2019-2020 Program Book

2019-2020 season Program 1: IMAGINUITY October 5 & October 6, 2019 Program 2: AUTUMN GOLD November 16 & November 17, 2019 Program 3: NUTS & CRACKERS POTPOURRI December 14 & December 15, 2019

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n o s a e S

Program 4: SERENADE AT DUSK February 15 & 16, 2020 Program 5: TALES OF BELONGING May 16 & May 17, 2020

(703) 548-0885 www.alexsym.org

James Ross, Music Director

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CONTENTS Welcome from the President of the Board of Trustees.....................................................4 Welcome from the Executive Director ............................................................................................ 5 ASO Board of Trustees ................................................................................................................................. 6 James Ross, Music Director ....................................................................................................................... 7-9 CONCERT 1: IMAGINUITY (October 5-6, 2019) ...........................................................................................................

15-20

Alan Richardson, cellist ................................................................................................................................. 21 Nicholas Tavani, violinist ............................................................................................................................. 22 Rita Sloan, pianist ............................................................................................................................................. 23 ASO Sympatico .................................................................................................................................................... 24-25 Adopt a Chair Sponsorships ................................................................................................................... 26-29 CONCERT 2: AUTUMN GOLD (November 16-17, 2019) ......................................................................................

31-36

Alexandria Choral Society & Fairfax Choral Society ...................................................... 37 Wolfgang Schmidt, cellist ........................................................................................................................... 38-39 Concerto Foundation ...................................................................................................................................... 41 Sponsors of the 2019-2020 Season.................................................................................................... 43 Symphony Orchestra League of Alexandria (SOLA)..................................................... 44-46 CONCERT 3: NUTS & CRACKERS POTPOURRI (December 14-15, 2019) .......................................

47-52

Morgan Short, harpist .................................................................................................................................. 53 New Live & Tim McLoraine .................................................................................................................... 54-55 CONCERT 4: SERENADE AT DUSK (February 15-16, 2020) ..........................................................................

55-59

Berta Rojas, guitarist.......................................................................................................................................... 60-61 CONCERT 5: TALES OF BELONGING (May 16-17, 2020) ...............................................................................

63-68

Brian Prechtl, composer ............................................................................................................................... 69 ASO Supporters 2019-2020 ...................................................................................................................... 70-75 ASO Concert Venues......................................................................................................................................... 76 About the ASO........................................................................................................................................................ 77-81

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Concert programming and guest artists are subject to change.

CONGRATULATIONS To The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra On Its 76th Spectacular Season

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Welcome from the Board of Trustees

Melynda Wilcox, President Dear Friends, Music can be a powerful medium for telling stories.

This season the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra’s five concert programs will tell timeless stories in familiar ways (Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade) and refreshingly different ways (Nutcracker through the eyes of a young African-American girl in Harlem), stories composed in unlikely places (the beaches of Normandy in 1944) and by women who were ahead of their time (Florence Price and others).

The ASO has its own compelling story to tell at this juncture in our 76-year history, and ASO Trustees are eager to share with you how our organization is a vital part of our community.

Ask us about how Maestro Jim Ross envisions an ASO that reaches audiences in new and personal ways with adventurous music-making, and how our new executive director, George Hanson, is putting his 32 years of experience with orchestras around the world to work here in Alexandria. Ask us about the ASO’s increasing role as an incubator of innovative musical “start-ups,” seeking diverse voices and perspectives in all that we do and perform, and unleashing the power of music to touch the heart, mind and soul.

Ask us about our music education program, ASO Sympatico, which has expanded to Patrick Henry K-8 School in Alexandria. Ask us about how our orchestra musicians will be connecting therapeutically with those suffering from Alzheimer’s and PTSD, and reaching new audiences at pubs, bars and other venues.

We also want to hear from you. What can we do to make your concert experience more enjoyable? How should the ASO be telling the story of Alexandria? Please write to me directly at Melynda.wilcox@gmail.com or to Executive Director George Hanson at ghanson@alexsym.org.

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Introducing

George Hanson, Executive Director It is an honor and a privilege for me to join the remarkable team at ASO as Executive Director. My family and I have moved to Alexandria and are enjoying becoming part of this beautiful community, with its rich history and diverse cultural life.

I have been fortunate to have spent much of my career in the American symphonic world. I can say this with confidence: There is no such thing as a great American city without a great American orchestra!

And Alexandria has one in the ASO. In our country’s history, the orchestra has served as the musical and cultural centerpiece for American cities and towns. And most importantly, each American city chooses for itself what sort of cultural life it will have. It is extraordinary that Alexandria has chosen to support an outstanding orchestra for 75 consecutive years.

Our ASO serves Alexandria in remarkable ways, bringing a rich repertoire of great music from all cultures and backgrounds to our various venues.

ASO’s Sympatico program reaches young students, lifting their creative spirits (not to mention improving attendance and grades!) and opening their minds to the arts as a high form of human expression. And the ASO’s Music Director James Ross is truly a creative force to be reckoned with! His vision is compelling and new. You see it in our programming and activities around the community.

ASO has an outstanding staff, and a wonderful board of trustees and supporters. Our sponsors and supporters are truly members of the ASO family; they make our very existence possible. The musicians are among the very best in the D.C. metro area.

So it is with pride that I join this extraordinary organization. I look forward to getting to know our audiences, and I hope to hear from you. Thank you for joining us, and please enjoy the season!

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2019-2020 Alexandria Symphony Orchestra

Board of Trustees Melynda Wilcox, President Nancy Davenport, Vice President H. Arthur Sauer, Treasurer Sally Guy Brown, Secretary

Carl Behnke George Bostick Suzanne S. Brock Miriam Browning Linda Bunce Ronal Butler Kendra Carey Carolyn Fuller

Judy Grey David Johnson Florence King Lee Klousia Harriett McCune Martha S. Moore Margaret Jones O’Grady James V. Page, Jr.

Arthur Peabody, Jr. Betty Quirk Anne Best Rector Claire Schwab Susan Stalder James Dake Taft Judy Williams Susan Yonts-Shepard

Advisory Board Anne Reed, Chair Mollie Danforth Alex Deringer

Ellis Duncan Becky Siegel Elizabeth Siegel

Trustees Emeritus

Dr. Joseph V. Braddock Mr. Waller T. Dudley Hon. William D. Euille Mr. Caswell O. Hobbs CAPT W. Ward Lasley USN (Ret.)

Edward Stark Jeanne Warner Nancy Ziegler Mrs. Richard Reid Mr. James B. Singerling Jeanne Warner Donnan C. Wintermute

Concerto Foundation Board of Trustees

Frank J. Quirk, Chair Charles Ballou

Miriam Browning Mary Ann Best Millard Betty Quirk

Thomas Sargeant Forrest Williams

ASO Administration George Hanson, Executive Director Ryan Jordan, Director of Operations Melinda Kernc, Director of Development and Marketing Kyle Tilman, Education Director Susan Kelly, Personnel Manager Craig Teer, Stage Manager

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Alexandria Symphony Orchestra 700 N Fairfax Street, Suite 501 • Alexandria, VA 22314 www.alexsym.org • (703) 548-0885

ALetterfromtheMaestro Welcome to the good ship ASO! We are flying into my second year as Music Director propelled by the strong tailwinds of our 75th Anniversary season, and I have to say it has been a joy taking up the rudder of this amazing institution. Together with you, we are exploring what vitality an orchestra can bring to our community, the surging city of Alexandria. What are our core beliefs as an arts institution? We are committed to the following: 1. connection-discovery, 2. bringing the old and the new into constructive conversation, 3. being local, 4. loosening up the idea of what an orchestra is and how a concert unfolds, and 5. bringing the voices of women and composers from diverse backgrounds to our stage.

Our season includes familiar music of Beethoven, Wagner, Dvořák, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Schubert, and Rimsky-Korsakov, as well as unfamiliar gems by Lili Boulanger, Florence Price, Duke Ellington, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and Gabriela Lena Frank. On our opening program, we will premiere an Imaginary Symphony constructed in the recesses of my brain out of movements from unfairly forgotten works, and on our final concert, a newly-commissioned piece bringing the ASO into musical community onstage with Sympatico, our thriving music education program.

Although we are dead serious about what orchestral music and concerts can do for Alexandria and about the crushing need for art’s humanizing impact in today’s world, we hope you’ll join us in exploring how concerts that are not afraid of surprises and serendipity might make concert-going events that are both fun and moving for you and for listeners of all ages.

