzu-Ying & Michael Shih in tribute of Mr. & Mrs. William S. Davis

Anne & Danny Simpson

Marilyn Wiley & Terry Skantz

Mary C. Smith; Clark Educational Services

Thomas Sutter

Sallie & Joseph Tarride

Hon. & Mrs. Chris Taylor

Jerry & James Taylor

William Taylor

Dr. Stuart N. Thomas; In memory of Dr. Gaby Thomas

John* & Camille Thomason

Joy & Johnnie Thompson

Rhonda McNallen Venne

Gene Walker and Marianna Smith

Mr. John Molyneaux & Ms. Kay West

Dana & Dan Wilkirson

Suzy Williams & John Williams

Stuart Yarus & Judith Williams

For the full donor listing, please visit fwsymphony.org/support/donor-listing

As of April 1, 2023 to April 1, 2024

* Denotes deceased 44 | 2023/2024 SEASON

Institutional Giving

$500,000 and above

Mr. and Mrs. John Kleinheinz

Sid W. Richardson Foundation

$150,000- $499,999

Amon G. Carter Foundation

Mary Potishman Lard Trust

$50,000- $149,999

American Airlines Anonymous

Arts Fort Worth

The Eugene McDermott Foundation

Adeline & George McQueen Foundation

Fort Worth Tourism Public Improvement District

$25,000- $49,999

Frill Foundation

Neiman Marcus Fort Worth

Piranesi

Texas Commission on the Arts

$10,000- $24,999

BNSF Railway

Bratton Family Foundation | Mr. and Mrs.

Douglas K. Bratton

Carl B. & Florence E. King Foundation

City Club of Fort Worth

As of April 1, 2023 to April 1, 2024

North Texas Giving Day Fund of the Communities Foundation of Texas

Garvey Texas Foundation

George & Jeanne Jaggers Charitable Trust

Helene Bare & W. Glenn Embry Charitable Trust

Lowe Foundation

McCallum Family Foundation

The Roach Foundation

The Thomas M., Helen McKee & John P. Ryan Foundation

$5,000- $9,999

Alcon

Atmos Energy

Ben E. Keith Beverages

Kimbell Art Foundation

Marguerite Bridges Charitable Trust

Symphony League of Fort Worth

Worthington Renaisaance Hotel Fort Worth

$2,000- $4,999

Dubose Family Foundation

Once Upon A Time...

Robert D. & Catherine R. Alexander Foundation

Tanner and Associates, PC

For the full donor listing, please visit fwsymphony.org/support/donor-listing

Endowment Giving

$5,000,000 and above

Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass

Mr.* and Mrs.* Perry R. Bass

Mr. Sid R. Bass

$1,000,000- $4,999,999

Lee and Ramona Bass Foundation

Sasha and Edward P. Bass

The Burnett Foundation

Garvey Texas Foundation

Kimbell Art Foundation

Elizabeth H. Ledyard

Rosalyn Rosenthal

Rae* & Ed* Schollmaier; Schollmaier Foundation

$500,000- $999,999

Mr. & Mrs. John B. Kleinheinz

Mollie & Garland Lasater at the NTCF Fund

The Thomas M., Helen McKee & John P. Ryan Foundation

T.J. Brown & C.A. Lupton Foundation

$250,000- $499,999

BNSF Railway

Estate of Dorothy Rhea

Qurumbli Foundation

Mr. & Mrs. Mark L. Hart III

Drs. Jeff & Rosemary Detweiler

$100,000- $249,999

Alcon

American Airlines

Amon G. Carter Foundation

Althea L. Duersten

Estate of Peggy L. Rayzor

Mr. & Mrs. Ben J. Fortson, Jr.

* Denotes deceased

Mr.* & Mrs. Dee J. Kelly, Sr.

Mr. & Mrs. J. Luther King, Jr. / Luther King

Capital Management

John Marion

J.P. Morgan Charitable Giving Fund

The Roach Foundation

Anna Belle P. Thomas

$50,000- $99,999

Michael and Nancy Barrington

Van Cliburn*

Mrs. Gunhild Corbett

Mrs. Edward R. Hudson, Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Koonsman

Scurlock Foundation

Symphony League of Fort Worth

$25,000- $49,999

Mr. & Mrs. Jack S. Blanton Jr.

