Young Artist Competition Winners UTRGV Performing Arts Complex Saturday, April 23 at 2:00 pm TSC Performing Arts Center Sunday, April 24 at 2:00 pm
UTRGV SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Fourth Program ~ 2021 • 2022 Concert Season
Romantic Symphony UTRGV Performing Arts Complex, Edinburg Saturday, April 23, 2022 at 2:00 pm TSC Performing Arts Center, Brownsville Sunday, April 24, 2022 at 2:00 pm Norman Gamboa, Conductor Alexandro Lucero-Quintana, Guest conductor Michael Farrick & Diego Garza-Romero, Double bass Winners, 2021-2022 Young Artist Solo Competition
Pavane for a Dead Princess. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Passione Amorosa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889) Allegro deciso Andante Allegretto
INTERMISSION Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major, WAB 104 “Romantic”. . . . . . . . . . . . . Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) Bewegt, nicht zu schnell Andante, quasi allegretto Scherzo: Bewegt Finale: Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell
For a better concert experience, we kindly ask you to turn off cellular phones, pagers, and all types of noise makers. We strongly recommend the use of face coverings over nose and mouth as well as maintaining social distancing whenever possible. Thank you! 2 - UTRGV Symphony Orchestra
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PROGRAM NOTES Pavane for a Dead Princess Maurice Ravel
bass and he had never played either one before. Determined to be accepted, he managed to master the double bass in a matter of weeks and Undoubtedly, Ravel’s most celebrated was granted admission. Five years orchestration is his ever-popular later, he made his debut as a soloist arrangement of Mussorgsky’s famous with contemporary reports praising his set of piano pieces, Pictures at an impeccable elegance and finish, his Exhibition. However, his Pavane pour total precision, as well as his fantastic une infante défunte also proves, the tone and taste. He was also as a highly French composer was highly skilled at respected music director at several turning his own solo piano works into opera houses and he was the full orchestral masterpieces. conductor who Verdi entrusted the Composed in 1899 as a piano piece while he was still a student at the Paris premiere of his grand opera Aïda. Bottesini was a skilled composer as Conservatory, the Pavane was dedicated to the Princesse Edmond de well, his output includes a dozen or so operas with peculiar subjects like Polignac (also known as Winnaretta Christopher Columbus and Ali Baba. Singer), who was a French-American Today, most of his compositions are musical patroness and also the forgotten; he is remembered for his daughter of the famous nineteenthunparalleled virtuosity as a double bass century sewing-machine industrialist, Isaac Singer. The orchestral version was player and for the solo works he wrote to showcase it. The Passione Amorosa not published until 1910 and it (Loving Passion) is one of them, received its premiere a year later. Far probably composed while he was still a from being an allusion to death, the student at the Milan Conservatory. In work’s sad title contradicts its actual three movements that are played inspiration; Ravel once said: “When I almost without a pause, it is in essence put together the words that make up a jolly synopsis of Bottesini’s own this title, my only thought was the pleasure of consonance.” Even though career; a miniature Italian opera where a pair of double basses take on the it literally translates as ‘Pavane for a role of the soprano and tenor dead Princess’, Ravel made great efforts to indicate that the work “is not characters to deliver all the drama in this lighthearted soloistic “opera a funeral lament for a dead child, but buffa.” rather an evocation of the pavane [a stately, 16th-century Spanish court dance] that might have been danced at Symphony No. 4 in the Spanish court by such a little E-flat major, WAB 104 “Romantic” princess as painted by Diego Anton Bruckner Velázquez.” Even today, his comments continue to be largely dismissed, many Bruckner’s symphonies have an still consider the piece to have a quite essential position in the development different meaning from the one the of that genre in late Romantic musical composer truly intended. style. They are a link in the chain of evolution of the Austro-German Passione Amorosa symphonic tradition, from Beethoven Giovanni Bottesini and Schubert through to Gustav Mahler. He was a master of harmony and counterpoint, owing not only to his At the age of 13, Bottesini wanted to long years as a church organist and attend the Milan Conservatory, however the only scholarships available respected improviser on that at the time were for bassoon or double instrument, but also to his detailed 3 - UTRGV Symphony Orchestra
