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Concertmaster, and Max Levine Chair, Yoonshin Song is sponsored in part by Gary and Marian Beauchamp and the Beauchamp Foundation The Classical Season is endowed by The Wortham Foundation, Inc., in memory of Gus S. and Lyndall F. Wortham
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On Today’s Program GABRIELI/KING Canzon Septimi Toni No. 2 from Sacrae Symphoniae GABRIELI/KING Canzona Per Sonare No. 2 MOZART Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat major for Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, and Orchestra, K.297b I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Andantino con variationi G. L. FRANK Escaramuza for Strings, Percussion, Harp, and Piano PIAZZOLLA/L. DESYATNIKOV Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas Verano porteño (Summer) Otoño porteño (Autumn) Invierno porteño (Winter) Primavera porteña (Spring)
ABOUT THE MUSIC
GABRIELI/KING CANZON SEPTIMI TONI NO. 2 FROM SACRAE SYMPHONIAE CANZONA PER SONARE NO. 2
GIOVANNI GABRIELI COMPOSER (1557–1612) • Born in Venice, Giovanni Gabrieli lived most of his life in Italy during this transitional time from the late Renaissance to early Baroque periods. • He served as principal organist and composer for St. Mark’s Basilica • Canzon septimi toni was written specifically for the St. Mark’s Basilica space, utilizing “antiphonal” performance features. • Antiphonal performance relies on the spatial arrangement of instruments to answer each other from all sides of the performance space, creating an immersive sound for the audience.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
MOZART S I N F O N I A C O N C E R TA N T E I N E - F L AT M A J O R F O R O B O E , C L A R I N E T, B A S S O O N , H O R N , A N D O R C H E S T R A
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART COMPOSER (1756–1791) • Mozart was born and lived through his youth in Salzburg, where he was employed by the Archbishop Colloredo. After a two-year tour of Europe, the Archbishop, who was frequently irritated with Mozart’s absences, fired him from his post famously saying, “He should just go then; I don’t need him!” • It was during this European tour that the Sinfonia Concertante was written, and it is considered the most successful of Mozart’s works in the sinfonia concertante genre. • A concertante is multi-movement orchestral work that also features one or more solo instruments in contrast with the full orchestra—a sort of hybrid in between a symphony and a concerto. The form is like a concerto as soloists are on prominent display, but still like a symphony as the soloists are still discernably a part of the total ensemble. • While most listeners agree this is a genuine Mozart, the piece is surrounded by mystery, with no full historical resolution around the problem of when or for whom it was written, or if it was truly composed by Mozart. Although he wrote his father about writing the work, the piece was not known to be publicly performed during Mozart’s lifetime. The manuscript was considered “lost” after his death, only to be rediscovered in Berlin in the 19th century.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
G. L. FRANK ESCARAMUZA FOR STRINGS, P E R C U S S I O N , H A R P, A N D P I A N O
GABRIELA LENA FRANK COMPOSER (b. 1972) • Gabriela Lena Frank was born in Berkeley, California. Her American father is of Lithuanian Jewish heritage and her mother is of Peruvian of Chinese descent, and the two met while her father was volunteering for the Peace Corps in Peru in the 1960s. • Her work often draws on her multicultural background, especially her mother’s Peruvian heritage. “I think the music can be seen as a by-product of my always trying to figure out how Latina I am and how gringa I am.” • Frank was the Composer-in-Residence for the Houston Symphony from 2014 to 2017 and has had commissioned and/or performed works at most major American orchestras. • Escaramuza is inspired by the kachampa music of Andean Perú. The kachampa dance celebrates the pre-Hispanic Inca warriors—the dance with colorful attire and fastsnapping ropes conveys a triumphant and joyful spirit. Frank doesn’t allow the players very much rest in this piece, wanting the music to maintain the high energy of the dances she saw in Perú.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
PIAZZOLLA/L. DESYATNIKOV L A S C U AT R O E S TA C I O N E S P O R T E Ñ A S
ASTOR PIAZZOLLA COMPOSER (1921–1992) • Astor Piazzolla was born in Argentina to Italian immigrant parents. He and his family moved to New York City when he was very young, and he began playing the bandoneon—an instrument similar to the accordion that is typically used in most tango ensembles—at age 4. • He composed his first tango at age 11, and at this age he began taking piano lessons with a student of Rachmaninoff’s who also taught him to play Bach on his bandoneon. • Piazzolla is known for his nuevo tango that revolutionized traditional tango by incorporating elements from jazz and classical music. • The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires was composed in the late 1960s, and it was not intended to be a response to Vivaldi’s work. However, the name was coined as the season-themed pieces were often performed together, and the comparisons to Vivaldi’s concertos began. • In the 1990s Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer collaborated with Leonid Desyatnikov to reconceptualize the piece for solo violin and orchestra. Desyatnikov removed the bandoneon and electric guitar and added in musical quotes from Vivaldi’s work.