Estate of Linda Reimers Mixson

Michael Boyd Milligan*

Garvey Texas Foundation

Colleen* and Preston Geren

Mrs. Adele Hart

Mr. and Mrs. Craig Kelly

Dee Kelly Foundation

Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Krebs

Mr. Eddie M. Lesok

Mr. & Mrs. Duer Wagner Jr.

Laurie and Lon Werner

$10,000- $24,999

Mr.* and Mrs.* William L. Adams

Mr. & Mrs. Malcolm K. Brachman

Mr. & Mrs. Douglas K. Bratton

Mr. Carroll W. Collins*

Mary Ann and Robert Cotham

Mr. and Mrs. Norwood P. Dixon*

Elizabeth L. and Russell F. Hallberg Foundation

Estate of Ernest Allen, Jr.

Fifth Avenue Foundation

Mrs. Dora Lee Langdon

Carol V. Lukert

Mr. & Mrs. Richard W. Moncrief

Stephen & Brenda Neuse

Peggy L. Rayzor

Mr. & Mrs. Thomas B. Reynolds

William E. Scott Foundation

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas M. Taylor

Donna* & Bryan Whitworth

William S. Davis Family Foundation

$5,000- $9,999

Mrs. Charles Anton*

Ms. Lou Ann Blaylock

Sue & John Allen Chalk, Sr.

Anonymous

Nelson & Enid Cleary

* Denotes deceased

Barbara A. & Ralph F. Cox

Estate of Witfield J. Collins

Francis M. Allen Trust

Mr. and Mrs. Scott Jeffrey Gerrish

Felice and Marvin Girouard

Mr. & Mrs. Ralph J. Green Jr.

Maritza Cáceres & Miguel Harth-Bedoya

Richard Hubbard, M.D.

JPMorgan Chase

Mr.* and Mrs. Robert E. Klabzuba

Priscilla & Joe Martin

Miss Louise McFarland*

Karen Rainwater Charitable Fund at the NTCF

Alann Bedford Sampson

Betty J. Sanders

Save Our Symphony Fort Worth

Jerry & James Taylor

The Musicians of the Fort Worth

Symphony Orchestra

Mr. Gerald E. Thiel

John* & Frances Wasilchak Charitable Fund at the NTCF

Endowed Chairs and Programs

The Board of Directors extends sincere gratitude to the following donors who have demonstrated exceptional generosity and commitment to the FWSO by endowing the following chairs and programs.