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study of the subject. His mastery of the richness of late-Romantic harmony often yields startling juxtapositions of chords and keys, unprepared dissonances, and advanced sonorities, but those are necessary elements of his pushing the musical boundaries of the time. He crafted new and involved systems of phrase structure and metrical analysis, and altered ways in which musical “landmarks” appear as his movements unfold. His works are in the conventional four movements, with variants of sonata form flanking the usual interior slow and scherzo/trio movements. He simply pushed the conventions of the symphony much further than did, say, Brahms. Given the constant revisions that he and his associates made to his symphonies, many versions exist. For the Fourth Symphony there are three major versions. While the previous version saw far more performances in the last half century or so, the 1888 version is based on the latest scholarship and is enjoying a renaissance. The first movement begins with a typical Bruckner trait: a shimmering “halo” of strings from which mist the signature horn theme appears. its scoring imaginatively evokes the antique, almost dominating the whole work. As a conservative composer Bruckner did not plaster descriptive terms or programs to his works, but the Fourth Symphony is an exception, hence the moniker, “Romantic”–in the sense of a medieval tale where one may suggest the horn sounding the dawn from high in a tower. At a leisurely pace the idea grows, with nature awakening and knights riding out on “proud steeds.” Finally, a huge orchestral swell leads from this tranquility to the advent of the heavy brass with the central theme of the movement, in his famous 2+3 rhythm. After an exploration of this idea, lighter graceful Austrian dance themes soon arrive. Soft, spooky, woodwind solos; quiet textures over rolling timpani; grand outbursts in the brass; and the opening horn motif are heard throughout the development, ending with a glorious brass chorale 4 - UTRGV Symphony Orchestra
filling the hall. Not a literal recapitulation, it still explores the material further, with an extensive coda that ultimately gives the ear the harmonic signs that we have, at last, reached the conclusion, signaled by dynamic unison horns proclaiming the opening motif. The slow second movement starts with a doleful tune over a “walking” bass. Later, a contrasting section offers a soft chorale. Moods and ideas alternate, including some cheerful moments, however this meditative interlude leads to an inevitable heroic triumph before the pensive end. Deemed a “Jagd” (Hunting), the third movement scherzo also takes its programmatic inspiration from the Middle Ages. It is an absolute tour-de-force for virtuosic horn display as well as the rest of the brass for that matter. The middle section is a gentle, Austrian Ländler, which he referred to as a mid-day repast for the hunters. The final movement opens with a long, throbbing pedal in the basses, tension builds as the horns and others intone a variant on a familiar motif that leads into a fortissimo imprecation from the brass of granite-like strength. Soon the contrasting second group arrives, accompanied by the throbbing of the opening with interjections of the flatted scale step that has informed so much of this symphony—from beginning to end. Motifs, scale alterations, and the ubiquitous Bruckner 2+3 rhythm are all woven together as the finale unfolds at a leisurely pace, constantly shifting in moods. The long coda finally brings a sense of finality, in a buildup that is a sonic and psychological marvel. Probably far too much has been averred about the “influence” wrought by Wagner on his acolyte, Bruckner. But there can be no question but that while the former’s fingerprints are frequent in the latter’s work, Bruckner borrowed abstemiously and paid back with interest. He created his own, unique masterpieces, and this work is a noble and distinguished example. ~ William E. Runyan 2021 - 2022 Concert Season
Dr. NORMAN GAMBOA Conductor
Sinfónica del Estado Mérida and Orquesta Sinfónica de Los Llanos (Venezuela), as well as the National Symphony Orchestras of Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. Dr. Gamboa has led numerous joint ventures such as fully choreographed productions of Ravel's Ma mère l'Oye with Ballet Midwest, The Nutcracker Ballet with Aurora Dance Arts and Santa Rosa Dance Theater, Fiesta Mexicana with Fiesta Colorado Dance Company and also several operas with the Topeka Opera Society and Opera on Tap Colorado. Festival appearances include Plzeň 2015, FOSJA Casals Festival, Central American Festival of Chamber Music, Medellín International Music Festival, Villarrica Arts Festival, Costa In his second year as Director of Orchestral Activities at The University of