My Symphony Winter/Spring 2025 by akronlifemag

January 18th, 2025 7:30 pm RHAPSODY IN BLUE

February 8th, 2025 7:30 pm GOSPEL MEETS SYMPHONY

March 1st, 2025 7:30 pm RESURRECTION SYMPHONY

March 29th, 2025 7:30 pm MOZART’S CLARINET CONCERTO

May 10th, 2025 7:30 pm VERDI REQUIEM

CHRISTOPHER WILKINS

Music Director and Conductor

Christopher Wilkins became Music Director of the Akron Symphony in the fall of 2006. Since then the orchestra’s programming has reflected his strong interest in communityoriented projects. He has developed partnerships with many artists and organizations based in Northeast Ohio, including the Akron Art Museum, Akron-Summit County Public Library, Firestone High School, Summit County Historical Society, YEPAW 365, GroundWorks Dance Theater, Neos Dance Theatre, and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

In recent seasons, Mr. Wilkins and the orchestra have developed programming with an emphasis on diverse and underrepresented voices. Major collaborative projects have included fully staged performances of Porgy and Bess, The Rite of Spring, Titanic, South Pacific, A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, and Carmina burana. The 2023–24 season includes works by Jerod Tate—Northeast Ohiotrained composer and citizen of the Chickasaw Nation—Akron-based jazz pianist Theron Brown and his quartet, as well as a celebration of Women’s History Month in March, with music by Akron-based, mid20th century composer Julia Perry, in honor of her 100th birthday.

Mr. Wilkins also serves as Music Director of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, a summer orchestra performing weekly on Boston’s Esplanade and throughout the neighborhoods of Boston. As a guest conductor, he has appeared with many of the leading orchestras of the United States, including those of Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco. He has also appeared regularly with orchestras in Latin America, New Zealand, Spain, and the UK.

He previously served as Music Director of the San Antonio Symphony and the Colorado Springs Symphony, and is currently Artistic Advisor to the Opera Theatre of the Rockies in Colorado Springs. Mr. Wilkins also served as resident conductor of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, helping launch that orchestra in its inaugural season, and leading it on tours throughout the Americas. Mr. Wilkins was winner of the Seaver/NEA Award in 1992. He served as the associate conductor of the Utah Symphony, assisting his former teacher Joseph Silverstein; assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, as assistant to Christoph von Dohnányi; conducting assistant with the Oregon Symphony under James DePreist; and was a conducting fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center.

Born in Boston in 1957, Mr. Wilkins earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College. He received his master of music degree from Yale University, where he studied with Otto-Werner Mueller. As an oboist, he performed with many ensembles in the Boston area, including the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, and the Boston Philharmonic under Benjamin Zander.

GAMA BOARD OF TRUSTEES

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS TRUSTEES

President

TOM CROOKES

Vice President

ALEX QUAY

Secretary

THERESA PETIT-LERNER

Treasurer

ANDREW ZIEGLER

Artistic Advisory Chair

TOM CROOKES

Development Chair

LIA JONES

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Chair

THOMAS A. JEFFERSON, PH.D

Education Chair

BONNIE PANLASIGUI

Finance Chair

ANDREW ZIEGLER

Marketing Chair

STEVE SEDLOCK

Akron Symphony Friends

PAT NILSESTUEN AND KAREN SCHRECKENGOST

Strategic Planning Task Force Chair

TOM CROOKES

Executive Director

PAUL JARRETT

Music Director

CHRISTOPHER WILKINS

REPRESENTATIVES

MARTHA BANKS

Akron Symphony Chorus

JACK KEHRLI

Akron Symphony Orchestra

Roula Braidy

Kittie B. Clarke

Tom Crookes

Bethany M. Gonzalez, CRPC

Heather Hahn

Kevin Heraghty

Thomas Hite

Thomas A. Jefferson, Ph.D.

Lia Evans Jones

Andrew Leask

Adam Lintz

Jill Bacon Madden

Pat Nilsestuen

Bonnie Panlasigui

BOARD ALUMNI COUNCIL

Dr. Linda B. Angotti

Mark S. Auburn

Sandy Becker-Neidert

Dr. Todd Beyer

Kathy Booth

Patricia M. Albrecht Bracey

Susan Burnoski, CPA

Lisa Chapman-Smith

Thomas Clark, CFP

Robert L. Culp, Jr.

Johnnette Curry

R. Fred Damerow

Gary Davis

Richard A. Dee

Tracy Dowe

William D. Dowling

Bruce Fahey

Jerilynn Ferguson

Sandra Fishel

Robert Frutchey

Dr. William K. Guegold

GAMA FOUNDATION BOARD

Tom Clark, President

Tracy Dowe

Bruce Fahey

Richard Harris

Mike Pasternak

Charlie Peter

Todd Rosenberg

David Scarponi

Donna Valentine

Theresa Petit-Lerner

Alex Quay

Julianne Robbins

George Rosin

Elizabeth Saraceno

Karen Schreckengost

Steve Sedlock

Michael Sferro

Jeana Singleton

Eda Valentin

Julie Weagraff

Geraldine Wojno Kiefer, Ph.D.

Andrew Ziegler

Dorothy Hansen

DuWayne Hansen

Richard H. Harris

Sandra V. Hazra, M.D.

Robert L. Hunt, Sr.

Jerry Irby

Mary Ann Jackson

Melissa Johnson

Jessica Korkosz Korzhiletskiy

Quinnie Lane

Kathleen Leigh Lewarchick

David Lieberth

Jane E. Litz, CMA

Jason Lorenzon

Diana D. Maurer

William N. Melver

Melodie Morgan-Minott, M.D.

Rev. Dr. Charles Myricks, Jr.

Dave Nelson

Jo Ann Oelschlager

Bryon Palitto

Michael J. Pasternak

Charles A. Peter, M.D.

Lucia M. Pileggi

Guy Pipitone

Renée Pipitone

Ernest E. Pouttu

Ernie Puskas

Terri L. Nass Reeder

Kurt Reed

Charles J. Reitz III

Todd J. Rosenberg

Dr. Walter Ruf

David Scarponi

Sally Schneider

Dr. David M. Sinar

Jeana Singleton

André Thornton, Jr. Dr. Ann Usher

Donna Valentine

Donna Zabel

James E. Zwisler

HONORARY TRUSTEES

TRUSTEES OF NOTE TRUSTEES EMERITI

Norman P. Auburn, Ph.D. *

Robert S. Crawford *

J. Ralph Gillman *

Sue Jeppesen Gillman

Mabel Lamborn Graham *

Jane Kaufman *

Edward J. Metzger

Bruce F. Rothmann, M.D. * * deceased

Olive Cairns *

William & Margaret Denton *

Dorothy Gaylord *

Ida Grotz *

Joseph S. Lichty, M.D. *

Gerald McFadden*

Lola M. Rothmann*

Dorothy Seeger *

Irene Shadley *

Charles K. Sorkin *

Mary Louise Stewart *

Helen M. Vawter

AKRON SYMPHONY

STAFF

Paul Jarrett Executive Director

Kelly MJ Andrews Special Events and Volunteer Coordinator

Courtney Bonifant Grant Writer and Development Associate

James Buckey Director of Marketing

Lori Conant Finance Controller

Betsy Frasure Assistant Orchestra Librarian

Brenda L. Justice Administrative Assistant & Coordinator of Choral Programs

Douglas Kohl Director of Major Gifts

Brandon Kuhn Operations and Stage Manager

Orzella B. Matherson Director of Education and Outreach

Jerome Miskell Personnel Manager

Tom Moore ASO Podcast Host

Cory Smith Orchestra Librarian

Sharon Smith Ticket Services Manager

My Symphony is produced by Baker Media Group, LLC For information on advertising: 330.253.0056 x-104 sales@bakermediagroup.com Design: Baker Media Group LLC

MEDIA PARTNERS

The Sisler McFawn Foundation

ERIC BENJAMIN

Associate Conductor

In a sixth grade music class in his hometown of St. Albans, Eric Benjamin heard Grieg’s In the hall of the mountain king and decided to pursue music, first as a listener, then as a musician, playing baritone horn, piano, viola, guitar and singing, then as a public school teacher (Newton, Mass. North High) and now, as a composer and conductor.

Collegiate studies took him to New England Conservatory for degrees in music education and orchestral conducting. His conducting mentors were Carl St. Clair, Gunther Schuller, Gustav Meier, Kurt Sanderling and Leonard Bernstein.

Joining the conducting staff of the Akron Symphony in 1991, he is now associate conductor, directing the Akron Youth Symphony. A guest conductor with various community, university and festival orchestras throughout Ohio, he currently also serves as music director of the Alliance Symphony and the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra.

