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PROGRAM NOTES Informative and entertaining, with accessible discussion of the music itself, as well as lively historical and cultural background information.
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League of American Orchestras
me find my path, looking for answers, guiding, and teaching. Sy Rosen was a caring and warmhearted soul, a soft touch of sorts, and a wonderful teacher, ever focused on making me think creatively, testing my mind and my capacities, and never doing so with the easy question. Whether it was learning how to truly listen to the music, understanding repertoire, opening the window on recording, exposing me to different venues or the key characteristics of a new hall, I am forever indebted. Witty, fun, charming, warm, caring, brilliant, visionary, inclusive, fatherly… words that inadequately describe my dear friend, mentor, and confidant, Sy Rosen. —Allison Vulgamore is president and CEO of The Philadelphia Orchestra. She previously served as president and CEO of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Prior to Atlanta, Vulgamore served in leadership roles with the New York Philharmonic and the National Symphony Orchestra.
Seymour Rosen and his son, Jesse Rosen, at the 2004 League National Conference at which the senior Rosen was awarded the Gold Baton, the League’s highest honor, “for serving music and orchestras with vision, passion, integrity, and courage.” Jesse Rosen has been the League’s president and CEO since 2008.
Sy waS a good friend and the best of colleagues—warm, friendly, smart, savvy, and willing to share his wisdom and experience. He was a giant in our field in every way. He had an endless supply of stories of the orchestra business. I remember one that dealt with that rara avis, the music director. At the Philadelphia Orchestra, Sy towered over the legendary Eugene Ormandy, who was quite short and extremely conscious of his height, going to inordinate lengths to deny it, like never standing next to an artist who was taller than he and staying on the podium to take a bow. Ormandy lived in The Barclay, an elegant Rittenhouse Square apartment hotel directly across the park and in direct line of sight of the tall apartment tower where Sy and his wife, Bunny, were planning to live. Unexpectedly, Ormandy asked Sy what floor his apartment was on. When told, Ormandy forbade him to move there. When asked why, he said, “I don’t want to look up to you!” My first orchestra job was at the New York Philharmonic in 1962, and I soon learned that Sy was held in very high regard by his peers. After moving to Cincinnati as orchestra manager ten years later I got to know Sy. He was then manager at Pittsburgh and a member of what was then called “the Hungry Five,” a
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group of managers from the five orchestras ranked just below Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, and Philadelphia. I was invited to join the group and my first meeting was on the beach at Longboat Key in Sarasota, Florida. Sy was one of the prime movers of this group. I was quite nervous, or clueless, and in a bit of misplaced bravado I decided I didn’t need to bother with sunscreen—a very big mistake! The Florida sun is intense, and I was badly burned. On the plane north I was wretched, but luckily Sy was with me. Instead of pooh-poohing my misery he was solicitous, tender, and caring. This was the beginning of a lasting friendship. Sy was that special kind of friend— though not seen regularly, there was an instant bond between us whenever we were together. I took counsel with him often and knew he was always there for me. I loved this man deeply and will miss him very much. —Nick Webster is an independent arts consultant and the former executive vice president and managing director of the New York Philharmonic, and former general manager of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He has been a board member of the League of American Orchestras since 1974, and has served on many National Endowment for the Arts Music Panels. symphony
summer 2013