Rica International Festival of Arts, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Bregenzer Texas Rio Grande Valley, Norman Festspiele, Las Vegas Music Festival, Gamboa is in his tenth season as Music OSESP Orchestra Conductors Director of the Sonoma County Philharmonic in California and also of the Competition, and the New York Brass Conference. In 2015 he led the Youth Aurora Symphony in Colorado. In Symphony Orchestra of Europe, a addition, he is also conductor and project that gathered distinguished founder of the Rio Grande Youth Symphony Orchestra at UTRGV. Gamboa music students from numerous music is considered one of the most prominent conservatories all over Europe. Central American conductors, with an Previously, he served as Music Director of active schedule that includes the Powder River Symphony Orchestra in appearances with the Kansas City Wyoming, Director of Orchestral Studies Philharmonia, Bemidji Symphony Orchestra, Topeka Symphony Orchestra, at Washburn University in Kansas, Cover Winchester Orchestra, Bay Area Rainbow Conductor of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra, Associate Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra, Newton Las Vegas Music Festival, Assistant Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Conductor of the Waco Symphony Civic Symphony Orchestra, and Salina Orchestra and Music Director of the Symphony Orchestra among others. Waco Symphony Youth Orchestra in Texas. Worldwide engagements include renowned orchestras such as the Západočeský Symfonický (Czech Republic), Orchestra Filarmonicii Ploieşti (Romania), Orquesta Filarmónica de Medellín (Colombia), Orquestra Sinfônica de Ribeirão Preto and Orquestra Sinfônica Estado de São Paulo (Brazil), Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil Municipal de Guatemala, Orquesta 5 - UTRGV Symphony Orchestra
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ALEXANDRO LUCERO-QUINTANA Guest Conductor Alexandro Lucero-Quintana was born in Mexico City. He has played viola for twenty years and graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico with a degree in Music Performance. In 2017, he began his conducting studies in workshops with David Rocha and Sergio Cardenas in Mexico. Alexandro has conducted the Queretaro Symphonietta and the Consortium Sonorus Chamber Orchestra in Mexico. Since 2017, he has been conducting the Colegio San Juan Siglo XXI Youth Symphony Orchestra in Matamoros. Alexandro Lucero-Quintana is currently working on his master´s degree in orchestral conducting at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley under the guidance of Dr. Norman Gamboa.
MICHAEL FARRICK, Double bass
Winner, 2021-2022 UTRGV Young Artist Solo Competition Minnesota native, Michael Farrick, is a orchestral and chamber music. He was double bassist who mainly specializes in the 2021 winner of the Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra Young Artist competition, the 2021 runner-up of the Bismarck-Mandan Concerto Competition, and a winner of the 2021 University of Texas Rio-Grande Valley Young Artist Competition. In 2017, Michael began his undergraduate studies at the University of North Dakota under the tutelage of Dr. Simona Barbu. During this time, Michael was a member of the Greater Grand Forks Symphony, the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony, and performed regularly with various chamber groups. In 2021 Michael began his master’s degree at the University of Texas Rio-Grande Valley under the tutelage of Dr. George Amorim. Currently at the UTRGV he is a member of the UTRGV Bass Quartet and the Valley Symphony. Michael is also the recipient of the Presidential Research Fellowship at UTRGV. 6 - UTRGV Symphony Orchestra
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DIEGO GARZA-ROMERO, Double bass
Winner, 2021-2022 UTRGV Young Artist Solo Competition Diego Garza-Romero began playing
the double bass at age 12 and he is now finishing his junior year as a performance major at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, where he studies under Dr. George Amorim. Despite his young age, Diego has already collected many accolades and awards. He was a four-year member of the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, with which he performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world with performances in Latin America, Asia, and Europe under Giancarlo Guerrero, Marin Alsop, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Sir Antonio Pappano. Diego was selected to participate in Roundtop Music Festival summer of 2019, and this summer Diego will set out to Santa Barbara, California as a fellowship recipient to Music Academy of the West. Diego has performed in masterclasses for many artists including Alex Hanna, Robin Kesselman, Ali Yazdanfar, Jeff Bradetich, Jeffrey Turner, and Andres Martin.