His compositions and arrangements have been performed by various orchestras locally and nationally. Several works have been commissioned by the Canton Symphony, including A Secret Gift (after the book by Ted Gup), An Occasional Overture and, as a centennial tribute to Leonard Bernstein, To LB:A Thank-You Note

CHRIS ALBANESE

Akron Symphony

Chorus Director

Chris Albanese is an assistant professor of choral conducting at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he conducts the Grammynominated Singing Hoosiers, and teaches courses in choral conducting. He came to the university by way of San Francisco, where he was a member of the Grammy award-winning ensemble Chanticleer

His most recent work includes conducting and preparing collaborations with Sandi Patty, Sylvia McNair, the Indianapolis Opera, Ft. Wayne Philharmonic, and Carmel Symphony. While at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Chris conducted the University of Cincinnati Men’s Chorus, prepared the Men’s and Women’s Choruses for the NorthAmerican university premiere of Arthur Honegger’s Joan of Arc at the Stake, and served the CCM opera department in the roles of chorus master and assistant conductor.

A passionate educator, Chris has facilitated master classes throughout the United States and Europe, and exhibits a keen interest in the music of IberoAmerica, with special focus on the extant masses and motets of Juan Gutierrez de Padilla. He is a fervent advocate of popular and syncretic music styles, and their incorporation within the choral medium.

His own varied musical experiences include work as a keyboardist in the Chicago-based Chris Buehrle Band, lead tenor saxophone with the Dayton Jazz Ensemble, and study of raga and basic Hindustani vocal technique with Stefan Fiol and Kanika Pandey.

JONATHON

TURNER Gospel Meets Symphony Choirmaster

Jonathon Turner enjoys a multifaceted career as a pastor, conductor, tenor and educator, having served in numerous capacities locally and nationally. He received his undergraduate training at Kent State University, and is a member of the James Abbington Cohort at Hampton University. He holds a Certificate of Leadership from Yale University, is an M.Div Candidate at Virginia Union University, and M.M Candidate at University of Arkansas. Jonathon also serves as the Senior Pastor of The Israelite Missionary Baptist Church in Akron.

Some of the highlights of his musical accomplishments include serving as the Director of Kent State University’s Gospel Choir, Artist-in-Residence at Purdue University, Director of the University of Mount Union Chapel Choir, Director of Band and Choral Activities at Emmanuel Christian Academy and Director of Choral Activities at Lutheran High School East. He Currently serves as The AP/ Dean of Students at Campus International High School

Jonathon has also spent several years as a member of the Gospel Meets Symphony Rhythm Section, and has served as The Chorus Master since 2019.

The Gospel Meets Symphony Choir is comprised of singers from more than 70 area churches. The choir serves as the inspirational voice of the Akron Symphony Orchestra’s annual Gospel Meets Symphony concert, which has been a Northeast Ohio tradition since 1994.

Christopher Wilkins // Music Director

John S. Knight Chair

Eric Benjamin // Associate Conductor

Chris Albanese // Akron Symphony Chorus Director

Jonathon Turner // Gospel Meets Symphony Choirmaster

AKRON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

VIOLIN I

Tallie Brunfelt*, Concertmaster

Mathilde B. & Charles K. Sorkin Chair

Dr. Lawrence & Mabel Graham Chair

Nelson & Dorothy Seeger Chair

Jane & Harold Kaufman Chair

Hadar Zaidel, Assistant Concertmaster

Mary Louise Irvin Memorial Chair

vacant Qingzhuo Li

Cory Smith

VIOLIN II

Karen Ferry, Principal

Mrs. J. Robinson Silver, Jr. Chair

Amy Glick

Nell B. While Chair

Josef Mueller

Ruoyao Li

VIOLA

Michael Strauss, Principal

The H. Luther and Ruth Frentz Memorial Chair

Jack Kehrli

CELLO

Eri Snowden-Rodríguez, Principal

Laura Lee and Joseph Garfinkel Chair

vacant

Yuwen Wang

Julie Myers King

Nathanael Matthews

Jim Benson

Sponsored by the Mary S. and David C. Corbin Foundation

Alyssa Baljunas

FLUTE

Barbara O’Brien, Principal

Thomas R. and Marilyn W. Merryweather Chair

Audrey and Harold Frazier Chair

Kyra Kester

FLUTE/PICCOLO

Jenny Robinson

Betty and Harold Baker Chair

Judy and Roger Read Chair

OBOE

Terry Orcutt, Principal

James H. Seiberling Chair

Renate Sakins

CLARINET

Amer Hasan, Principal

Mr. and Mrs. J. Robert Wilson Chair

Matthew Rosen

CLARINET/BASS CLARINET

Tom Reed

Salma and Sam Gibara Chair

BASSOON

Todd Jelen, Principal

Earl W. Baxtresser Chair

Thomas English

BASSOON/CONTRABASSOON

Mark DeMio

Charles and Therese Peter Chair

The musicians of the Akron Symphony Orchestra are represented by the American Federation of Musicians Local 24, Akron,

HORN

Matthew Mauro, Principal

Robert S. and Frances M. Crawford Chair

Robert C. and Suzanne W. Frutchey Chair

vacant

Ken Wadenpfuhl

TRUMPET

Justin Kohan, Principal

John Charles Frentz Chair

Jay Villella

Loren Toplitz

TROMBONE

John Gruber, Principal

Dorothy and Joseph L. Boltz Chair

Thomas Pylinski

TROMBONE

Sean McGhee, Principal

Jean and Joseph Hauser Sr. Chair

TUBA

Kenneth Heinlein, Principal

Flora M. Bump and Robert L. Wise Chair

TIMPANI

John Curtis, Principal

Jane Watters Memorial Chair

PERCUSSION

Robert Kistler, Principal

Myers Industries, Inc. Chair

Matthew Dudack

KEYBOARDS

Jacob Bernhardt

Akron Symphony Guild Chair

*2024-2025 Leave of Absence

AKRON SYMPHONY CHORUS

SOPRANO 1

Roma Bandza

Ann Barni

Diane Del Greco

Sarah Gaither

April Held

Susan Holbrook

Miriam HenkelMoellmann

Alicia Hotes

Brenda Justice

Colleen Miller

Rachel O’Connell

Deanna Perdue

Kaitlin Privara

Liesl Semper

Courtney Zimmerman

SOPRANO 2

Sally Ann Anderson

Majorie Benjamin

Katerina Cole

Gwendolyn Erskine

Michelle Gippin

Lydia Hartman

Karen Hazlett

Katrina Heinzen

Ame Held

Dawn Horner

Cheryl Kline

Louisa Kreider

Lisa Lazar

Maryann Nething

Mary Ellen Porcella

Milena Savier

Mary Anne Schmidt

Jane Schweitzer

Roberta Wervey

ALTO 1

Kelly Burke

Karen Dick

Natalie Gilbert

Karen Gracy

Joan Houger

Nancy Irby

Sharon Juszli

Jackie Lann

Christine Makosky

Amy Greenberg

McCormick

Bonnie Mitchell

Joan Niewieroski

Claudine Robinson

Janet Taylor

Barbara Winberg

ALTO 2

Martha Banks

Lisa Donatelli

Amanda Egolf

Rosemary Fitzpatrick

Tara Gillespie

Theresia Hartz

Erin Haywood

Peggy Hogan

Beth Illes-Johnson

Juliann Reese

Kathy Schaefer

Amber SchrockAndreasen

Cindy Spenoso

Penny Thompson

Sylvia Thompson

Anita Young

Julie Zimmerman

TENOR 1

George Gaiser

Sam Garner

Raph Guenther

Steve Lord

Daniel McCall

Timothy Ondack

TENOR 2

Philip Foster

Sean Gilbow

William Hartz

Ralph Heimberger

Floyd Juszli

Donald Lambo

Ken Linscott

BASS 1

Harry Arble

Robert Balli

Simon Beck

John Burkley

Rick Dailey

Joseph Gardner

Chris Godard

Tim Held

Steve Hogan

Jerry Irby

Joseph Palmiero

Henry Payden Jr.

Patrick Stromberg

Bruce Taylor

BASS 2

Gawaine Banks

Eugene Fubler

John Gruneich

Caleb Helgesen

Richard Lieghley

Bob Peyak

Andy Rambler

Greg Schumacher

Kurt Spenoso

Of Our New Day Begun

January 18th, 2025 | 7:30 pm

EJ Thomas Hall, The University of Akron

Rhapsody in Blue

Christopher Wilkins, conductor Theron Brown, piano

Members of the Gospel Meets Symphony Choir

Jonathon Turner, Choirmaster

Members of the Gospel Meets Symphony Choir

Symphony No. 4 “Autochthonous”

Omar Thomas (b. 1984)

William Grant Still Moderately (1895-1978) Slowly With a Graceful Lilt Slowly and Reverently

Candide Suite for Orchestra

INTERMISSION

Leonard Bernstein

You Were Dead You Know (1918-1990)

Paris Waltz arranged Charlie Harmon

Bon Voyage

Drowning Music/The King’s Barcarolle Ballad of Eldorado

I Am Easily Assimilated

The Best of All Possible Worlds

Make Our Garden Grow

Candide Overture

Rhapsody in Blue (new edition 2023)

Theron Brown, piano

Bernstein

George Gershwin 1898–1937

This program, coinciding with Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, opens with a heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting work by Omar Thomas, written in memory of the church members who died in the 2015 attack in Charleston, SC. It includes a role for the Gospel Meets Symphony Choir. We then hear a 1947 work by the great and undercelebrated American composer, William Grant Still—his optimistic Fourth Symphony. After intermission, comes wonderfully characterful and satirical music from Leonard Bernstein’s opera Candide. To close, pianist Theron Brown performs the iconic, jazz-inflected Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin.