Hop on board−the voyage starts when the whistle blows.

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James

Ross,

Music Director

James Ross is in his second season as newly-minted Music Director of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra. He is presently Orchestra Director of the National Youth Orchestra USA at Carnegie Hall and serves on the conducting faculty of the Juilliard School at Lincoln Center. He recently completed a distinguished 16-year tenure as Professor and Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Maryland at College Park and a two-year stint as Music Director of the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès in Barcelona, Spain.

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Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, the KwaZuluNatal Philharmonic, and the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in side-by-side concerts. He has served as Music Director of the Yale Symphony Orchestra and Assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

His principal conducting teachers were Kurt Masur, Otto-Werner Mueller, Seiji Ozawa, and Leonard Bernstein whose support and cultural values became a lasting source of inspiration for James.

As a horn soloist, he has performed with such orchestras as the Boston Maestro Ross has led such Symphony, the Boston Pops, the diverse orchestras as the Leipzig Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Gewandhaus, the Utah Symphony, Leipzig Radio Orchestra and the Les Arts Florissants, the Royal Leipzig Gewandhaus. When Stockholm Philharmonic, Chicago he was awarded Third Prize in Civic Orchestra, the Harrisburg the Munich International Horn

year, he also led the first editions of two vital new youth orchestra projects: the Cuban American Youth Orchestra (Havana) and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Young (Amsterdam).

He is internationally recognized for his work advancing the future of orchestras through cross-genre collaborations especially with As a teacher, Maestro Ross has choreographer MacArthur Fellow also served on the faculties of Yale Liz Lerman, polymath designerUniversity, the Curtis Institute of director Doug Fitch, and video Music, Haverford and Bryn Mawr artist Tim McLoraine. colleges, and taught conducting for four summers at the Cabrillo Maestro Ross is a native of Boston, Festival of Contemporary Music an improviser, a committed in Santa Cruz. He was Artistic questioner of concert rituals, a man Director of the National Orchestral who likes to move, a story-teller, Institute (NOI) at the University of and a firm believer in and advocate Maryland from 2002-2012 where for the ongoing humanizing impact his leadership helped served as an of classical music on the lives of impetus for change in the orchestral those it touches. landscape of the United States. This Competition in 1978, he became the first American and one of the youngest competitors ever to do so.

His performances and recordings as principal horn of the Gewandhaus, including Strauss’ Four Last Songs with soprano Jessye Norman, helped him gain international recognition as an artist.

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Cheers To

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Jeanne Warner

Congratulations for 76 fabulous years!

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y t i u n i g a m I OCTOBER 5, 2019 • 8:00 PM

Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center

OCTOBER 6, 2019 • 3:00 PM George Washington Masonic Memorial James Ross, conductor Rita Sloan, piano ∙ Alan Richardson, cello ∙ Nicholas Tavani, violin

PROGRAM Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Triple Concerto, Op. 56

Wagner Beethoven

Rita Sloan, piano ∙ Alan Richardson, cello ∙ Nicholas Tavani, violin

- INTERMISSION Tidbit #1

Lionel Semiatin

Imaginary Symphony I. II. III. IV.

William Walton: Symphony No. 1 (1st mvt.)

Amy Beach: Gaelic Symphony (2nd mvt.)

Ethel Smyth: “On the Cliffs of Cornwall” from The Wreckers Arthur Honegger: Symphony No. 3 (3rd mvt.)

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Concert 1 • October 5 & 6

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Richard Wagner’s music drama Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Master Singers of Nuremberg) holds a special place in the hearts of opera lovers— particularly Germans with an inherited sense of the great old tradition of the original “Master Singers.” As the only comedy among Wagner’s later works, the opera is a heart-tugging combination of nostalgia, formality, lightheartedness and romance; it’s also a great example of the creative use of a technique developed

by Wagner and used by composers to this day: the leitmotiv.

Anyone familiar with the Star Wars series of films can probably bring to mind the music heard each time Darth Vader makes an entrance, or the rebellion is spoken of, or Princess Leia appears on screen. By connecting characters and ideas to musical themes or gestures, Star Wars composer John Williams is using Wagner’s leitmotiv technique to bring cohesiveness to the story line and “lead” the viewer to understand the “motives” of the character.

The real Master Singers were at their peak in Germany around the time of the Reformation. An actual historical figure of the time, Hans Sachs, is depicted in Wagner’s comedy surrounding a singing competition.

The leitmotiv heard at the opening of the Prelude depicts the formalities of the culture and its artistic expression. As the Prelude continues, we are introduced to characters and story lines through their musical signatures.

In a moment of brilliant culmination, Wagner brings back six of the opera’s most important leitmotivs simultaneously in the Prelude’s recapitulation. We hear how the harmonic, melodic and rhythmic characters of each leitmotiv, and thus each character and element of the story, relate to each other. A glorious coda brings the Prelude to a satisfying conclusion.

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Concert 1 • October 5 & 6

Ludwig van Beethoven (c.1770-1827)

Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in major, Opus 56 “Triple Concerto” In the classic and romantic eras, composers associated certain keys, or tonal centers, with certain colors and characters. For example, Joseph Haydn’s final London Symphony is written in D major—a key in which the violins and trumpets sound especially bright and invigorating.

For his one and only concerto for multiple solo instruments, Beethoven chose C major—the same key as his Waldstein Sonata for piano, a work sharing space in Beethoven’s compositional mind in the year 1804. Both works are “pianistic” in nature, and the key of C favors the white notes of the piano, allowing certain technical effects like glissandi that would be impossible in other keys. It is also neutral in color for the three instruments, and since Beethoven seems to have had his young student and patron Archduke Rudolph in mind when he wrote the concerto, perhaps Beethoven thought it would give the less-experienced soloist a small technical advantage.

In 1804 the composer was boldly entering what we refer to as his middle period of composition. After establishing his credentials as a youthful upstart among his Viennese audiences, Beethoven began stretching familiar forms and styles, almost single-handedly launching the Romantic musical era.

The concerto’s broad, overarching first allegro movement is full of memorable melodies, introduced in the substantial orchestral introduction and picked up first by the cello, then passed among the solo instruments like a conversation. We immediately see and hear how Beethoven solves one of the trickiest technical challenges of writing 17

Concert 1 • October 5 & 6

for such a diverse collection of solo instruments—balance. When the soloists are playing, the orchestra is playing with reduced forces, allowing the soloists space to become the prominent voices.

After this vigorous opening movement of symphonic scope, listeners will find respite in the second movement titled Largo. Beethoven uses the tempo indication largo rarely; in this case the quiet orchestration and slow pulse serve as background to allow the soloists to interact with each other in chamber music fashion.

The finale, teasingly brought forth by the soloists in a clever transition from the Largo, is entitled Rondo alla Pollaca, or Rondo in the style of a polonaise. A dance in 3/4 time, it has a particular “held back” feel, almost like a minuet danced in heavy boots. The soloists take turns presenting and developing the melodies, with opportunities for virtuoso fireworks and interplay. With typical Beethovenian sense of humor that would have tickled contemporaneous listeners, the composer switches into 2/4 time before a rousing coda.

Lionel Semiatin (1917-2015) Tidbit #1

Rarely does one come across a work composed within the sounds of battle, close to the front lines. Rarer still is to find a personal connection to such a work.

U.S. Army Corporal Lionel Semiatin, father of ASO violist Gene Pohl, found a moment of respite from the fighting and movement in Normandy just days after the D-Day landings in June of 1944. He took the opportunity to jot down some musical thoughts, eventually turning his ideas into Tidbit #1. The character of the music, perhaps surprisingly, is lively and uplifting—described by ASO Music Director James Ross as “a kind of love letter to the positive spirit of the country he was missing.”

The work has received several performances; this week’s concerts mark the first time his daughter will take part as a performer.

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Concert 1 • October 5 & 6

Imaginary Symphony The Imaginary Symphony is a collection of works assembled by ASO Music Director James Ross. The first movement of William Walton’s first symphony is dark, intense and unrelenting. Full of passion, Walton seems to be struggling to work through deeply internal anxiety and agitation. This emotional tour de force is justly regarded to be among the most important British symphonic works of the 20th century.