ARTIST BIOS DAVID ROBERTSON CONDUCTOR David Robertson–conductor, artist, thinker, and American musical visionary– occupies some of the most prominent platforms on the international music scene. A highly sought-after podium figure in the worlds of opera, orchestral music, and new music, Robertson is celebrated worldwide as a champion of contemporary composers, an ingenious and adventurous programmer, and a masterful communicator whose passionate advocacy for the art form is widely recognized. A consummate and deeply collaborative musician, Robertson is hailed for his intensely committed music making. Robertson has served in numerous artistic leadership positions, such as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and a transformative 13-year tenure as Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. With St. Louis, he solidified its status as among the nation’s most innovative ensembles, establishing fruitful relationships with a spectrum of artists, and garnering a 2014 Grammy Award for the Nonesuch release of John Adams’ City Noir, in addition to numerous other recordings releases, such as Wynton Marsalis’s Swing Symphony with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, on Blue Engine Records, and Mozart Piano Concertos No. 17 in G Major K.453 and No. 24 in C Minor K.491 with Orli Shaham on Canary Classics. Earlier artistic leadership positions include at the Orchestre National de Lyon, as a protégé of Pierre Boulez, the Ensemble InterContemporain, and as Principal Guest Conductor at the BBC Symphony Orchestra. David Robertson holds a rich and enduring collaboration with the New York Philharmonic, and in the Americas conducts many noted ensembles, including the Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, National, Houston, Dallas, Montréal and Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestras. Robertson has served as a Perspectives Artist at Carnegie Hall where he has also conducted, among others, The Met Orchestra, the Lucerne
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Festival Orchestra, and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He appears regularly with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Bayerischen Rundfunk, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, and other major European and international orchestras and festivals, ranging from the BBC Proms, to Musica Viva in Munich, to the New Japan Philharmonic, and Beijing’s NCPA Orchestra. With the Metropolitan Opera, Robertson continues to build upon his deep conducting relationship, which included James Robinson’s 2019–20 season opening premier production of Porgy and Bess, and the premier of Phelim McDermott’s celebrated 2018 production of Così fan tutte, set in Coney Island. Since his 1996 Met Opera debut, The Makropulos Case, he has conducted a breathtaking range of projects, including the Met premier of John Adams’ The Death of ˇ ˚ Klinghoffer (2014); the 2016 revival of Janácek’s Jenufa, then its first Met performances in nearly a decade; the premiere production of Nico Muhly’s Two Boys (2013); and many favorites, from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro to Britten’s Billy Budd. Robertson conducts at the world’s most prestigious opera houses, including La Scala, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Théâtre du Châtelet, and the San Francisco and Santa Fe Operas. Since 2018, David Robertson has served as Director of Conducting Studies, Distinguished Visiting Faculty of The Juilliard School. In Fall 2019, he joined the newly formed Tianjin Juilliard Advisory Council, an international body created to guide the emerging Chinese campus of the Juilliard School. He conducts the Juilliard Orchestra annually at Carnegie Hall. Robertson is the recipient of numerous awards and in 2010 was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Government of France. He is devoted to supporting young musicians and has worked with students at the festivals of Aspen, Tanglewood, Lucerne, at the Paris Conservatoire, Music Academy of the West, and the National Orchestra Institute. In 2014, he led the Coast to Coast tour of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the USA. Born in Santa Monica, California, David Robertson was educated at London’s Royal Academy of Music, where he studied horn and composition before turning to orchestral conducting. He is married to pianist Orli Shaham and lives in New York.