Omar Thomas (b. 1984)

Of Our New Day Begun Composed 2015-2016. The Western Kentucky University Wind Ensemble gave the premiere of the original version for band on February 20, 2016. The orchestral version was commissioned and premiered by the Colorado Symphony on April 28, 2022. Duration: 11:00.

Background

Omar Thomas has cut a wide swath in both the jazz and classical worlds. Born in Brooklyn, New York to Guyanese immigrant parents, Thomas studied Music Education at James Madison University and received a master’s degree in composition from the New England Conservatory of Music. At age 23(!), he was appointed to the faculty of Boston’s Berklee College of Music. He is currently Assistant Professor of Composition and Jazz Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. His works have been commissioned and performed by groups as diverse as the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, the San Francisco and Boston Gay Men’s Choruses, The United States Marine Band, the Colorado Symphony, and the Houston Symphony. Thomas writes:

“The work was written to honor nine beautiful souls who lost their lives to a callous act of hatred and domestic terrorism on the evening of

June 17, 2015 while worshipping in their beloved sanctuary, the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (affectionately referred to as “Mother Emanuel”) in Charleston, South Carolina. My greatest challenge in creating this work was walking the line between reverence for the victims and their families, and honoring my strong, bitter feelings towards both the perpetrator and the segments of our society that continue to create people like him. I realized that the most powerful musical expression I could offer incorporated elements from both sides of that line—embracing my pain and anger while being moved by the displays of grace and forgiveness demonstrated by the victims’ families.

“Historically, Black Americans have, in great number, turned to the church to find refuge and grounding in the most trying of times. Thus, the musical themes and ideas for Of Our New Day Begun are rooted in the Black American church tradition. The piece is anchored by James and John Johnson’s time-honored song, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” … and peppered with blues harmonies and melodies. Singing, stomping, and clapping are also prominent features of this work, as they have always been a mainstay of Black music traditions. The use of tambourine is a direct nod to Black worship services.”

What You’ll Hear

Mr. Thomas continues:

“Of Our New Day Begun begins with a unison statement of a melodic cell from “Lift Every Voice….” before giving way to ghostly, bluesy chords in the horns and bassoons. This section moves to a dolorous and bitter dirge presentation of the anthem in irregularly shifting 12/8 and 6/8 meter, which grows in intensity as it offers fleeting glimmers of hope and relief answered by cries of blues-inspired licks. A maddening, ostinato-driven section representing a frustration and weariness that words cannot, grows into a group singing of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” fueled by the stomping and clapping reminiscent of the Black church. In the latter half of the piece,

the music turns hopeful… modulating up a step during its ascent to a glorious statement of the final lines of “Lift Every Voice”… There is a long and emotional decrescendo that lands on a pensive and cathartic gospel-inspired hymn song. The piece comes to rest on a unison F that grows from a very distant hum to a thunderous roar, driven forward by march-like stomping to represent the ceaseless marching of Black Americans toward equality.”

William Grant Still (1895-1978)

Symphony No. 4 “Autochthonous” Still composed his Fourth Symphony in 1947. The Oklahoma Symphony gave the premiere on March 18, 1951, under Victor Alessandro. Duration 27:00.

Background

William Grant Still, who would eventually be known as the “Dean of Afro-American composers” was born in a small town in Mississippi. He studied music at Wilberforce University in Ohio but withdrew in order to earn a living. Still worked as an arranger for the blues composer W. C. Handy. He was eventually able to enroll at Oberlin College, though again he cut his time in college short, this time for service in the Navy during World War I. After the war, Handy invited him to New York City, where he spent the next several years working as an arranger: writing music for Handy and doing orchestrations for Broadway shows. Still’s breakthrough work in what he referred to as “serious music” was his Afro-American Symphony, a work that incorporated the blues, spirituals, and other Black musical idioms. Premiered by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in October 1931, it was the first work by a Black composer to be programmed by a major American orchestra. Performances by other orchestras quickly followed. In 1934, Still relocated to Los Angeles, where he would spend the rest of his life. He worked occasionally scoring music for Hollywood and, later, television, and had a successful career working as an

independent composer. Still left behind a large musical legacy: eight operas, four ballets, five symphonies, eight symphonic poems, and a host of smaller works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, chorus, and solo voice.

“Autochthonous” means “native,” as in the people native to a given land. The composer, in explaining the name he gave to his fourth symphony, noted that: “as the subtitle indicates, the Fourth Symphony has its roots in our own soil, but rather than being aboriginal or indigenous, it is intended to represent the spirit of the American people.” The inspiration for this upbeat work, seems to have an honorary doctorate he received from Oberlin College in the summer of 1947. Shortly after he returned home to Los Angeles, his diary reports: “got a good theme which seemed to be a good one for a symphony, then developed it.” The work was largely completed in August 1947. Still dedicated the score to Maurice Kessler, who had been one of his teachers at Oberlin.

What You’ll Hear

The symphony is in four movements. Though it has roots in jazz, spirituals, and other Black styles, the work uses these styles lightly, in the background. Still described the opening (Moderately) as “the spirit of optimism and energy: the American ability to ‘get things done.’” Two themes are introduced in quick succession: a flowing main theme in the strings— which will reappear in later movements—and a bluesy second idea in the trumpet. These are worked out in a compact sonata form movement. He called the second movement (Slowly) “pensive, then later in the second subject, animated in a folky way.” Here the main theme from the first movement becomes a wistful torch song in strings and solo woodwinds. Horns and trombones brusquely intrude, signaling a new “folky” mood, but the original character returns at the end. The third movement (With a graceful lilt) is “humorous and unmistakably typical of our country and its rhythms.” It swings with a breezy confidence. Here the opening movement’s main theme appears as a

secondary idea in a trio of flutes. Still characterized the broad finale (Slowly and reverently) as “the warmth and spiritual side of the American people—their love of mankind. It may also be said that the music speaks of the fusion of musical cultures in North America.” The finale opens with a dark theme in the strings, leading to a solemn statement in the low brass. The tempo quickens for an episode developing the main theme. At the end, the composer transforms the movement’s somber opening idea into an uplifting and brassy close.

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

Suite from Candide (arr. Charlie Harmon Overture to Candide Bernstein’s opera Candide was completed in 1956, premiering on Broadway on December 1 of that year. The suite heard here was prepared in 1998 and was introduced by the Minnesota Orchestra in January 1999. Duration 21:00.

Background

In 1759, the French playwright and satirist Voltaire published Candide, a stinging indictment of the thenfashionable “philosophical optimism” of Leibnitz. Inspired in part by a horrible earthquake that had destroyed much of the Portuguese city of Lisbon in 1755, the play describes the philosophical awakening of Candide, a young student of the sophist Dr. Pangloss. After interminable (and hilarious) tribulations, Candide sheds his optimism and concludes that the primary aim of life should be “to grow one’s own garden.” Candide’s rejection of boundless optimism as an acceptable approach to world problems caused consternation at the French court and elsewhere in Europe. It was promptly placed in the Vatican Index of banned books. And yet, the public loved Candide; it was popular enough to warrant thirteen editions prior to Voltaire’s death in 1778.

Leonard Bernstein’s Candide dates from 1950, when playwright Lillian Hellman suggested the Voltaire play as a subject for collaboration. Bernstein’s

setting of Hellman’s libretto, completed six years later, had a double purpose. The broad parody of the quartet finale to Act I, and arias such as “Oh Happy We” mock the conventions of opera and operetta. But Candide was also a satire of the closedmindedness of America in the 1950s—specifically the political paranoia that threatened Hellman and many of Bernstein’s acquaintances with blacklisting and worse. Candide was not completed until 1956, four years after Hellman had been called to testify at the McCarthy hearings, and two years after the humiliation of Senator McCarthy himself. Shortly after its premiere, Bernstein described Candide as “political commentary in the aftermath of Joe McCarthy.”

What You’ll Hear

The suite brings together orchestral arrangements of several numbers from the operetta, beginning with “You Were Dead You Know,” a duet between Candide and his long-lost (and frequently found) fiancé Cunegonde. Candide had thought she was dead, but finds her living the high life in Paris, where she is the mistress of both a Marquis and a Sultan (who thoughtfully visit her on alternate days!) The “Paris Waltz” accompanies a scene of Cunegonde’s glittery life in Paris. “Bon Voyage” is pure Gilbert & Sullivan—a farewell chorus of farewell as Candide leaves Surinam for a voyage to Venice. The ship promptly sinks, and “Drowning Music/ The Kings’ Barcarolle” accompanies the ridiculous following sequence, in which Candide is picked up by a passing galley and reunited with Pangloss, now a galley slave. The passengers include five repentant kings who discuss their plans to renounce luxury and power in a loopy barcarolle. “Ballad of Eldorado” is sung by Candide, who finds Eldorado, the legendary City of Gold in Act II. “I Am Easily Assimilated” comes from Act I, where Candide, Cunegonde, and an Old Lady flee Paris to Cadiz after Candide accidentally kills both the Marquis and the Sultan. The three are penniless. The Old Lady sings a hilarious and suggestive tango as payment for their supper. “The Best of All Possible Worlds” comes

from near the beginning: a lesson from Pangloss whose crack-brained logic supports a frantically optimistic view of the world. Both opera and suite end with "Make Our Garden Grow"—a fervent ensemble for Candide, Cunegonde, and the entire cast.