Amy Beach’s Gaelic Symphony of 1896 was the first symphonic work of an American woman ever to be published and performed. Her husband limited her activities both as performer and composer, insisting— as would be typical for the time—that she perform her social duties befitting the wife of an important societal figure. The “Siciliana” refers to a rhythmic style in a lilting 6/8, reminiscent of the oar movements of the boatmen of Sicily. The Scottish feel of the work is never lost; in the context of Maestro Ross’s “Imaginary Symphony,” the movement provides a moment of respite after the turgid opening movement from William Walton’s symphony.

Ethel Smyth was a remarkably prolific composer. An acquaintance of Dvořák, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Clara Schumann, Smyth served time in prison for activities surrounding the suffragette movement in Britain in 1912. She had passionate relationships with suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst and, later in life, with Virginia Woolf. Smyth’s works were subject to criticism often unfairly aimed at her female nature.

“On the Cliffs of Cornwall” is a work full of truly virtuosic writing. One hears French influence, a bit of Ralph Vaughan Williams, even Richard Strauss—but always in Smyth’s own singular voice.

Swiss composer Arthur Honegger spent the years of World War II trapped in occupied France. He dabbled with the French Resistance but was never caught; the Nazis did little to interfere with his life. He became profoundly depressed by the war. His Symphony No. 3 is dedicated to reflecting on the nature of this relentless, seemingly inevitable human endeavor and its pointless tragedy. The finale, Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant us peace), begins with a remarkable march evoking approaching armies; it comes to a close in quiet, peaceful reflection on lives wasted, lives lost.

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Nowadays, conductors are rarely composers. But we are certainly the most personal advocates for other composer’s works. Now and then, it happens that we conductors stumble across pieces or parts of pieces that just call out for greater recognition. And now and then, we discover an inner compulsion to compose programs as freely as composers choose notes. The “Imaginary Symphony” is a fulfillment of both urges.

The four works chosen by me to contribute to this symphony are all parts of larger pieces that would be difficult to perform in full with an orchestra like our Alexandria Symphony—difficult since it is not clear how many of you would rush to attend a concert with a full half program devoted exclusively to any one of them. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be heard.

The Walton First, Honegger Third, and Amy Beach Gaelic Symphonies are all fine works in their own right, as is Ethel Smyth’s opera The Wreckers. But these chosen movements are among the finest moments of pieces that are otherwise mildly misfit for our modern concert life.

The titanic power of Walton’s first movement, composed just a few years before World War II, seemed in my brain to find a fitting counter-balance in the final cataclysmic movement of Honegger’s “Liturgique” (entitled Dona Nobis Pacem), which was composed amidst the devastation directly following the end of that war.

Although written some decades earlier, the works of Amy Beach and Ethel Smyth present respectively pastoral and unsettling depictions of the potential loss (both human and environmental) of warring. By excerpting some of the strongest movements from these existing works, creating both a sort of musical grab bag and a new symphonic narrative of my own devising, I hope to shed deserved light on some composers and pieces that have lain unfairly absent from our concert halls and that may animate you to search out and discover the full works from which they come. If deemed successful advocacy, I can’t promise this will be the last “Imaginary Symphony” I create...

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o l l e c , n o s d r a h ic Alan R A founding member of the awardwinning Aeolus Quartet, cellist Alan Richardson has performed in diverse venues across North America, Europe, and Asia. Mr. Richardson has been presented at concert series including Lincoln Center’s Great Performers, Chamber Music Society of Detroit, and Bargemusic, and at festivals including Bay Chamber Concerts, Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Rockport Music Festival, and Kneisel Hall.

He has performed alongside such artists as Renée Fleming, Peter Wiley, Ángel Romero, Joel Krosnick, Michael Tree, Sam Rhodes, Jon Kimura Parker, and the Miró, Juilliard, and American String Quartets. He regularly collaborates with the Mark Morris Dance Group, and serves as principal cellist of the New Orchestra of Washington. He has also been featured as principal cellist of the Artosphere Festival Orchestra, and has appeared as a frequent guest with the chamber orchestra A Far Cry. As a member of the Aeolus Quartet, Mr. Richardson has premiered new works by composers including Douglas Boyce, Missy Mazzoli, and Steven Snowden.

Mr. Richardson has served on the faculty at the Corcoran Chamber Music Institute, Austin Chamber Music Festival, Point Counterpoint, University of Maryland High School Music Academy, Chloe Trevor Music Academy, and the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute. He completed studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, University of Texas at Austin, and the Juilliard School. His mentors included Joel Krosnick, Melissa Kraut, Richard Aaron, and Evelyn Elsing. He currently performs on a 2016 cello by Samuel Zygmuntowicz, generously on loan from the Five Partners Foundation.

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in l io v i, n a v a T s a l Nicho As a chamber musician, recitalist, and concerto soloist, violinist Nicholas Tavani has performed extensively to critical acclaim in the United States and around the world. As first violinist of the Aeolus Quartet, he was a winner of the 2011 Plowman International Chamber Music Competition, the 2011 Yellow Springs Chamber Music competition, and the 2009 Coleman International Chamber Music Competition. He is also a laureate of the Postacchini and Kingsville International Violin Competitions. In addition to the Aeolus Quartet, he serves as guest violinist with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, concertmaster of the New Orchestra of Washington, and is a member of the Mark Morris Dance Group Music Ensemble.

A passionate advocate of new music, Mr. Tavani has premiered and recorded several works by living composers. Performances with orchestras include the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Alexandria Symphony, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Masterworks Festival Orchestra, Austin Chamber Music Festival Orchestra, and CIM Chamber Orchestra. Collaborations include Renee Fleming, Peter Salaff, Jon Kimura Parker, Daxun Zhang, and Michael Tree.

As a committed educator, Mr. Tavani has served on the faculties of the George Washington University School of Music, Point CounterPoint Music Festival, the MasterWorks Festival, and the University of Maryland High School Music Academy. He served as teaching assistant to the Juilliard Quartet at the Juilliard School. Mr. Tavani is currently completing his doctoral work at the University of Maryland. He holds a Bachelor of Music from Cleveland Institute of Music and studied mathematical physics at Case Western Reserve University.

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Rita Sloan, piano Rita Sloan is acknowledged internationally as a leading teacher of piano, collaborative piano and chamber music. In 1999, she was appointed a piano faculty member and director of the collaborative piano program at the University of Maryland. Ms. Sloan performs often with fellow faculty members and also with visiting guest artists such as violinist Andres Cardenes and cellist Hai-Ye Ni. As an Artist Faculty Member at the Aspen Music Festival, Ms. Sloan founded their Collaborative Piano Program. She has performed as soloist with both the Aspen Festival Orchestra and Chamber Symphony as well as in chamber music with many of Aspen’s distinguished guest artists including pianists Wu Han and Orli Shaham, violinists Sarah Chang and Nadia Salerno-Sonnenberg, cellist Gary Hoffman, bassist Edgar Meyer and flutist Emmanuel Pahud.

Her teaching residencies and master class presentations have included Tainan National University of the Arts and National Normal University in Taiwan, China Conservatory in Beijing, China, leading universities in Seoul, Korea, London’s Royal College of Music, American universities and conservatories including numerous visits to the Juilliard School in New York. Ms. Sloan has performed with orchestra, in recital, and in chamber music throughout the U.S., Europe, South America and Japan.

She has been a guest in many chamber music series and has performed with leading string quartets such as the Guarneri. Born in Russia to Polish parents, Ms. Sloan graduated from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Martin Canin and Rosina Lhévinne. Further studies were with Leon Fleisher, Aube Tzerko, Herbert Stessin and Vladimir Ashkenazy.

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Sympatico is sponsored by the

Alexandria Symphony Orchestra

Enriching Children’s Lives through Music

ASO Sympatico is a music education program provided by the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra in Alexandria City Public Schools. The inspiration for Sympatico was born out of the ASO’s commitment to education, the youth of Alexandria, and social change. In 2012, ASO staff and trustees began thinking about the best way to give back to the community of Alexandria City, while contributing to the city’s deep appreciation of the arts. After learning about numerous models for music education programs in public schools, the ASO concluded that establishing an El Sistema-inspired program would best accomplish its mission.

El Sistema originated as a music education initiative in Venezuela, in which students receive high-quality music instruction at no cost to them, with the goal of social change. Today, there are El Sistema programs in 55 countries, and more than 100 El Sistema programs active in the United States. Each of the programs, including Sympatico, are guided by similar core principles: equitable access to students regardless of income, intense and high-quality music instruction, the use of an ensemble as the main learning environment, community and family engagement, and of course, social change.