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YOONSHIN SONG CONCERTMASTER MAX LEVINE CHAIR Acclaimed as “a wonderfully talented violinist…whose sound and technique go well beyond her years,” violinist Yoonshin Song was born in South Korea, where she began her musical studies at age 5. Making her solo debut with the Seoul Philharmonic at age 11, she has since built a successful performing career internationally. Yoonshin was appointed as Concertmaster of the Houston Symphony in August 2019. Prior to that she held the same position with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for seven seasons. Yoonshin has also served as guest concertmaster of the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer. Beyond her first chair duties, Yoonshin has performed as a soloist with many orchestras around the world, including the Houston Symphony, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, the New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, the Paul Constantinescu Philharmonic Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and the KBS Philharmonic Orchestra, among many others. She has also participated as a soloist and chamber musician in numerous leading music festivals, including the Marlboro, Deer Valley, Great Lakes, and Aspen Music Festivals in the United States; the Miyazaki Chamber Music Festival in Japan; and the Verbier, Lucerne, and Bayreuth Festivals in Europe. Yoonshin has earned many prestigious prizes throughout her career, including top prize awards in the Lipizer International Violin Competition in Italy; the Lipinski & Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poland; the Henry Marteau International Violin Competition in Germany; and first prize at the Stradivarius International Competition in the United States. She studied under the tutelage of Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory and continued her studies with Robert Mann and Glenn Dicterow at the Manhattan School of Music.
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JONATHAN FISCHER PRINCIPAL OBOE LUCY BINYON STUDE CHAIR Musician Sponsored by Nancy Peiser
Jonathan Fischer joined the Houston Symphony as principal oboe in September 2012 and was invited to join the faculty of the University of Houston in September 2014. Prior to his appointment with the Houston Symphony, Fischer served as associate principal oboe with the San Francisco Symphony for nine seasons. He has also held positions with The Cleveland Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Grant Park Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Savannah Symphony, and the New World Symphony. Fischer has performed as a guest principal with many of the nation’s leading orchestras including the Boston, Chicago, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the St. Louis and Atlanta Symphonies, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist with the Houston Symphony, Grant Park Symphony, New World Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony. Fischer currently teaches at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music and Texas Music Festival. He has taught and performed at the Aspen Music Festival and the Oberlin Conservatory. He has given masterclasses at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, the San Francisco Conservatory, Rice University, and University of Michigan, and has been a coach at the New World Symphony. He holds a degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Richard Woodhams. A native of South Carolina, Fischer now enjoys living in the Heights with his dog, a Louisiana Catahoula mix.
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MARK NUCCIO PRINCIPAL CLARINET Musician Sponsored by Joan and Marvin Kaplan
Mark Nuccio began his position as principal clarinet with the Houston Symphony in the 2016–17 season after 17 years with the New York Philharmonic. He is also a member of the clarinet faculty at both Northwestern University in Chicago and the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music. Nuccio joined the New York Philharmonic in 1999 as Associate Principal and Solo E-flat Clarinetist and served as Acting Principal Clarinet with the New York Philharmonic from 2009 to 2013. Prior to his tenure in New York, he held positions with orchestras in Pittsburgh, Denver, Savannah, and Florida, working with distinguished conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Erich Leinsdorf, Bernard Haitink, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, André Previn, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Gustavo Dudamel. A Colorado native, Nuccio was recently awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater, the University of Northern Colorado. He also holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University where he studied with renowned pedagogue Robert Marcellus.