The overture to Candide—the most popular of all Bernstein’s concert music— is a brilliant, bubbly piece that establishes the sarcastic tone of the drama. It sets several musical themes from the opera, including music from a battle scene and from the arias “O Happy We” and “Glitter and be Gay.”

George Gershwin (1898-1937)

Rhapsody in Blue Gershwin composed Rhapsody in Blue in January and February 1924. He was the piano soloist with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in the premiere, in New York City on February 12, 1924.

Duration 16:00

Background

By 1924, Gershwin was a huge success on Broadway, and greatly admired as a pianist. It was at this time that Paul Whiteman conceived one of the most ambitious concerts of the Roaring ‘20s. Whiteman, the self-styled “King of Jazz,” announced an “Experiment in Modern Music” for February 12, 1924, a concert that would supposedly answer the question “What is American Music?” Whiteman planned to bring together jazz of all styles with classical music, with newly composed works by Irving Berlin, Victor Herbert, and others. Whiteman and Gershwin had casually chatted about a large-scale jazzstyle orchestral work for the Whiteman Orchestra. But this casual commitment became a fait accompli when Gershwin read in the New York Herald a January 3 announcement that he would be composing a “jazz concerto” for Whiteman’s grand concert! Composing a concerto in just over a month was a daunting task for a composer who had never written a work of this scale, and he already had several major Broadway

commitments. Rather than attempting a traditionally conceived concerto, Gershwin settled on a “rhapsody”—a less rigorous form that would allow him to develop musical ideas freely. According to a letter by Gershwin, the final inspiration for the score came during a train trip to Boston for the opening of his show Sweet Little Devil: “It was on the train, with its steely rhythms, its rattlety-bang that is often stimulating to a composer—I frequently hear music in the heart of noise—I suddenly heard—and even saw on paper—the complete construction of the rhapsody from beginning to end. No new themes came to me, but I worked on the thematic material already in my mind and tried to conceive the composition as a whole. I heard it as a musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our national pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness. By the time I reached Boston, I had a definite plot of the piece, as distinguished from its actual substance.” In the end, Whiteman’s pretentious and over-long “Experiment” was a qualified success. However, Gershwin’s Rhapsody—24th on a program of 25 works—stole the show.

What You’ll Hear

The Rhapsody opens with a famous glissando, the trademark lick of Ross Gorman, Whiteman’s lead clarinetist, which Gershwin adopted as the perfect lead-in to the first theme. The piece develops freely, with one theme flowing naturally into the next, and with increasing intensity, until the piano takes a long solo and slows the tempo. The central section is based upon a romantic melody that sounds like a nod to Tchaikovsky with a bit of jazz punctuation. There is a recapitulation, and the piece ends aggressively, with the lead piano playing its loudest.

February 8th, 2025 | 7:30 pm

EJ Thomas Hall, The University of Akron

Gospel Meets Symphony

Christopher Wilkins, conductor

Gospel Meets Symphony Choir

Jonathon Turner, Choirmaster

GMS Rhythm Section

Brandon Scarborough, piano

Joseph Townsend, organ

William “Bubba” Watkins, band leader/bass

Dinareo Hill, drums

Kameron Millirons, rehearsal drummer

Treon Mathews, rehearsal drummer

Joseph Townsend, rehearsal accompanist

Kenny McCorvey, rehearsal accompanist

Processional of the Levites/Anthem of Praise

Ethel Satterwhite, soprano

Jessie Marie Holt, soprano

Barbara Hall, soprano

W. Ginger Ferguson, soprano

Richard Smallwood

Arr. by David Kempers

I Love the Lord

Terrence J. Dooley

Arr. by David Kempers

Ride On, King Jesus Traditional

Philip Foster, tenor

Moses Hogan

Arr. by David Kempers

Ride On, King Jesus Traditional

Arr. by Wilmington Chester Mass Choir

Go Down Moses Traditional

GMS 2.0 a cappella

Giants

Donald Lawrence

Arr. by David Kempers

Carmina Burana: “O Fortuna” Carl Orff

Whom Shall I Fear

Help Me Lift Jesus

Sean Tillery

Arr. by David Kempers

Arr. by Elder Eric Thomas & The Greater Harvest Sanctuary Choir

Arr. by David Kempers

INTERMISSION

Line Hymn Traditional

Rev. Dr. Mark (Tony) Ward, tenor Isaac Watts

Lily of the Valley

Arr. by John P. Kee

Timothy Williams, tenor

Amazing Grace Traditional

Arr. by Mack Wilberg

Les Préludes (excerpt)

My Peace

Ida Ashford, tenor

What He’s Done for Me

You Are My God

Revelation 19:1

Franz Liszt

Claude E. Bailey III

Arr. by Kenny McCorvey & Arr. by David Kempers

Eddie Robinson

Arr. by David Kempers

Stephen Hurd

Arr. by David Kempers

Stephen Hurd

Arr. by David Kempers

March 1st, 2025 | 7:30 pm

EJ Thomas Hall, The University of Akron

Resurrection Symphony

Christopher Wilkins, conductor

Sonya Headlam, soprano

Amanda Lynn Bottoms, alto

Akron Symphony Chorus

Dr. Chris Albanese, Director

Metropolitan Chorus of Summit Choral Society

Dr. Britt Cooper, Director

Symphony No. 2 in C Minor “Resurrection”

Allegro maestoso

Andante moderato

In ruhig fliessender Bewegung (In quietly flowing motion)

Urlicht (Primal Light): Very solemn but simple

Im Tempo des Scherzo (in the tempo of the Scherzo)—Allegro energico—Slow, misterioso

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

This Akron Symphony Orchestra program is devoted to a single work, Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony. This immense, fivemovement symphony moves from a disturbing first movement to a deeply moving finale: the composer’s most profound statement of faith. It features an enlarged orchestra with offstage brass and percussion, the Akron Symphony Chorus, Metropolitan Chorus of Summit Choral Society, and two fine vocal soloists, soprano Sonya Headlam and mezzo Amanda Lynn Bottoms.

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Symphony No. 2 in C minor “Resurrection" Mahler composed this work between 1888 and 1894. After a partial premiere of the first three movements in March 1895, Mahler conducted the first public performance of the entire work in Berlin on December 13, 1895. Duration 80:00.

“One score always lies on my piano—that of Mahler’s Second Symphony—and I never cease learning from it.”Richard Strauss

Background

For Mahler, composing was autobiography. He saw his own life as the substance of his musical works, writing in 1897 that his symphonies “…exhaust the content of my whole life— they are what I have experienced and what I have suffered, truth and poetry in tones... If one were to read close enough, he would indeed see my life transparently reflected in them.” This autobiographical ideal is nowhere more evident than in the Second Symphony, where Mahler tackles the subjects of death and resurrection. The movements of the symphony, particularly the finale, do indeed reflect the events of his life, but they also reflect a crisis of religious belief. A Jew by heritage, and Catholic by conversion, Mahler was never settled in his beliefs, and struggled with his own reaction to the Klopstock poem, Resurrection. This poem inspired the final movement, but he obviously saw it as a statement that needed a response. In searching for text to complete the finale, Mahler “ransacked the religious literature of the world” before deciding to write the concluding lines himself. All text from O glaube, mein Herz (Believe, Oh my heart) onwards is by Mahler.

Composition of this work extended over six years: 1888-94. The enormous first movement, to which Mahler gave the title Totenfeier (“Funeral Rites”) was completed by 1893. During

that year, Mahler showed it to his mentor and artistic patron, the conductor Hans von Bülow, who was impressed and just a little shocked by the movement’s size and boldness. The internal movements were completed in the summer of 1893. While the Andante moderato—sketched out for the first time in 1888—was always intended as the second movement of a large C minor symphony, both the third and fourth movements have their origins in songs set to texts from an early 19thcentury collection of folk poetry titled Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy’s Magic Horn). The scherzo is a reworked version of his setting of St. Anthony’s Sermon to the Fishes. The fourth movement, Primal Light, was originally intended not for the symphony, but for his orchestral cycle of Wunderhorn songs. Mahler adapted it here, however, as the bridge to the as-of-then uncompleted finale.

By the end of 1893, Mahler had reached a creative roadblock: he had posed an enormous question in the opening movement, and had three internal movements, but was unsure how to end the symphony. The inspiration for the final movement came just a few months later, with the unexpected death of Hans

von Bülow. The memorial service for this musician, for whom Mahler had boundless respect, served as the catalyst needed to complete the Symphony No. 2. Mahler wrote, “At that time, I had long planned to introduce the chorus into the last movement, but hesitated, for fear that this might be viewed as a superficial imitation of Beethoven... As I sat there and thought about [von Bülow], my mood was precisely that of the work that was occupying me. At that moment, the chorus, up in the organ loft, intoned Klopstock’s ‘Resurrection’ chorale. It struck me like a bolt of lightning, and everything stood clear and vivid before my soul. It was the flash, the ‘Holy Annunciation’ that all creative artists wait for.” Mahler completed the final movement just a few months after this “lightning bolt.”