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The ASO decided to test drive the concept of El Sistema in Alexandria City Public Schools. In 2013, two week-long music composition workshops were held at John Adams Elementary School (JAES), engaging students, teachers, and parents. These workshops brought guest musicians from around the world to the students at JAES, and culminated in students composing new music for bucket band, as well as for strings and Orff instruments. The composition produced during the second workshop

was premiered on stage with the ASO in a Spring 2014 concert. The initial composition workshops helped to officially launch Sympatico, and have now become a staple and highlight of Sympatico’s yearly curriculum.

Since Sympatico’s official launch in 2014, the program has grown to include six unique ensembles at John Adams (The Percussion Experience, XyloKids, The Mallet Machine, Cantamos, The Fiddle Factory and Horns a Plenty) with more than 130 students in grades K-5. In September 2019, the program expanded into Patrick Henry K-8 offering two ensembles: a Chorus/Orff group and a wind/brass/percussion ensemble. Ensembles meet Monday through Friday, either before or after school.

Sympatico students continually demonstrate better school attendance, more cooperation skills, greater perseverance, and stronger confidence. Sympatico Photo by P.J. Barbour continues to work with a mission of providing students with opportunities to experience success in themselves and with others in their ensembles, their school, and their community.

Today, Sympatico participates in more than 20 performances per year, both in school and in Alexandria City. Past performances include special appearances at the George Washington Masonic Memorial, the Torpedo Factory Arts Center, Alexandria City’s First Thursday festivals, the Alexandria City Council Inauguration, and the National Teachers of the Year celebrations. Sympatico ensembles have also performed alongside various performing groups and soloists, including the Alexandria Choral Society, the Virginia Bronze, National Symphony Orchestra violinist Marissa Regni, and Washington Performing Arts soprano Karin Paludan. Sympatico was the recipient of a 2016 Mayoral proclamation in recognition of its contributions and service to the youth of Alexandria City.

For more information, contact Kyle Tilman, Sympatico Program Director at asosympatico@gmail.com

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ADOPT A CHAIR SPONSORSHIP ASO proudly recognizes the current Adopt a Chair sponsors: (as of printing)

• • • • • • • • • •

Podium: Sponsored by Suzanne S. Brock Principal Viola: Sponsored by Richard and Sandra Toye Cello, third chair: Sponsored by Margaret Hodges Principal Clarinet: Sponsored by Ann D. Corson Principal Oboe: Sponsored by Julia and Dennis Watkins Principal Bassoon: Sponsored by Suzanne S. Brock Assistant Principal Clarinet: Sponsored in Honor of Akiko Lloyd Principal Horn: Sponsored by Gerry and Diana Dreo Principal Trumpet: Sponsored by Harriett G. McCune Principal Timpani: Sponsored by Harriett G. McCune

The 2019-2020 Season marks the fifth year of the Adopt a Chair program, underwriting ten musician chairs, including the podium, seven Principals, one Assistant Principal, and one section player.

“Adopt a Chair” is a signature giving program designed to provide funding for each musician’s salary and long-term sustainable funding for our orchestra. ASO is a community supported orchestra, requiring the ongoing support of people willing to invest in the future of live music performance. As a part of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region, ASO concert-goers demand and expect the highest quality music offered by world-class musicians. Through this program, contributors endorse and ensure that quality through multi-year sponsorships.

Sponsors have an opportunity to choose a specific instrument, receive special program recognition, and receive invitations to special events where they can meet and get to know the musicians holding the chair they have sponsored. This program provides an opportunity to learn about the orchestra from the inside out and to draw a closer relationship between the players and the audience.

New chair sponsorships are accepted at any time during the season!

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“ON STAGE WITH THE ASO” REHEARSAL: FEBRUARY 4, 2019

SPOTLIGHT SOCIETY The Spotlight Society encourages ASO aficionados to support their favorite artist, or the artists of the season, with a gift that fits their budget. Individuals can designate their gift starting at $100 and will be recognized with the program or artist they choose to support, along with others who have given to the program. Corporate gifts can also be designated starting at $250.

The program does not exclude traditional guest artist sponsors who want exclusive acknowledgement of their support of a particular artist. Rather, it expands the options for donors, including supporters who might not be able to give at the level of exclusive sponsorship.

To give to your favorite artist and join the Spotlight Society, call 703-548-0885 or visit www.alexsym.org.

(Please indicate “Spotlight Society” in the personal note section when giving online.)

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THREE SPONSORED MUSICIAN CHAIRS Kathleen Mulcahy is Director of Woodwinds and Assistant Professor of Clarinet at George Mason University. She performs regularly with the National Symphony and Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestras, and holds the position of principal clarinet with the Alexandria Symphony. Previously, Dr. Mulcahy was second and Eb clarinet with the Buffalo Philharmonic and Grant Park Orchestras, and instructor of clarinet at the State University of New York. She holds DMA and BM degrees from Ohio State University and an MM degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. Her principal teachers have included James Pyne, Peter Hadcock, and Kenneth Grant.

Matthew Harding has been a member of “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band in Washington, D.C. since 1998, and he was appointed the band’s solo cornetist in January 2000. Matthew is also a member of the ASO and the Washington Symphonic Brass. He regularly performs as a substitute musician with the National Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 2010 he was invited to join Elvis Costello to perform at the White House for the PBS broadcast of the The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song honoring Sir Paul McCartney. He earned his Bachelor’s of Music and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music.

Dean Woods is the principal bassoonist of the U.S. Army Concert Band “Pershing’s Own,” where he has served since 2000. A graduate of The Interlochen Arts Academy and The Cleveland Institute of Music, Dean is a multiple prizewinner in the Gillet International Competition, and is currently principal bassoonist of the Alexandria and the Fairfax Symphonies. He has also performed as substitute bassoonist with the Atlanta Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his bassoon performances, Dean is the founder, musical director, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of The U.S. Army Band’s “Country Roads” Ensemble.

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THREE CHAIRS AVAILABLE FOR SPONSORSHIP In addition to her position as the Concertmaster of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, Claudia Chudacoff recently completed her third one-year full-time contract as a member of the violin section of the National Symphony Orchestra. She is also the concertmaster of the National Gallery Orchestra, and in 2015 retired from her position as concertmaster of the U. S. Marine Band’s White House Chamber Orchestra, in which she served during four Presidential administrations. Prior to moving to Washington, D.C. she was the Assistant Concertmaster of the Louisville Orchestra. She has been a featured soloist numerous times with all four groups. Ms. Chudacoff performs extensively as a chamber musician, and is a sought-after chamber music coach with several area programs. In addition, she is the Director of the Chamber Ensemble of the College Park Youth Orchestra. Her primary teachers were Michael Avsharian in Ann Arbor and Sylvia Rosenberg and Zvi Zeitlin at the Eastman School of Music, where she received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees.

Bryan Bourne recently retired from the “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band after nearly 30 years of service. He was a featured soloist on many concerts including six concert tours amassing over 200 solo performances of 35 different solo works. In addition to being principal trombone of the Alexandria Symphony, he holds the same position in the Washington Ballet, the Washington Concert Opera, and the Chesapeake Orchestra.

He was second trombone with the Baltimore Opera Orchestra for 20 years. He has performed with the Kennedy Center Opera and Ballet Orchestras and the National Symphony Orchestra. Bryan Bourne teaches low brass and conducts the Brass Choir, Trombone Choir and coaches the brass chamber groups at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. As a founding member, he performs with Washington Symphonic Brass. Bryan has recently released his first solo CD entitled Transitions and has been selected to become a Bach Artist and Clinician. He received his B.A. in music from Indiana University and M.M. from Catholic University.

Born in Montréal, Sophia Kim Cook pursued piano studies first at the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique du Québec, and finishing at McGill University, Schulich School of Music, receiving both her Bachelors with Honours and Masters of Music there. Ms. Kim Cook is a sought-after pianist, having played for a myriad of soloists and ensembles, including the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, and for members of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera. Sophia was invited to record a CD with the principal trombonist of the San Francisco Symphony, Timothy Higgins, which was released in spring 2013.