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RIAN CRAYPO
PRINCIPAL BASSOON Musician Sponsored by Laura & Mike Shannon
Principal bassoonist Rian Craypo has been with the Houston Symphony since 2007. Born in Virginia, she moved to Texas at 10 months of age and grew up east of Austin in a small intentional community. After studying at the University of Texas at Austin with Kristin Wolfe Jensen, she attended Rice University, where she received her master’s degree under former Houston Symphony Principal Bassoon Benjamin Kamins. In 2001, she was awarded a Federation of German/American Clubs Scholarship, which led to a year of study and performances in Germany and was a finalist in the Gillet-Fox International Bassoon Competition in both 2004 and 2006. Rian serves on the board of MOTHS (Musicians of the Houston Symphony) which presents Houston Symphony musicians several times a year in intimate and engaging chamber settings. Rian is also the author of a book about bassoon reed making, published in 2017. She and her husband Sean have three children.
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WILLIAM VERMEULEN
PRINCIPAL HORN MR. & MRS. ALEXANDER K. MCLANAHAN ENDOWED CHAIR Musician Sponsored by Muffy and Mike McLanahan
Hailed as “one of today’s superstars of the international brass scene,” William VerMeulen leads a varied musical life of soloist, orchestral principal, chamber musician, master teacher, and music publisher. VerMeulen has been principal horn of the Houston Symphony since 1990 and has performed as a guest principal horn with the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Prior to joining the Houston Symphony, he was employed with the orchestras of Columbus, Honolulu, and Kansas City. VerMeulen has been an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and participates as a performer and on faculty with the finest music festivals and chamber music presenters, including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Aspen Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Banff Centre, Da Camera of Houston, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Joshua Bell and Friends, Tanglewood, Sarasota Music Festival, Strings Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, New World Symphony, Domaine Forget, Chamber Music Northwest, and the Sun Valley Summer Symphony where he also serves as principal horn. VerMeulen has performed to critical acclaim on four continents as a soloist and chamber musician and is a popular artist at International Horn Society Symposiums where he was a member of the advisory council. He serves as a board member of the International Horn Competition of America. Along with the dozens of orchestral recordings in his discography are numerous solo and chamber recordings, including the complete Mozart Horn Concerti with Christoph Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony, Texas Horns featuring the Dallas and Houston horn sections, and The Christmas Horn which features VerMeulen combined with his students from Rice University, conducted by Dale Clevenger. He has recorded live the Brahms Trio Op. 40, Mozart Quintet K. 407, Beethoven Septet, Ravel Tombeau de Couperin for wind quintet, Schubert Octet, Spohr Nonet, Ligeti Bagatelles, and the
ARTIST BIOS Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 1. A champion of new music, VerMeulen has had numerous pieces written for him including concerti by esteemed American composers Samuel Adler, Pierre Jalbert, Tony DiLorenzo, and the horn cantata Canticum Sacrum by Robert Bradshaw. He recorded the Canto XI by Samuel Adler for a CD called First Chairs. Among his awards and honors, VerMeulen received first prize at the 1980 International Horn Society Soloist Competition and the Shapiro Award for Most Outstanding Brass Player at the Tanglewood Festival. Regarded as one of the most influential horn teachers of all time, VerMeulen is a professor of horn at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and brass artist-in-residence at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School. His students perform in numerous major orchestras throughout the world including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Canadian Brass, Cleveland Orchestra, and the San Francisco, Cincinnati, Montreal, St. Louis, Toronto, Detroit, Dallas, and Houston Symphonies. Over 250 positions of employment have been offered to his students. In 1985, he was invited to the White House to receive a Distinguished Teacher of America Certificate of Excellence from President Reagan and the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. VerMeulen received his training from Dale Clevenger at Northwestern University and the Interlochen Arts Academy and is founder and president of VerMeulen Music, L.L.C., which offers music and products for horn players worldwide at www.vermeulenmusic.com VerMeulen is married to Houston Opera and Ballet violinist Sylvia VerMeulen, and they have two lovely children, Michael and Nicole. In his rare free time, he enjoys having good friends over to share in his passion for fine cooking and wine.