What You’ll Hear

Mahler was always hesitant about attaching programs to his symphonies and abandoned this device altogether in his later works. He did, however, provide an extensive program for his Second Symphony that sheds light on his intentions. In describing the opening movement, he wrote: “We are standing

Make Yourself at Home

beside the coffin of a man beloved. For the last time, this man’s life, battles, sufferings, and purpose pass through our mind. And now, at this profound moment, we are gripped by a voice of awe-inspiring solemnity... What next? it says. Is it all an empty dream, or does our life and death have a meaning? If we are to go on living, we must answer this question.” The movement is a sonata form of gigantic proportions, with its main divisions set off by a furious motive from the basses, and a doleful march theme. Contrast comes in the guise of more pastoral music from the strings and horns, but the rage of the opening soon creeps in once more. Subtly working its way into the development section is a motive drawn from the Catholic Mass for the Dead—the first four notes of the chant Dies irae (Day of Wrath). After the recapitulation, basses and horns enter again to announce a surprisingly understated coda.

Coming almost as relief after the ferocity of the opening, the second movement (Andante moderato) begins with a placid string melody, which gives way to agitated triplet figures in the strings below a flute melody. The opening melody returns, now with a lovely cello counterpoint. Mahler brings his contrasting melody back, now in more forceful minor-key variation. In the final section, the main idea creeps back again, now in pizzicato strings, punctuated by “cuckoos” from the piccolos. Mahler described this movement as a remembrance of “...a sunny scene, calm and untroubled, from the life of this hero.”

After the “nostalgic dream” of the Andante moderato, we awaken in the scherzo and “return to life’s confusion.” Mahler explained the mood of this

movement: “...the perpetually moving, unending, always incomprehensible hustle and bustle of life becomes eerie to you, like the movements of dancing figures in a brightly-lit ballroom into which you gaze out of the dark night— from such a distance that you cannot hear the dance music! Life becomes senseless to you then, a ghastly apparition from which you may recoil with a cry of disgust!” The music is set in a large threepart form. In the two outer panels, the strings play a flowing melody above a boisterous country-dance background. The brief central section, beginning with solo trumpet, is more questing in nature. The final section builds gradually towards a series of forceful brass chords—the “cry of disgust” described in Mahler’s program—and just as gradually subsides back into the country-dance music of the opening.

The fourth movement, titled Urlicht (Primal Light), marks an important moment of transition in the flow of this work. In his program for the movement, Mahler wrote: “The morning voice of innocent faith falls upon our ears.” The soloist’s opening invocation and the answering brass chorale set a serene and prayerful mood. Even at the moment when the text becomes more agitated and narrative in nature, the solo line is simple and unhurried. This text sets up what is to come in the finale, expressing the central theme, a search for redemption and resurrection.

The first and fifth movements stand at either end of the Resurrection Symphony, like massive pillars of a colossal arch. If the first movement poses the essential questions of existence, Mahler’s struggles and faith come through in the fifth, which he described as “a fresco of the Day of Judgment.” The finale shatters the placid mood of Urlicht with an echo of the scherzo’s “cry of disgust.”

Offstage brass give the first hints of the great summons that is to come. The first peak of emotion comes at the close of a pianissimo trombone chorale on the Dies irae, as the music comes to rest triumphantly in C Major. The character soon changes, as Mahler launches into an extended orchestral fantasy on the Dies irae motive. The mood subsides once more, only to build to another frantic climax. In his program for this opening section, Mahler draws on appalling imagery from the text of the Dies irae: the graves have opened, and “marching in a mighty phalanx” come the trembling and terrified dead, rich and poor, peasants and kings, all together waiting for judgment. Finally, a section of the score titled Der grosse Appell (“the great summons”) begins with offstage brass and pastoral woodwinds. The chorus, held in reserve until this most profound moment, begins unaccompanied, and almost inaudibly, with the Klopstock chorale that inspired the movement. Then, in Mahler’s own words, the soloists and chorus transmit a message of resurrection and faith, culminating in the triumphant: “Rise again! Yes, you will rise again, my heart, in but a moment! What you have fought for will carry you to God!”

J. Michael Allsen

Fourth movement:

URLICHT

ALTO:

O Röschen roth!

PRIMAL LIGHT

O little red rose!

Der Mensch liegt in grösster Noth! Humankind lies in greatest need!

Der Mensch liegt in grösster Pein! Humankind lies in greatest pain!

Je lieber möcht’ ich im Himmel sein! I would much rather be in Heaven!

Da kam ich auf einen breiten Weg, I came upon a broad road; da kam ein Engelein und wollt’ then a little angel appeared, and tried to mich abweisen. turn me away.

Ach nein! Ich liess mich nicht Ah no! I would not let myself be abweisen! turned away!

Ich bin von Gott und will wieder zu Gott! I am from God, and will return to God!

Der liebe Gott wird mir ein Lichtchen The beloved God will give me a small light, geben,

Wird leuchten mir bis in das ewig which will guide me to a blessed, eternal elig Leben! life!

(Anonymous, from Des Knaben Wunderhorn)

Fifth movement:

Chorus and Soloists:

Aufersteh’n, ja aufersteh’n wirst du, Rise again—yes, you will rise again mein Staub, nach kurzer Ruh! my dust, after a short rest!

Unsterblich Leben! Unsterblich Leben Eternal life! You will be granted eternal wird, der dich rief, dir geben. life by Him who called you.

Wieder auzublüh’n wirst dur gesät! To bloom again where you were sown!

Der Herr der Ernte geht und sammelte The Lord of harvests goes forth to Garben, gather like sheaves uns ein, die starben. we who have died.

(F. G. Klopstock)

ALTO:

O glaube, mein Herz, O glaube:

Believe, O my heart, O believe: es geht dir nichts verloren! Nothing will be lost to you!

Dein ist, dein, was du gesehnt. What you longed for is yours—yes, yours.

Dein, was du geliebt, was du Yours—whatever you have loved, gestritten! whatever you have fought for!

SOPRANO:

O glaube:

O believe: du wardst nicht umsonst geboren, You were not born in vain, hast nicht umsonst gelebt, gelitten! nor have you lived and suffered in vain!

Alto and Chorus:

Was enstanden ist, das muss vergehen; What has been created must perish; was vergangen, auferstehen! what has perished must rise again!

Hör auf zu beben!

Bereite dich zu leben!

CHORUS AND SOLOISTS:

Stop your trembling!

Prepare yourself to live!

O Schmerz! Du Alldurchdringer! O Pain, all-piercing!

Dir bin ich entrungen! I have been snatched away from you!

O Tod! Du Allbezwinger!

O Death, all-conquering! Nun bist du bezwungen! Now you have been conquered!

Mit Flügeln, die ich mir errungen, With wings I have won for myself in heissem Liebesstreben, in fervent struggles of love, werd’ ich entschweben zum Licht, I shall soar aloft toward the light zu dem kein Aug’ gedrungen! that no eye has seen!

Sterben werd’ ich, um zu leben!

I shall die, in order to live!

Aufersteh’n, ja aufersteh’n wirst du, Rise again, yes, you will rise again mein Herz, in einem Nu! my heart, in but a moment! Was du geschlagen, What you have fought for zu Gott wird es dich tragen! will carry you to God!

(Gustav Mahler)

(translation by J.M. Allsen)

March 29th, 2025 | 7:30 pm

EJ Thomas Hall, The University of Akron

Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto

Christopher Wilkins, conductor

Amer Hasan, clarinet

Sirgourney Cook, soprano

The Anonymous Lover Overture

Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622

Allegro

Adagio

Rondo: Allegro

Five Freedom Songs

My Lord, What a Morning I Want to Go Home

Lay dis Body Down

My Father, How Long?

The Day of Judgment

Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21

Adagio molto—Allegro con brio

Andante cantabile con moto

Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799)

Wolfgang Amadè Mozart (1756-1791)

Amer Hasan, clarinet

INTERMISSION

Jessie Montgomery (b. 1981)

Sirgourney Cook, soprano

Finale: Adagio—Allegro molto e vivace

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

PROGRAM NOTES

Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto

We open this program with a lively overture by Joseph Bologne, a Black composer who thrived in late 18th-century Paris. We then feature one of our own: principal clarinetist Amer Hasan, who plays Mozart’s fine Clarinet Concerto. We welcome soprano Sirgourney Cook for the Akron premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s Five Freedom Songs. To wrap up the program we have a vivacious early work by Beethoven, the Symphony No. 1.

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799)

The Anonymous Lover Overture

This work was part of the comédie mêlée L’amante anonoyme in 1780. Duration 12:00.