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d l o G n m u t u A NOVEMBER 16, 2019 • 8:00 PM

Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center

NOVEMBER 17, 2019 • 3:00 PM George Washington Masonic Memorial

James Ross, conductor

Wolfgang Schmidt, cello

PROGRAM Vieille prière bouddhique Lili Boulanger Alexandria Choral Society and Fairfax Choral Society

Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85

Elgar

Wolfgang Schmidt, cello

- INTERMISSION Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88

Dvořák

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Concert 2 • November 16 & 17

Marie-Juliette Olga “Lili” Boulanger (1893-1918)

Old Buddhist Prayer

The short, tragic life of Lili Boulanger, the forgotten sibling of her well-known sister Nadia Boulanger, came to an end in 1918 when Lili was just 24. A prodigy in every sense of the word, Lili’s gifts were noted

by Gabriel Fauré when the youngster was just two years of age.

Lili’s brief time on earth was split between recovering from chronic illness and composing with devotion and passion. Her mother was a Russian princess, her father a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. At age 19, Lili became the first woman to win the esteemed Prix de Rome for her cantata Faust et Hélène.

Older sister Nadia was so overwhelmed by Lili’s talent for composition that she gave up her own dream of becoming a composer; Nadia instead became one of the most influential pedagogues of the 20th century, with noteworthy students Aaron Copland and Quincy Jones. She turned down George Gershwin, fearing her rigorous approach would diminish his original jazz style. Perhaps we have Lili to thank for Nadia’s enormous impact on today’s music.

Lili’s work for tenor, chorus and orchestra, Old Buddhist Prayer, resulted from her fascination with the exotic. Sliding open fifths create a mystic atmosphere; the chorus seems to shimmer, hovering just above the orchestra, often mixing its heavenly tones with the earthier colors of the instrumentation. The prayer yearns for peaceful coexistence among all creatures of the earth.

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Concert 2 • November 16 & 17

An Old Buddhist Prayer Let everything that breathes -- let all creatures everywhere, all the spirits and all those who are born, all the women, all the men, Aryans, and non-Aryans, all the Gods and all the people and those who are fallen in the East and in the West, of the North and the South, Let all those beings which exist -without enemies, without obstacles, overcoming their grief and attaining happiness, be able to move freely, each in the path destined for them.

Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934)

Concerto for Cello in E minor, Opus 85 When Johannes Brahms reflected on his life and how the “classical” musical style to which he considered himself an heir had been set aside, even “destroyed” by the hyper-romanticism of Richard Wagner, the aging Brahms penned his final symphonic work, his fourth symphony, as an ode of mourning for a lost age. Brahms chose E minor as the most profoundly sad of keys.

Hardly more than a generation later, at the close of World War I, Sir Edward Elgar composed his final major work—the cello concerto—with a similar yearning for days gone by. He also chose E minor as his key, that is perhaps a coincidence—or perhaps a subconscious effort to build a connection between generations.

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Concert 2 • November 16 & 17

The melody that became the basis of the entire work came to the composer as he awoke from sedation following an operation in 1918.

Events of the preceding four years had turned Britain and Europe upside down. An entire generation of British men had been decimated; Elgar’s world had been changed forever.

The harmonic language of the cello concerto is a throwback to an earlier time. This, coupled with the unusual form of the work and its profound melancholy, made it difficult for early audiences to embrace. Elgar’s First Symphony had received 100 performances in its first year; by contrast, after its premiere the cello concerto went a full year without a second performance. The work became a staple in the mid-20th century when Jacqueline du Pré, the beautiful young British cellist, brought it to life with her artistry.

The first movement, marked adagio, lays out Elgar’s initial creative vision. The brief second movement, allegro molto, brings movement and excitement. The third, again marked adagio, reflects on fond but distant memories. The finale begins with an allegro tempo, concluding in a contemplative atmosphere.

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) Symphony No. 8 in G major, Opus 88 Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony has a special place in the hearts of orchestra musicians everywhere—it is a work often learned as a youngster that remains dear throughout one’s career.

Nestled between the darkness of the Seventh and the profundity of the Ninth (“From the New World”), the Eighth is unrelenting in its joyful expression of all things Czech. G major is a brilliant key for the strings; the instruments ring with sympathetic vibrations from their open strings, the passages lie comfortably under the fingers, and the melodies seem to soar.

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Concert 2 • November 16 & 17

The summer of 1889 found Dvořák in good spirits; he had reached a point in his career where he was well known throughout Europe, and he enjoyed enough financial security to allow himself to relax. He secluded himself in a small cottage in a tiny Bohemian village— much as composers like Mahler and Brahms and Grieg loved to do—and set about writing what is arguably his most richly melodious work.

“The melodies are just pouring out of me,” Dvořák said to friends that summer. Indeed, the entire symphony was completed in a matter of weeks, the orchestration shortly thereafter.

Almost ironically, this cheerful G major symphony begins with a haunting melody in the dark key of G minor, a melody which is brought back at important structural moments as if to remind the listener of the earth below his feet. The darkness gives way to a catchy tune, introduced in the flute in the softest tones as if to whisper “Come join me, let’s have some fun!” The rest of the orchestra catches on, and joyous raucousness ensues.

The second movement is unlike any the composer had heretofore envisioned. Soft tones, gentle gestures, at first almost formless, gradually taking shape; then a violent crash, a sudden thunderstorm interrupting a walk through the woods, leading back to the tranquility of the composer’s idyllic scene.

The third movement is a waltz, rich and dark in color, with a “trio” section that seems to smile with nostalgia. A brilliant trumpet call starts the finale, introducing a simple melody reminiscent of the first movement, which is developed in a series of variations. Dvořák concludes his cheerful symphony with a thrilling coda designed to bring audiences to their feet.

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Lili Boulanger was one of the most fragile and elegiac figures among twentieth-century composers. She was here and gone like a wisp at the age of 24, but you wouldn’t know it from her music itself. Timeless and essential, the Old Buddhist Prayer which opens our program lays out a philosophy that will sound familiar even to non-Buddhists—a kind of live-and-let-live maxim that has had many followers over human history and that is not even so far from the theoretical principles on which our country was built, as well as, ironically, the Native American culture we decimated. But the power of Boulanger’s setting of this prayer is both its poignancy and its sinew…like a great tree growing where no one sees it.

Boulanger’s prayer has a startling kinship with the tone of the Elgar Cello Concerto which follows that was made vitally personal by another elegiac figure who left too soon—the cellist Jacqueline Du Pré. Our soloist, Wolfgang Schmidt, is a big German bundle of joyous musical sensitivity who loves his family and soccer and his students as much as he does the cello, he but also finds himself deeply attracted to musical expressions of personal nostalgia and inwardness.

In this concerto, Elgar does his best to let his positive convictions speak, but in the end the underpinning of sadness just prevails.

Dvořák’s G major symphony, on the other hand, can’t even come close to suppressing its bedrock of rustic optimism. It’s full of sunshine and parables and folk dance and forest and perfectly-orchestrated storytelling. One of the trees in the forest is in fact the great unseen Buddhist tree out of which someday someone will carve a cello to play a sad song.

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Alexandria Choral Society For more than 45 years, Alexandria Choral Society (ACS) performances have enriched the community with a broad spectrum of choral works, from the Renaissance to modern American composers, from small chamber pieces to major works for chorus and orchestra, and from a great variety of musical cultures. The roster of distinguished music directors includes Francisco de Araujo, Martin Piecuch, Robert Shafer, Douglas Major, Kerry Krebill, Keith Reas, Philip Cave, Neil Weston, Janet Davis, and Brian Gendron. Now under the direction of Brian J. Isaac, who began his tenure as Artistic Director in 2017, ACS looks forward to many more years of bringing great choral performances to the city of Alexandria.

Fairfax Choral Society

The Fairfax Choral Society has enriched lives through the performance, education and appreciation of choral music for over 58 years. With two adult ensembles and more than 10 youth ensembles, the Fairfax Choral Society is one of the largest choral groups in Northern Virginia and the only organization providing singing opportunities to more than 400 choral singers from ages five through adult. The Symphonic Chorus is FCS’s founding choir with over 80 adult members, under the direction of FCS’s Artistic Director, Thomas Colohan. The chorus has received rave reviews for its performances of choral masterworks in collaboration with numerous area arts organizations, as well as internationally-renowned composers and conductors. The chorus has sung at Carnegie Hall, performed with the NSO at the Kennedy Center, participated in A Capital Fourth on the National Mall, performed in England and France, and produced several commercial recordings.