Music Director

Guest Conductors

Associate Conductor

Concertmaster

Associate Concertmaster

Assistant Concertmaster

Assistant Principal 2nd Violin

Section 2nd Violin

Principal Cello

Assistant Principal Cello

Principal Bass

Principal Oboe

Principal Flute

Principal Clarinet

Assistant Principal Trumpet

Principal Bassoon

Principal Horn

Associate Principal Horn

Principal Trombone

Bass Trombone

Principal Percussion

Assistant Principal Percussion

Timpani Harp

Keyboard

Great Performance Fund

Pops Performance Fund

Adventures in Music

* Denotes deceased

Symphonic Insight

Nancy Lee & Perry R. Bass* Chair

Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass Chair

Mr. Sid R. Bass Chair

Rae & Ed Schollmaier*/Schollmaier Foundation Chair

Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass Chair

Mr. Sid R. Bass Chair

Ann Koonsman* Chair

Mollie & Garland Lasater Chair

Symphony League of Fort Worth Chair

Marie A. Moore* Chair

Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass Chair

Mr. Sid R. Bass Chair

BNSF Foundation Chair

Mr. & Mrs. Edward P. Bass Chair

Nancy L. & William P. Hallman, Jr. Chair

Shirley F. Garvey* Chair

Rosalyn G. Rosenthal Chair

In Memory of Manny Rosenthal

Dorothy Rhea* Chair

Mr. & Mrs. Lee M. Bass Chair

Elizabeth H. Ledyard* Chair

Drs. Jeff and Rosemary Detweiler Chair

Mr. & Mrs. John Kleinheinz Chair

Mr. & Mrs. Lee M. Bass Chair

Shirley F. Garvey* Chair

Adele Hart* Chair

Madilyn Bass Chair

Bayard H. Friedman * Chair

Rildia Bee O’Bryan Cliburn & Van

Cliburn* Chair

Rosalyn G. Rosenthal Chair

In Memory of Manny Rosenthal

The Burnett Foundation

The Ryan Foundation

Teresa & Luther King

Brooks Morris Society

Annette & Jerry* Blaschke

Dr. Lloyd W. Brooks

Mr. and Mrs. M. A. Cardona*

Barbara Clarkin

Mr. Carroll W. Collins*

Mr. and Mrs. Laurence Cooke

Juana-Rosa & Dr. Ron Daniell*

Estate of Anna Belle P. Thomas

Miss Dorothy Rhea*

Electra M. Carlin*

Estate of Ernest Allen, Jr.

F. Warren O’Reilly*

Hugh L. Watson*

Estate of Kathy B. Higgins

Estate of Linda Reimers Mixson

Lois Hoynck Jaggers*

Michael Boyd Milligan*

Mildred G. Walters*

Estate of Peggy L. Rayzor

Sylvia E. Wolens*

Whitfield J. Collins*

Tom Gay

Gwen M. Genius

George & Jeanne Jaggers Charitable Trust

Mrs. Charlotte M. Gore

Gail Aronoff Granek

Helene Bare & W. Glenn Embry Charitable Trust

Qurumbli Foundation

Hank and Shawn Henning

Mr. Eric F. Hyden*

* Denotes deceased

Kathleen E. Connors Trust

Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Koonsman

Lewis F. Kornfeld, Jr. Memorial Fund at the NTXCF

Mollie & Garland M. Lasater, Jr.

Elizabeth H. Ledyard

Carol V. Lukert

Marguerite Bridges Charitable Trust

Patty Cartwright Mays

Shannon McGovern

Dr. and Mrs. A. F. Murph

Linda Todd Murphy

Estate of Virginia & James O’Donnell

Harris Franklin Pearson Private Foundation

Peggy Meade-Cohen Crut Charitable Trust

Mr.* and Mrs. John V. Roach II

The Roach Foundation

Jude & Terry Ryan

Jeff & Judy Schmeltekopf

Mr. & Mrs. Grady Shropshire

Kathleen & Richard Stevens

Mr. Gerald E. Thiel

The Walsh Foundation

Peter G. Warren

John* & Frances Wasilchak Charitable Fund at the NTCF

John Wells & Shay McCulloch-Wells

Lynn Wilson

A City Club Social Membership provides access to dining in our restaurants and member event privileges including Wine Tastings, Holiday Brunches and many other Club events. You will have the ability to reserve private rooms for business and social functions.

Social Memberships for $102 per month

FWSO Season Ticket Holders receive a discounted enrollment fee

For more information, contact Matt Burrell, City Club Membership Director at 817.878.4000 or mburrell@cityclubfw.com.

The elegance continues at Omni Fort Worth Hotel. Take in the sweeping downtown views from our inviting, western-inspired accommodations, and enjoy clever cocktails, prime aged steaks, and live music at our on-site restaurants.

From whole patient to whole health.

Students, faculty, patients and neighbors all have one thing in common: they’re people. And we put the needs of our people first. In addition to being a premier academic medical center, HSC believes in the bigger picture of health. Five schools and one shared purpose. Creating an environment where innovation and ideas can thrive, and all people feel informed, empowered and understood.

When we’re all connected, we’re in it together. HSC. ASK BRAVELY. TREAT BOLDLY.

WE ARE OAKRIDGE. COME LEAD WITH US

Experience Oakridge firsthand by visiting our beautiful campus to see students and faculty in action. We want to share the value of being an Oakridge Owl and our commitment to inspiring students to seek their full potential in Academics, Athletics, and the Arts.

THEOAKRIDGESCHOOL.ORG

A COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL SERVING STUDENTS AGE 3 THROUGH GRADE 12.

More care when and where you need it most.

At Texas Health, we’re proud to say more North Texans choose us than any other health care system. From heart and vascular care to coughs and colds, we’re dedicated to giving you more ways to access your health care than ever before. With our ever-expanding hospital and urgent care locations to our video visits and at-home care options, we’re dedicated to making your health care more convenient so you can spend less time on figuring out your health care and more time on what matters most. That’s how Texas Health cares more.

Connect with us today at: TexasHealth.org/Connect