Background

Chevalier de Saint-Georges led a remarkable life in late 18thcentury France. He was born Joseph Bologne, on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe—then a French Colony—son of a wealthy plantation owner, George Bologne, and his Senegaleseborn enslaved mother, Nanon. Though French colonial law prevented them from marrying, George and Nanon lived together quite openly. George acknowledged his son and made generous provisions for his living expenses. The family moved to France when Joseph was still a child, and Georges Bologne succeeded in acquiring a noble title, styling himself “de Saint-Georges” after one of his properties in Guadeloupe—a few years later, his 19-year-old son acquired the further title “Chevalier” from King Louis XV. His father eventually returned to Guadeloupe but Joseph—then in his early 20s—remained in France, supported by a huge annuity from his father. By all accounts, Joseph Bologne was a dashing figure at court, admired as a dancer, a horseman, aas a notorious “ladies’ man,” and renowned as one of the best swordsmen in Europe. He remained a prominent figure at court until the French Revolution in 1789, and afterwards was successful both as a musician and a military commander in the years following.

Bologne is best known today for his musical accomplishments. He made his debut as a violinist at age 17, playing one of his own violin concertos. In 1774, his father died, and his annuity ended; he made his living primarily through music from that point onwards. Bologne faced occasional racial discrimination—as in 1776, when plans for him to take over as director of the Paris Opéra were scotched when several of the leading female singers petitioned the queen that “their honor and delicate conscience could never allow them to submit to the orders of a mulatto.” But generally, he had a successful career as a violinist and composer, eventually leading the Concerts de la Loge Olympique, an influential concert series sponsored by

Paris’s largest Masonic lodge. As a composer, Bologne wrote a half-dozen stage works, mostly comic operas, several vocal and chamber pieces, fourteen violin concertos, eight “symphonies concertantes,” and two symphonies.

What You’ll Hear

The work heard here is the overture to his comédie mêlée L’amante anonoyme (The Anonymous Lover). Comédie mêlée was a popular French light operatic form with spoken dialogue. This work tells the story of Léontine, a young widow disillusioned with love, who begins getting a passionate series of letters from an anonymous admirer: actually, her shy friend Valcour. (Don’t worry: it all works out happily in the end!) The overture is in three movements, beginning with a lively sonata-form Allegro presto. This movement develops two themes, a forceful idea heard at the beginning, and a more delicate contrasting theme. A tiny development section contains some startling harmonic changes before the main ideas return. The Andante is based on a gentle sighing figure passed between the upper and lower strings. There is a brief contrasting moment at the center of the movement before this sighing figure returns. The closing Presto is an animated movement based on a series of melodies in the rhythm of a gigue—a popular dance of the 18th century. Bologne’s two symphonies were published in 1799; Symphony No. 2 is a slightly-reworked version of this overture.

Wolfgang Amadè Mozart (1756-1791)

Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in A Major, K. 622 Mozart composed this concerto for Anton Stadler, completing it on October 1, 1791. Stadler probably played the work for the first time in Prague just two weeks later, on October 16. Duration 28:00.

Background

Though Mozart actively sought commissions from theaters and princes, his personal friendships were often just as important in the creation of new works. This was the case with his only concerto for clarinet, written for his drinking-buddy and fellow Freemason, Anton Stadler. Stadler was one of the early virtuosos on what was then a relatively new instrument, the clarinet. He and Mozart met in 1783, and remained friends until Mozart’s death. Stadler seems to have been one of the many associates that took advantage of the composer in Vienna, borrowing money that was never repaid, acting as Mozart’s “business partner” (much to Stadler’s own advantage), and generally sponging off his unfailingly good-natured friend. Some biographers have even suggested that Stadler was responsible for

the disappearance of Mozart’s autograph score for the clarinet concerto, and that he may even have purloined other works by Mozart to publish under his own name. For his part, Mozart was tolerant of Stadler’s mooching, and maintained a joking friendship: in a letter to his wife, he described Stadler as “a bit of an ass.” Mozart adored the clarinet and Stadler’s playing, however, and composed several works with Anton Stadler and his brother Johann, also a clarinetist, in mind: Masonic Funeral Music (1785), the Clarinet Trio, K.498 (1986), the Clarinet Quintet, K.581 (1789), and an alternative version of the Symphony No. 40 (1788).

What You’ll Hear

The concerto is in three movements. The opening (Allegro) is set conventionally in sonata form, with an orchestral tutti presenting the themes before they are heard in the solo part. The themes, which make the most of the clarinet’s liquid sound, are lyrical but with many surprisingly melancholy moments. The second movement (Adagio) exploits all of the cantabile capabilities of the clarinet. The main theme is among the most beautiful melodies ever written for the instrument: a simple and gently rising idea that is lightly developed. The expressive connections to the closely contemporary The Magic Flute are clear in the operatic style of the central section. The finale (Allegro) is a light and breezy 6/8 rondo which features the solo line throughout. Though this is the most technically virtuosic movement of the concerto, Mozart’s flashy bits are always tasteful. There are also several surprises along the way, including several turns to the minor, and a melodramatic pause before the solo line works us gradually back to a final statement of the main theme.

Jessie Montgomery (b.1981)

Five Freedom Songs Montgomery composed this work in 2017–18 in collaboration with soprano Julia Bullock. Bullock was the soloist in the premiere, at the Sun Valley Festival on August 3, 2021. Duration 20:00

Background

Composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery grew up on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and credits the neighborhood’s unique artistic atmosphere and the musical, artistic, and activist activities of her own family for fostering a career that “merges composing, performance, education, and advocacy.” She pursued musical studies at the Third Street Music School Settlement, the Juilliard School, and Princeton University. Montgomery remains active both as a performer and composer. As a violinist, she has performed with PUBLIQuartet, the Providence Quartet, the Catalyst Quartet, the Silkroad Ensemble, the Sphinx Virtuosi, and her own ensemble. Since she was a teenager, Montgomery has been involved with the Sphinx Organization, which is devoted to fostering diversity in classical music and the development of young Black and Latinx string players. Montgomery has gained an impressive number of credits as a composer, with commissions from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and others. In May 2024, she concluded a three-year residency with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

What You’ll Hear

In this work, Montgomery goes to the wellspring tapped by many Black American composers: the negro spiritual. The composer provides the following description of the piece:

“Five Freedom Songs was conceived in collaboration with soprano Julia Bullock between 2017 and 2018. We wanted to create a song cycle that honors our shared African-American heritage and the tradition of the negro spiritual, while also experimenting with non-traditional stylistic contexts. Each of the five songs in this cycle are sourced from the historical anthology Slave Songs of the United States (originally published by A. Simpson & Co., New York, 1867), which categorizes each song based on origin and social context.

“For example, My Lord, What a Morning is actually the original lyric to the more popular spiritual Stars Begin to Fall, which originated in the Southeastern slave states. I Want to Go Home also originates from the Southeastern states, and my setting is inspired by the simple way it was transcribed as a seven-note melody without an indicated rhythm, which inspired me to write it in a hybrid Gregorian chant/spiritual style. Lay dis Body Down, a funeral song said to originate from the region surrounding South Carolina, is set in an improvised style, wherein each part of the ensemble chooses their own pacing of the line to create a swirling meditation. My Father, How Long? contains the refrain “We will soon be free, we will soon be free, De Lord will call us home,” words reflecting the dual meaning between spiritual salvation and freedom from oppression. This song emerged from a jail in Georgetown, S.C. at the outbreak of the Great Rebellion [the Civil War], and accompanied by percussive sounds in the strings evoking the chain gang. The Day of Judgment originates from the region surrounding Louisiana and is set as an uneasy celebration over the refrain of a traditional West African drumming pattern.”

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21 Beethoven composed his First Symphony in 1799-1800, and it was first performed in 1800 in Vienna. Duration 25:00.

Background

In the beginning of his career, Beethoven set out systematically to master successive genres, beginning with the small and working towards the large. While he was still a teenager in Bonn, he produced mostly small-scale song, piano works, and chamber music. By the time he published his Op. 1 piano trios (1795) and Op. 2 piano sonatas (1796), he had already made the Viennese public sit up and take notice. These early works are thoroughly classical in character, very much in the style of Mozart and Haydn. The Op. 2 sonatas are, in fact, dedicated to Haydn, with whom Beethoven studied composition in 1792. During the late 1790s, Beethoven began to forge a more personal style and turned his attention to larger genres: the string quartet, the concerto, and, finally, the symphony.

After nearly fifty years of evolution, the symphony was by that time the premiere form of instrumental composition— the true test of a Viennese composer. Beethoven seems to have been in no hurry to take up this challenge. He had completed most of a four-movement symphony in C Major during 1795–96, but never finished it. He did not complete a symphony until 1800, with the Symphony No. 1. He seems to have completed the score in a matter of months during the winter of 1799–1800, but sketches for some of the symphony’s material date from as early as 1795. It was performed for the first time at an Akademie at the Hofburg Theater on April 2, 1800—a concert arranged for Beethoven’s benefit. In addition to the new symphony, the program included a symphony by Mozart, excerpts from Haydn’s oratorio The Creation, Beethoven’s Septet, Op.20, and piano improvisations.