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Wolfgang Schmidt, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt studied with David Geringas, Aldo Parisot and Mstislav Rostropovitch. He was awarded the Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris at the International Rostropovitch Competition in Paris and was a prize winner at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and International Leonard Rose Cello Competition in the USA. Wolfgang performs worldwide with such prestigious orchestras as the Gewandhaus Orchestra (Leipzig), Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France Paris, Staatskapelle Weimar, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has worked under the baton of such esteemed conductors as Gerd Albrecht, Hermann Baümer, Jiri Belohlavek, Andrey Boreyko, Charles Dutoit, Gabriel Feltz, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Marek Janowski, Nicholas Milton, Heinz Rögner, Donald Runnicles, Yutaka Sado, Michael Sanderling, Vassili Sinaiski, Heinz Wallberg, and Hugh Wolff.

He has performed in many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls including the Philharmonie - Berlin, Philharmonie - Munich, Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Theatre du Champs Elysee, Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and at the Ravinia Festival.

Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt is also much acclaimed as a conductor and has led the Nordwestdeutschen Philharmonie Herford, Christchurch Symphony New Zealand, Kammerorchester of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Württembergischen Philharmonie Reutlingen, Sinfonieorchester 38

cello Lviv Ukraine, Staatskapelle Sankt Petersburg, and Südwestdeutschen Kammerorchester. He is the Music Director and Conductor of Kammerphilharmonie Metamorphosen Berlin, a chamber ensemble that draws its musicians from the top instrumentalists across Europe.

Their first album, Inspiration, presenting the string music of Herbert, Suk and Dvořák, was released in 2015 followed by their second album, Serenade, presenting the string music of Tchaikovsky.

As a soloist Wolfgang has recorded many concerto and recital albums for Sony, including those with Gabriel Feltz and the NDR Radiophilharmonic, and for Solo Musica as Cello Duello with cellist Jens Peter Maintz winning several Diapason D’Or, Meómano d’Oro and Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik awards.

He devotes himself also to chamber music and performs with such renowned artists as Lang Lang, Christoph Eschenbach, Emanuel Ax, Gil Shaham, Nicolaj Znaider, Leonidas Kavakos, Kyoko Takezawa, Miriam Fried, Edgar Meyer and David Shifrin. He has performed solo and chamber recitals for the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival in Los Angeles and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville and tours as Cello Duello across Europe and the USA. Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt teaches at the Academy of Music Franz Liszt in Weimar, the University of the Arts in Berlin, and at the Kronberg Academy. He plays on an instrument by Matteo Goffriller, which previously belonged to Hugo Becker.

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MURPHY & ASSOCIATES CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS CONGRATULATES

THE ALEXANDRIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ON 76

INSPIRING SEASONS 3319 DUKE STREET 703-370-9100

19/20

Season

Please patronize businesses that support the ASO! 40

A Tradition of Service CELEBRATING 125 YEARS IN ALEXANDRIA

Fuel Oil n Boilers n Furnaces Air Conditioning n Heat Pumps Water Heaters n Gas, Oil, & AC Service 1200 DUKE STREET, ALEXANDRIA, VA 703-549-5700

www.tjfannonandsons.com In memory of Susan Dau Fannon, a proud supporter of the Symphony.

CONCERTO FOUNDATION ENSURING THE LONG-TERM STABILITY OF THE ASO

The Alexandria Symphony Concerto Foundation was established in 2005 to create an endowment fund providing long-term financial support to the ASO. The Foundation’s goal is to build a significant capital fund, with the income from that fund providing annual income to the Symphony. The Foundation is a “supporting organization” under section 509(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and gifts made to the Foundation are tax deductible as charitable donations.

As of June 2019, the Foundation had assets of $279,464 and has cumulatively donated $322,000 in support of the ASO. The following individuals contributed gifts of $5,000 or more to meet the $100,000 Challenge sponsored by Frank and Betty Quirk, which was completed in May 2007:

Anonymous C. Maxine Baustian Suzanne S. Brock Miriam and David Browning Penny and Tim Bryan Linda and Elliott Bunce Agnes and Jack Dover Gerhard and Diana Dreo Loti and Stewart Dunn Julie and Edward Dyson Anne and Caswell Hobbs

Ruth Kotler Eva and Frank Manning Mary Ann and David Millard Reae and Thomas Sargeant Molly and Jim Singerling Ann and Roy Snyder Symphony Orchestra League of Alexandria (SOLA) Judy and Forrest Williams Stuart and Robert Wineland Susan and Allan Winn

A donation or bequest to the Alexandria Symphony Concerto Foundation will go toward ensuring long-term support of the ASO. Gifts can be a specific dollar amount, a specific piece of property, a percentage of an estate, or all or part of the residue of an estate. You can also name the Foundation as a contingent beneficiary if someone named in your will is no longer living.

For more information on the Concerto Foundation or making a bequest, please contact the Alexandria Symphony at 703-548-0885.

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CORPORATE PARTNERSHIP

with the

ASO

Corporate partnership sustains our programs and outreach, strengthens our local community and, in return, offers benefits to our corporate partners.

Corporate giving can extend to any of programs offered to individual donors as well as provide unique group and marketing opportunities.

EXAMPLES OF ASO CORPORATE PARTNERSHIP • Advertise in our souvenir program book, distributed all season at both venues • Host a “Night at the Symphony” with group tickets and a reception • Present a guest artist • Sponsor ASO Sympatico

• Sponsor an event from a fundraiser to a main-series concert to the Alexandria Birthday Celebration • Adopt a chair of a specific instrument (three-year commitment) • Join our Spotlight Society with a gift $250 or more

CORPORATE PACKAGES CAN BE INDIVIDUALLY TAILORED TO MAXIMIZE YOUR BENEFITS AND MARKETING EXPOSURE.

Contact the ASO at (703) 548-0885 to create your package or to learn more about corporate partnership opportunities.

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SPONSORS

OF THE 2019-2020 ASO SEASON With gratitude, we acknowledge the following corporations and government entities for their sponsorship of our 2019-2020 season:

Dominion Energy Marietta Jemison, Keller Williams KSA Integration New Target, Inc. Renner & Company, CPA Simpson Properties, LLC The Virginia Florist Woodbine Rehabilitation & Healthcare 43

SymphonyOrchestraLeagueofAlexandria On behalf of the many dedicated volunteers of the Symphony Orchestra League of Alexandria (SOLA), we look forward to another highly successful year! As a fundraising organization, SOLA is reaching beyond the arts community to build awareness for the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra and many other projects that are meaningful to our members. With that in mind, this year SOLA will be initiating some new and exciting activities for our members and our future friends.

We begin with a “get together� lunch for members and future members in September. This is a no-host event that will highlight SOLA activities and solicit ideas for future fundraising efforts. SOLA members know how to party, and we know how to host a great one! Next is an annual member favorite, SOLA Uncorked. This pre-Christmas evening of classy wine, cheeses and chocolate pairings is always a hit! Come for the wine, come for the chocolate, come for the cheese. Just come and have a great time with us!

In the new year SOLA is working with other organizations in Alexandria to raise funds and build support for musical arts and culture in our local community. In addition to fundraising, SOLA will host the 44th annual Mary Graham Lasley Scholarship Competition for college level music students. This competition has awarded thousands of dollars to amazing music students to help them further their musical studies. SOLA members regularly attend the competition, and we would love to see people from our shared community attend! The competition is held in March at the Alexandria Campus of NOVA Community College.

SOLA looks forward to welcoming you as a member and a participant of all the good works we endeavor to do! For more information about joining SOLA and our events, please contact me.