HALEY GUERRA, Soprano
Winner, 2021-2022 UTRGV Young Artist Solo Competition Soprano Haley Guerra is finishing her undergraduate degree in voice at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley this semester. Her collegiate achievements include honorable mention at the 2018 Texoma National Association of Teachers in Singing (NATS), 1st place at South Texas NATS, the South Texas NATS Herald Stark Encouragement award winner, 1st place in 2019, 2020, and 2021 Texoma NATS in sophomore, junior, and senior women division, and national semi-finalist at National NATS. She made her opera debut in UTRGV’s fully staged production of Carmen as Frasquita in May 2019. In 2020, she received the Engaged Scholarship and Artist Award for her research project on Women composers in Art song. In 2022, she was invited to sing for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in Louisiana. While at UTRGV, she sung with the 7 - UTRGV Symphony Orchestra
University Choir, the Valley Symphony Chorale, and is now a cantor at Holy Spirit Catholic Church and Our Lady of Sorrows Parish. She will be pursuing her masters in voice at Indiana University with soprano Heidi Grant Murphy. Haley is a former student of Dr. David Sadlier.
2021 - 2022 Concert Season
Symphony Orchestra VIOLIN
Eldaa Hernandez, Concertmaster
Priscilla Espinoza
Assistant concertmaster
Luis Gonzalez, Principal Jose Anthony Flores Ruben Garcia, Jr. Angela Gonzalez Marifer Guerrero Jazmin Gutierrez Alexandra Hernandez Astrid Herrera Angela Llanes Joel Sanchez Daniel Santiago Refugio Tristan Daniel Zayed
DOUBLE BASS Diego Garza, Principal Claudia Arroyave-Mendoza Michael Farrick Alyssa Gonzalez Isai Martinez David Molina FLUTE & PICCOLO Roberto Delgado Joshua Posler1,3 OBOE Lorena Coronado1,3 Carlos Cantu*
TRUMPET Michael Barrera3 Benjamin Gonzalez Ryan Mowers TROMBONE Luis Viveros3 Imanol Ruiz Alexandro Soliz TUBA Azdruball Montemayor3 TIMPANI Ian Charlton3
CLARINET KEYBOARD Daniel Hernandez-Duhon1,3 Paola Garcia1 Hugo Lopez ASSISTANT VIOLA CONDUCTORS Gamaliel Sanchez, Principal BASSOON Nancy Coronado* Alexandro Lucero-Quintana Denise Alanis Art Gonzalez*1,3 Manuel Monge-Mata Hunter Garcia Andrew Stahlman José Salinas* HORN Daniel Garza CELLO 1 David Gutierrez3 Denotes principal in Ravel Robert Zuñiga, Principal 1 3 Bryan Rodriguez Denotes principal in Bruckner Sebastian Garcia-Loredo Roberto Salas Sebastian Guerrero *Denotes guest player Raul Lara Judith Recio Zubin Solis
Spring Concert May 22, 2022 UTRGV Performing Arts Complex
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2021 - 2022 Concert Season