Compared to the eight symphonies that followed, the First Symphony is conventional in form, but still one that shows great individuality. Beethoven’s model was the symphonic style of his occasional teacher, Haydn. In fact, the First Symphony seems to have particularly close ties to one of Haydn’s “London” symphonies, Symphony No. 97, also in C major. The opening movement begins in truly Haydnesque fashion, with a slow introduction (Adagio molto) that takes its own good time working its way towards the key of C major. When the body of the movement begins (Allegro molto), strings introduce the main theme, a fanfare-style figure. The second theme is a graceful little figure that falls from the flute to the strings. The brief development section—a miniature by Beethoven’s later standards—concentrates entirely on the main theme. The recapitulation restates the opening themes in a more forceful way, introducing a few slight variations. The movement ends with a brief, crisp coda.

The second movement (Andante cantabile con moto) is also set in sonata form. If the first movement pays tribute to Haydn, this lilting movement reflects the spirit of Mozart. The opening theme is presented in fugal fashion by the strings, and a secondary theme—really a skeletal outline of the first—is also introduced by the strings. At the end of the exposition, the timpani plays a dotted rhythm below a triplet line in the flute and first violins. Almost immediately in the development section, this dotted rhythm is picked up the entire string section, and it stays in the background while Beethoven works with the other material. The recapitulation brings back the opening material in slightly varied form.

The brilliant and energetic third movement (Allegro molto e vivace) points towards the scherzo movements of his later symphonies, rather than the courtly minuets of Haydn and Mozart..

The opening panel of this movement consists of two repeated sections, ending with a distinctive off-beat passage. The central trio, also in two repeated sections, contrasts a placid woodwind figure with quick string lines. The movement ends with a repeat of the opening music.

The finale begins with a comical little introduction (Adagio), in which the violins begin to build a G-major scale, adding an additional note to the top of each little phrase. Just when it becomes apparent that the key is not G, but C, the tempo quickens abruptly (Allegro molto e vivace) and the violins stumble, almost as if by accident, on the main theme. This dance-like melody may have been one of the first parts of the symphony to be composed: it appears in a counterpoint exercise that Beethoven wrote for his teacher Albrechstberger in 1795. The movement as a whole is set in sonata form, although, as in some Haydn finales, Beethoven introduces elements of rondo form as well. Both main themes are fast and lively, and the entire exposition acts like a perpetual motion machine. If anything about the First Symphony reveals what was to come in Beethoven’s later symphonies, it is the fugal development within this movement. The opening scale passage of the first theme pervades this section, as Beethoven weaves counterpoint from the remaining material. Only after the recapitulation, and at the beginning of the coda, does the furious forward motion of this movement stop for a moment. We hear two briefly-held chords, as if the orchestra is taking a combined breath before launching into the closing measures.

Messa da Requiem

May 10th, 2025 | 7:30 pm

EJ Thomas Hall, The University of Akron

Verdi Requiem

Christopher Wilkins, conductor

Felicia Moore, soprano

Renée Tatum, mezzo-soprano

Timothy Culver, tenor

Donnie Ray Albert, bass

Akron Symphony Chorus

Dr. Chris Albanese, Director

University of Akron Concert Choir

Mickey McGroarty, Director

I. Requiem and Kyrie (chorus, soloists)

II. Dies irae

Dies irae (chorus)

Tuba mirum (chorus)

Mors stupebit (bass)

Liber scriptus (mezzo-soprano, chorus)

Quid sum miser (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor)

Rex tremendae (soloists, chorus)

Recordare (soprano, mezzo-soprano)

Ingemisco (tenor)

Confutatis maledictis (bass, chorus)

Lacrimosa (soloists, chorus)

III. Offertory

Domine Jesu Christe (soloists)

Hostias (soloists)

IV. Sanctus (double chorus)

V. Agnus Dei (soprano, mezzo-soprano, chorus)

VI. Lux aeterna (mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass)

VII. Libera me (soprano, chorus)

Libera me

Dies irae

Requiem aeternam

Libera me

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

Our final program of the season is dedicated to a single great work: Verdi’s Requiem. It captures a huge range of emotions in this traditional text. The The Akron Symphony Orchestra and Chorus welcome the University of Akron Concert Choir for this work, along with four distinguished vocal soloists: soprano Felicia Moore, mezzo-soprano Renée Tatum, tenor Timothy Culver, and bass Donnie Ray Albert.

Verdi’s Requiem is one of the great sacred works of the 19th century, and one of the most dramatic settings of the Mass for the Dead.

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

Messa da Requiem Verdi’s Requiem was composed between 1868 and 1873. Verdi himself conducted the first performance in Milan on May 22, 1874. Duration 83:00.

Background

The Latin text of the Requiem, or Mass for the Dead, has provided composers with inspiration for over five hundred years. The first polyphonic settings of the text were composed in the 15th century, and there is an unbroken tradition of Requiems that continues down to our own day. There are literally thousands of settings of the complete Mass for the Dead, or its individual movements. In the Catholic liturgy prior to the Vatican II reforms, the Latin Requiem was sung at burial services and on All Soul’s Day (November 2) in remembrance of the faithful dead. The chant texts that comprise this Mass were complete by the 14th century, and they provide a rich source of imagery and emotion. At the heart of the Requiem is the lengthy sequence Dies irae, which was written by the 13th-century monastic poet Thomas of Celano. This text dwells on the terror and destruction of the Day of Judgment foretold in the Book of Revelations, wherein the petitioner interjects forlorn prayers for safety from the Lord’s wrath. After the horror of the Dies irae, the texts become more comforting in nature. The

offertory Domine Jesu Chiste offers prayers for the dead, and recalls the promise of redemption. The gentle imagery of the Lux aeterna, a further prayer for intercession, celebrates the merciful Lord. The final movement, Libera me, speaks with the most personal voice of all the Requiem texts: the petitioner prays directly to the Lord, expressing fear and hope for deliverance.

Verdi’s monumental setting of the Requiem began in 1868, the year of Gioacchino Rossini’s death. Verdi, who called Rossini “one of the glories of Italy,” proposed a musical tribute by Rossini’s colleagues: a Requiem Mass whose individual sections would be composed by thirteen leading Italian composers. Verdi reserved the final section, Libera me, for himself, assigning the remaining sections of the Mass to the other twelve composers according to an overall tonal and textural plan. Nearly all of the twelve were influential church musicians, though most had written for the stage, as well. (For the most part, they are forgotten today.) The project was completed early in 1869, when all of the individual movements were gathered in Milan, and submitted to Verdi’s publisher, Ricordi. Verdi’s original proposal was to have the Messa per Rossini performed in Bologna, on the first anniversary of Rossini’s death. After this first and only performance, the score would be sealed and placed in the vault of Bologna’s Music School as a monument to Rossini, who had spent much of his career in that city.

This grandiose plan fell victim to a lack of available funds and to Italian musical politics: the opera partisans in Bologna would have nothing of a proposal that originated in the rival city of Milan The projected concert was never arranged, and Verdi was soon too busy with the production of his opera Aïda to make his own arrangements for a performance of this musical patchwork. He set aside the Messa per Rossini, although he showed his completed Libera me score to his colleague Alberto Mazzucato. Mazzucato urged Verdi to abandon the

opening twelve sections, and complete the Requiem himself, suggesting that, by itself, the Libera me contained enough musical material to generate an entire Mass.

The death of Alessandro Manzoni in 1873 rekindled Verdi’s interest in the Requiem. Manzoni was a beloved literary figure, and a leading voice of the Catholic spiritual revival that took place in 19thcentury Italy. On hearing of Manzoni’s death, Verdi immediately wrote to the mayor of Milan with an offer to write a Requiem for Manzoni, saying: “It is a heartfelt impulse—or rather necessity— that prompts me to honor as best I can that Great One, whom I so much admired as a writer and venerated as a man.” As suggested by Mazzucato, Verdi had already realized much of the music for the Requiem in his Libera me setting of 1869. The Dies irae section of the Libera me was used to bind together the many sections of the sequence, and much of the musical material for the opening Requiem aeternam was ready-made in the 1869 movement, as well. The remainder of the music was completed by the end of 1873. Verdi conducted the first performance of his Requiem at the Church of San Marco in Milan on May 22, 1874, the first anniversary of Manzoni’s death. The response to the premiere was so enthusiastic (at least three of the movements were encored) that the Milanese demanded three more performances, produced at the theater of La Scala. Verdi took the work on an international tour soon thereafter, and it was heard throughout Italy, in Paris, and in London.

There were a few critics who found Verdi’s treatment of the Latin texts too “operatic” for the solemn Mass, but the composer’s wife Giuseppina answered them simply and effectively: “Verdi must write like Verdi—according to his way of feeling and interpreting the text. The religious spirit and the way in which it finds expression must bear the imprint of its time and the individuality of the author.” Just what did the Requiem mean to Verdi himself? The genesis of

the Requiem was certainly tied to what seems to have been genuine regard for Rossini and Manzoni, and a desire to memorialize them in a fitting way. However, the work does not seem to have been an expression of deep Catholic faith: Verdi was notoriously private about his inner life, but all indications point to the probability that the Requiem’s composer was an agnostic. (In his classic biography of Verdi, Julian Budden points out that two more openly agnostic composers, Brahms and Vaughan Williams, produced similarly profound religious works.) Sacred composers in Italy at this time— generally regarded as second-raters who did not work in the more refined world of opera—worked within an established style that fit the conservative liturgical purposes of the Church. Verdi’s setting of this traditional text transcends any traditional boundaries.