Respectfully, Susan Yonts-Shepard, SOLA 2019-2020 President Seys7335@gmail.com

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Symphony Orchestra League of Alexandria (SOLA)

2019-2020 Membership

Sue and David Aland Barbara Bankert Mason and Clark Bavin Shirley and Charles Bisselle Bertha and Joe Braddock Suzanne Brock Rosann and Michael Brodie Miriam and David Browning Marcia and Jim Buchanan Hilda Burcher Ronal Butler and Martha Lloyd Jan Campbell Jane Hughes Carlson Susan Knighton and Dave Cavanaugh Teddye and Bill Clayton Harlene and Bill Clayton Jolanta Coleman Donna Cramer Betty Cranwell Meaghan Curry and Anthony Jamberdino Carola Czernik Mollie Danforth and Steve Colangelo Rebecca Davies Pat and George Day Sandra and Nicholas Fleischman Yolande Frommer Rosa Fullerton Patricia Gill Barbara Glover

Sue and Allison Goodhart Gila Harris Janet Hawkins and David Wormser Ann and Michael Hobbs Margaret Hodges Jenny Indelicato Erwin Jacobs Ann D. Corson-Jaeger Barb Jonas Ann Kavaljian Jacque and Ed Knight Adron Krekeler and Becky Mahood Patricia Laane Ward Lasley Kit Leider Doris Lindsey David Magsumbol Eva Manning Ann and James McCrery Harriett McCune Cassie and Shawn McLaughlin Susan Montague Genevieve Moorhouse and Joshua Compton Michele and Richard Moorhouse Suzanne and James Morrison Daisy Moseley Melinda Mount Diane Murphy Margaret and Bill O’Grady Kate Patterson

Annmarie Pittman Anne Best Rector and Tim Allen Fran and Gant Redmon Helen Reid Jane and Connie Ring Lori and Rusty Ring Nancy Rowe Jo-Ann and Robert Royer Anna Russi Ilona Savage Patti Schmid Claire and Ted Schwab Janet Shipko Phyllis Sintay Roy Snyder Ann and Glenn Spitler Emma-Jo and Bob Staton Joan Vogel Sharon and Ken Walker Trudie Williams Stuart Wineland Laura Withers Margaret Wohler Margherita Woods Susan Yonts-Shepard

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Mary Graham Lasley Scholarship Competition Now in its 44th year, the Mary Graham Lasley Scholarship Competition, sponsored by the Symphony Orchestra League of Alexandria and supported by the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, encourages college-level musicians to pursue classical music careers.

In the 1980s, the late Mary Graham Lasley was a major figure in the musical world of metropolitan Washington, D.C. and was active on the boards of the Washington Opera Guild, the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, and the Alexandria Symphony Guild, the predecessor of SOLA. Her friends and family established a trust in tribute to her many contributions.

2019 Mary Graham Lasley Scholarship Competition Winners First Place: Morgan Short (harp).

University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston Salem, NC, performed Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez.

Second Place: Ted Chaffman (piano), American University in Washington, D. C, performed Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor Opus 16, Movement I.

Left to Right: Sharon Walker, Amanda Dame, Morgan Short, Maestro James Ross and Ted Chaffman.

Third Place: Amanda Dame (flute), Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, performed Carl Nielsen’s Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, Movement I. The 2020 competition will take place March 2020, on the Alexandria campus of the Northern Virginia Community College. An awards ceremony and reception will follow the competition.

Visit www.alexsym.org/education/lasley-scholarship for more information.

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i r r u o p t o P s r Nuts & Cracke DECEMBER 14, 2019 • 7:00 PM*

Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center

DECEMBER 15, 2019 • 2:00 PM* George Washington Masonic Memorial

*Concerts will start one hour earlier with no intermission.

James Ross, conductor Morgan Short, harp

PROGRAM Prelude to Hänsel and Gretel

Humperdink

Visuals by Tim McLoraine Visuals presented only at Schlesinger

Excerpts from The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a

Tchaikovsky

Concierto de Aranjuez

Rodrigo

Morgan Short, harp

The Nutcracker Suite

Duke Ellington

Visuals by The New Live Visuals presented only at Schlesinger

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Concert 3 • December 14 & 15

Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) Prelude to Hänsel and Gretel

Much like the composer Antonín Dvořák, Engelbert Humperdinck was extraordinarily well connected in the musical world, albeit on the other side of the then-enormous musical and aesthetic argument of the time: Dvořák’s mentor was Johannes Brahms, while Humperdinck was supported by Brahms’ musical and philosophical opposite, Richard Wagner.

Not to be confused with the British pop singer who borrowed his name in the 1960’s to considerable success, the original Engelbert Humperdinck is best known today for his operatic setting of the Hänsel and Gretel fable. It is an annual December performance staple in Germany and abroad, much like Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker.

Modeled after Wagner’s dürchkomponiertes style (“through” composed, without breaks between arias), Humperdinck incorporates folk-like melodies to great effect. The opening notes of the prelude intone a children’s prayer: Abends wenn ich schlafen geh’n (Evenings when I go to sleep). This music serves as a structural highlight throughout the opera and appears at the moment when our young heroes try to fall asleep their first night lost in the forest. It is followed by the famous dream sequence, one of the highlights in all of German opera. The prelude also features a dance-like tune which appears at the moment of the children’s rescue from the evil witch.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) From The Nutcracker Suite, Opus 71a

Today it seems hard to believe that Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet The Nutcracker was poorly received when it was first introduced in 1892 in St. Petersburg. There were many complaints: the story wasn’t true to the 48

Concert 3 • December 14 & 15

original book; one of the lead dancers was in less-than-athletic shape; the stage was crowded and confused.

Tchaikovsky’s first success with the nowcherished work came through the concert suite he himself extracted. Comprised of the most compelling solo and ensemble numbers, the suite became an instant hit. It was not until the mid-20th century that the work received the accolades it now garners. Today it is an annual tradition on stages around the world.

From the delicate Prelude to the vigorous “Russian Dance” to the flowing “Waltz of the Flowers,” Tchaikovsky’s gifts of melody and imaginative orchestration bring the story to life.

Duke Ellington (1899-1974) The Nutcracker Suite

Washington, D.C. born and bred, Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington became one of the most important musical forces in all of 20thcentury American music. Wishing to remain uncategorized, Ellington resisted calling his music “jazz,” preferring instead the expression “beyond category.” To this end, he frequently dabbled in combining musical genres; his Nutcracker Suite is one of several classical works Ellington explored by translating it into his own inimitable style.

Perhaps most fascinating about performing and hearing the original and Ellington versions back-to-back is to sense the difference in the “feel” of the music between the two renditions. In the Overture, Tchaikovsky is 49

Concert 3 • December 14 & 15

light on his feet, barely touching the ground; Ellington is laid back and cool. Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz of the Flowers” is a lilting flow of triplets; Ellington’s is a hard-driving duple rhythm that makes the listener want to move in ways having nothing to do with a waltz. And Tchaikovsky’s “Sugar Plum Fairy,” portrayed by the heavenly celesta, appears in Ellington’s version as an earthy drunken gaggle of saxophones called “Sugar Rum Cherry.”

Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999)

Concierto de Aranjuez (adapted for harp by the composer) Joaquín Rodrigo led an extraordinary life. Born in a small town in Valencia, Spain, he was blinded by disease at the age of three. He composed in braille and became an excellent pianist. He was among the most important and prolific Spanish composers, yet he is known internationally for just one famous work. His wife suffered a miscarriage in 1938, an event that led to the inspiration of the composer’s bestknown melody: the second movement of his Concierto de Aranjuez.

After completing the composition in 1939, Rodrigo managed to navigate the political waters of the new Franco regime and have his new concerto for guitar premiered in Barcelona. It was greeted with enormous enthusiasm, resulting in commissions from many of Spain’s greatest performers for their own Rodrigo concertos.

One such request was from harpist Nicanor Zabaleta. Rodrigo eventually wrote his Concierto Serenata for Zabaleta; first, though, he “adapted” the guitar concerto for harp.

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Concert 3 • December 14 & 15

The first movement (allegro) utilizes a special rhythmic combination of 6/8 and 3/4 meters, frequently used in Latin music all over the world— think of the accents in Leonard Bernstein’s song “America” from West Side Story, this passage sung by the Puerto Rican girls: “EV-ry-thing’s FREE in a-MER-I-CA, FOR a small FEE in a-MER-I-CA!” The guitar (harp) enters, strumming the rhythm, then taking over the classic Spanish melodies inspired by the Gardens of Aranjuez.

The second movement (adagio) is truly iconic. The melody has been adapted to almost every instrument and every genre—perhaps nowhere more strikingly than by Miles Davis and his jazz band for his album Sketches of Spain. In the original, Rodrigo introduces the melody in the English Horn, with the guitar (harp) strumming accompaniment. The music’s profound sadness evokes a deep sense of loss.

The finale (allegro) is an elegant dance, again in an uneven meter, almost a minuet with a lilting hitch. Rodrigo brings the work to a close with grace, rather than bravura, as the guitar (harp) sounds the final three notes sotto voce.