Throughout his life, Verdi the dramatist was attracted to strongly emotional topics—selecting poems, novels, and historical subjects that would transfer well to the stage after they had been adapted to the dramatic needs of a stage work and made “singable” by a librettist. In the Requiem Mass, Verdi had a ready-made, dramatic, and eminently singable text that covered the full range of human emotions, from terror, shame, and sadness to hope and exaltation. Verdi’s response to this text contains a tremendous scope of musical sentiment, ranging from the awful power of the Dies irae and the strict counterpoint of the Sanctus, to the unabashedly emotional outbursts of Recordare and Ingemisco

What You’ll Hear

The Requiem opens quietly, with hushed statements by the choir. Though Verdi is not usually described as a writer of counterpoint, the lush four-part writing at Te decet hymnus shows him to be a master. At the Kyrie, Verdi introduces the soloists, one by one. The end of the movement builds towards the first musical climax of the Requiem Verdi’s setting of the sequence text Dies

irae is complex and lengthy, spanning nearly half the duration of the Requiem. The movement opens with the first statement of the words “The day of wrath” together with full fortissimo orchestra. Verdi may have been inspired, in part, by the similarly massive and theatrical setting of Dies irae by Berlioz in his Requiem Mass. Verdi’s Dies irae returns throughout the second section, as a reminder of the horrible Day of Judgment. The Tuba mirum begins, appropriately, with trumpet calls echoing between the orchestra and four offstage trumpets, and the choir’s music continues this fanfare-like character. The stunning mezzo-soprano solo at Liber scriptus was written specifically for Maria Waldmann, a fine contralto, whose voice Verdi admired. This aria is followed by a reprise of the Dies irae. The bleak prayer of the vocal trio at Quid sum miser is followed by the distinctive dotted-note theme of Rex tremendae, and countermelodies in the solo quartet. The Rex tremendae ends with a passionate setting of the words “Save me, O Fount of Pity.” The Recordare, Ingemisco, and Confutatis are more soloistic in character: here Verdi gives his gift for melody free reign. After a final reprise of the Dies irae comes the closing scene of this religious drama’s first act. The quartet and chorus intone the passionate prayer of the Lacrymosa, and the section closes with a hushed “Amen.”

The third movement, the Offertory, is a showpiece for the quartet, containing moments of what one writer has called “undiluted opera.” The movement is held together by two statements of the music Verdi composed for the text, for quam olim Abrahae—a gentle reminder to the Lord of his promised redemption.

The Sanctus and Agnus Dei texts are familiar parts of the Ordinary of the Mass—those movements that are sung at every Catholic service—although the Agnus Dei is changed slightly in the traditional Requiem to include a prayer for the dead. In the Sanctus, Verdi once again displays his skill in contrapuntal writing: after an opening fanfare and intonation, he writes eight-

part counterpoint for two opposed choirs. The setting of Pleni sunt coeli at the end provides contrast with its more reserved style. The Agnus Dei is a series of exchanges between the two female singers and the chorus. The choral writing here is beautiful in its simplicity, and recalls many of Verdi’s operatic choruses. The brief Lux aeterna that follows contains quiet, almost chantlike music for the three lower voices of the vocal quartet.

Like the second movement, the Libera me is lengthy and complex in structure. Verdi made only slight revisions to the 1869 version of this movement for the Manzoni Requiem. The result is that much of the musical material he used for earlier movements is present here as well. This makes it particularly effective—it works like a recapitulation of the most stirring themes and sentiments. Verdi begins with a quick recitation of the opening line of text and an expanded treatment of the imagery of catastrophe. After a final statement of the Dies irae, there is a passage of breathtaking beauty: a soprano melody on Requiem aeternam that soars to a high B-flat above unaccompanied chorus. For me, this passage represents the culmination of the entire Requiem—a jewel of absolution and forgiveness set amidst the destruction and fear of Judgment Day. With the soprano’s benediction still hanging in the air, the movement moves towards its musical climax: a massive choral fugue. The Requiem does not end at this high level of volume and excitement, however. Verdi brings the Mass to a close with a quiet and intensely personal appeal for deliverance.

ANNUAL FUND

The Akron Symphony Orchestra acknowledges donors at every level with sincere appreciation. This list recognizes all gifts to the Akron Symphony received between July 1, 2023, and December 13, 2024.

Benefactors’ Circle

($20,000 and above)

DuWayne and Dorothy Hansen

Ms. Cynthia Knight

Mark and Theresa Lerner

Michael and Julia Pasternak

Mr. Darwin Steele

Grantors’ Circle

($10,000$19,999)

Ms. Kathryn Booth

Kittie Clarke

Dr. Howard Greene

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Guy and Renée Pipitone

David Scarponi and Tish Hight

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Founders’ Circle

($6,000 - $9,999)

Ernie and Mary Kay Pouttu

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Orchestra Circle

($3,000 - $5,999)

Anonymous

Howard Attwood Family Fund

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Nelson

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Maestro’s Circle

($1,500 - $2,999)

Anonymous

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Anonymous

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IN REMEMBRANCE

Mrs. Beverly Waltz

Karin and Dick Warner

Mr. Jim Weber

Clayton and Carol Weitzel

Craig anda Karen Wilde

Hon. and Mrs. Herbert Wilkins

Numerous gifts given, in memory of Fran Goldman

Joseph Palmiero, in memory of Ingrid Palmiero Massel

Beth Rusnak, in memory of Bruce and Lola Rothmann

Carolyn Atwood Mackey, in memory of James A. Mackey

Ed and Heather Hahn, in memory of Betsy Hahn

Sara and Rob Mulhauser, in memory of John Mulhauser

IN TRIBUTE

Gifts to the Symphony have been given:

In honor of Kathy Booth, by Joan Booth

In honor of Georgia and Gary Miller, by Drs. Mark and Sandy Auburn

The Akron Symphony Orchestra wishes to acknowledge the generous individuals who support the Akron Youth Symphony and Akron Youth Philharmonic. This list recognizes all gifts to the Akron Symphony received between July 1, 2023, and December 13, 2024.

Miss Mia Fedak

Cynthia A. and Richard J. Flaksman

Ms. Lynn Saddleton

Mrs. Jan Weaver

We strive to make this list as accurate as possible. If we erred in the way your name is listed, please contact the Development Office at 330.535.8131. Thank you for your support of our mission: to enrich the lives of audiences, musicians, and our community through exceptional symphonic music, and meaningful, collaborative, and educational programming that welcomes, connects, and engages a broad and diverse regional community.

HERITAGE SOCIETY

Margaret Andreeff

Mrs. Harold Baker*

Ms. Hope Everhart*

Dr. Sandra Fishel*

Dr. Clarence T. Gilham*

Mabel L. & Dr. Lawrence A. Graham*

Richard H. Harris III

Michael T. Hayes

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Charles Klaus*

Stan & Jessica Korkosz

Korzhiletskiy

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Ed & Lynn* Metzger

Ken & Pat Nilsestuen

Jo Ann Oelschlager

Mr. & Mrs. W. Stuver Parry

Roger & Judith* Read

Aileen Thong

Dr. Margaret L. While

Donna Zabel & Richard Depew

* deceased

CORPORATE, FOUNDATION & GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

The Akron Symphony Orchestra

gratefully acknowledges its corporate and institutional partners for their generous support. This list recognizes gifts received between July 1, 2023, and December 13, 2024.

$20,000 and above

Akron Community Foundation

Demetros Charitable Trust GAR Foundation

The Mary S. & David C. Corbin Foundation

Ohio Arts Council

$10,000 - $19,999

Peg’s Foundation Sisler McFawn Foundation

$6,000 - $9,999

Kenneth L. Calhoun Charitable Trust

Lloyd L. & Louise K. Smith Foundation

Synthomer Foundation

$3,000 - $5,999

Audio-Technica U.S., Inc.

Charles E. & Mabel M. Ritchie Foundation

Harwick Standard Distribution Corporation

KeyBank

Lehner Family Foundation

M.G. O’Neil Foundation

Welty Family Foundation

$1,500 - $2,999

Baker & Hostetler LLP

The Bruckner Society of America

The Harry K. and Emma R. Fox Charitable Foundation

Huntington Bank

Petit Auto Wash

The R.C. & Katharine M. Musson Foundation

Rocco’s Pizza

SeibertKeck Insurance Partners

Towpath Credit Union University of Akron

Vorys Sater, Seymour, and Pease LLP

$600 - $1,499

Akrochem Corporation

Akron Children’s Hospital Buckingham, Doolittle, Burroughs, LLP

EarthQuaker Devices

The Henry V. and Frances W. Christenson Foundation

Selma Ankist Family Trust

Thomarios

W. Paul & Thora J. Mills Memorial Foundation

Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy

$200 - $599

Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority

Bethany United Church of Christ Blooming Designs

Clampco Products, Inc.

Meridian Capital Management Group, Inc.

Progressive Insurance Foundation

Summit Conglomerate Chapter 7700