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Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker is great music that has become a victim of its own success. What shopping mall doesn’t start pumping the “Waltz of the Flowers” through their loudspeakers already the day after Thanksgiving?

Who among us wouldn’t admit that the Sugar Plum Fairy’s magic power diminishes pretty majorly over the course of December? As a young horn player finishing my first year at college in Boston, I had the opportunity to perform 22 performances of the Nutcracker in 17 days.

Having survived that onslaught, I vowed to myself that, if in my power, I would never willingly pollute the holiday season with yet another rendition of Tchaikovsky’s contemptuously familiar masterpiece unless I had some way of creating a context for it that would help people find the wonder in it again.

Luckily, Tchaikovsky is actually just one major point along a through line of creativity starting with E.T.A. Hoffman’s original dark story, and continuing on through Duke Ellington’s big band re-imagining, passing oddly through Iowa’s production company, the New Live, who in turn chose to reset the story in Harlem through the eyes of a young African-American girl.

When the creative context is already that wonder-worthy, why not just go ahead and throw in another Christmas tale experienced through the wide eyes of kids, i.e. the prelude to Hänsel and Gretel, as well as the Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez experienced through the “voice” of a harp and the fingers of Morgan Short, the young winner of our 2019 Mary Graham Lasley Scholarship Competition? I see no reason not to.

‘Tis the season to be generous.

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Morgan Short, harp Morgan Short is an exclusive Classics Alive Artist after winning the 2018 Classics Alive Management Audition in Los Angeles. Exuding confidence, Ms. Short has performed fifteen concerti with orchestras since 2015. Most recently she received the Grand Prize and Audience Prize at the Rosen-Schaffel Competition for Young and Emerging Artists, Grand Prize recipient of the Alexandria Symphony’s 2019 Mary Graham Lasley Award and was selected as a Semi-Finalist in the Friends of the Minnesota Orchestra Young Artist Competition.

Upcoming engagements include performances with the North Carolina Symphony, Boulder Chamber Orchestra, as well as the Eastern Music Festival and the Appalachian Music Festival under the baton of Gerard Schwarz. Ms. Short has performed in over thirty master classes with notable harpists, including Elizabeth Hainen, Judy Loman, and Marissa Robles. In 2015, she was praised by Elizabeth Hainen for her “stellar performance” of Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto alongside members of the Philadelphia Orchestra in a Play With the Pros Concert in New York. Morgan is a Tom Keenan Merit Scholar, and a recipient of the Ann Jett Rogers Award from the Roanoke Symphony and the Ambassador Middendorf Award from the US Navy. She has performed in notable venues such as Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium at age 15, for the NY International Music Festival, and Mora Ferenc Museum (Hungary) and Galeri Caernarfon (Wales) for International Harp Competitions.

Additionally, Morgan was a finalist in the 2018 American Harp Society’s Anne Adams Awards and a presenter in the 2019 AHS National Convention. She is enrolled at the UNC School of the Arts.

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Tim McLoraine Tim McLoraine is an artist and musician who creates video art for collaborative performance and installations. His work has shown in concert halls, opera stages, and galleries.

Notable collaborations include Salome Dances for Peace (Terry Riley) with the Ruysdael Quartet, Miraculous Mandarin (Bartók) with the Columbus Symphony, Cunning Little Vixen (Janáček) with the New York Philharmonic, Orphic Moments at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, Abduction from the Seraglio (Mozart) performed at the Teatro del Lago in Chile, and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Weill) at the Tanglewood Music Center.

His solo exhibition Hindsight: stories and loops showed at the Dupont Underground in Washington, D.C., and his video installation all that we see or seem was shown at the 39th Street Gallery in Maryland. In addition to his art practice, Tim performs regularly with the musical duo Fine.

The New Live The New Live offers spectacular visual and theatrical narratives to ensembles and presenters of all kinds. Our unique projects focus on meaningful interpretation and sophisticated presentation, with multimedia elements conceived with a deep respect for music and the tradition of concert-going. Audiences come away with a deeper feeling of connection with music they know and love, and a fresh perspective on what live performances can be. Critics and concert patrons have been wowed by our productions, noting their “explosion of creativity” and hailing them as “original,” “brilliant,” and “riveting.” Learn more about us at http://thenew.live.

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k s u D t a e d Serena FEBRUARY 15, 2020 • 8:00 PM

Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center

FEBRUARY 16, 2020 • 3:00 PM George Washington Masonic Memorial James Ross, conductor Berta Rojas, guitar

PROGRAM Serenade No. 6, K. 239, Serenata notturna Guitar Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 99

Mozart Castelnuovo

Berta Rojas, guitar

- INTERMISSION String Quartet in G major

Andante Moderato

Price

arr. for string orchestra by J. Ross

Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, D. 485

Schubert

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Concert 4 • February 15 & 16

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Serenade in D major, K. 239 Serenata notturna Were serenades the “Muzak” of Mozart’s day?

Perhaps, but only in the hands of anyone other than Mozart himself. Designated as background music, it would be expected that wine bottles would be uncorked, food chewed and conversations would continue even as the music played.

But Mozart was simply incapable of hiding his gifts, irrespective of the nature or significance of the commission. His serenades contain some of the most charming, even awe-inspiring musical moments—recall the famous scene in the movie Amadeus where Salieri looks at the score of Mozart’s Serenade for Winds and comes to believe that the young upstart had been “touched by the hand of God.” Mix in a little humor, and you have the recipe for this delightful string serenade.

Technically, the name Serenata notturna is redundant; a serenade is meant to accompany evening activities, and there is nothing “nocturnal” about this spirited romp. The title itself was scribbled onto the first page not by Wolfgang, but by his father Leopold, who also added the date of January 1776. The three movements—Marcia (maestoso), Minuet and Rondo (allegretto)—are scored for two small orchestras in a manner which calls to mind a sinfonia concertante. Mozart adds timpani to the strings for a striking, almost military, color and allows some comical soloistic play in cadenza-like moments before the final coda. Smiles and foot tapping are encouraged.

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) Guitar Concerto No. 1 in D major, Opus 99 Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco stands alongside Joaquín Rodrigo as one of the greatest composers for guitar of the 20th century. Like Rodrigo in Spain dealing with Franco, Castelnuovo-Tedesco was confronted by 56

Concert 4 • February 15 & 16

the politics of his day: during the 1930s the Jewish composer’s works were banned from radio broadcast and his concerts canceled, eventually causing him to flee his beloved Italian homeland shortly before World War II to escape fascist persecution.

After establishing citizenship in the U.S., Castelnuovo-Tedesco was drawn to Hollywood and film composing, where he contributed to more than 200 films for MGM and taught such well-known figures as John Williams, Nelson Riddle and Henry Mancini.

Castelnuovo-Tedesco was already well-established with an international reputation when he first met AndrĂŠs Segovia in 1932. The result of this chance meeting was a significant contribution to the guitar repertoire, including several works for Segovia.

The Guitar Concerto No. 1 premiered in 1939 with Segovia as soloist.

The allegretto opening movement is an elegant exposition of Spanishflavored melodies; the middle movement, Andantino alla romanza, softly reminisces; the finale, Rimico e cavalleresco, is noble, chivalrous and virtuosic.

Florence Price (1887-1953) Andante moderato from String Quartet in G major (arr. James Ross) Considering the fact that she was born to a mixed-race family in Little Rock, Arkansas just a generation removed from the Civil War, young Florence Smith had a remarkably normal early childhood. Her dentist father and music teacher mother provided a stable environment, and the family was well respected in the community. At the age of 14, Florence graduated valedictorian from her high school, and she moved on to 57

Concert 4 • February 15 & 16

the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. In her late teens, in order to avoid the stigma and prejudice directed toward AfricanAmericans, Florence identified as a Mexican.

After graduation, Florence moved to Atlanta, where she taught at Clark Atlanta University; she met and married lawyer Thomas Price in 1912. By 1927 she and her husband were back in Little Rock, where a series of racial incidents persuaded the couple to move north to Chicago. A divorce in 1931 forced Florence to find work as an organist playing for silent films and writing jingles for radio ads.

Through it all, Florence continued to compose, building a substantial list of works. Renowned vocal star Marian Anderson opened some doors for Florence; in 1933 her Symphony in E minor was performed by the Chicago Symphony, making her the first African-American woman composer ever to have a work presented by a major orchestra.

The andante moderato movement from her String Quartet in G major has a beautiful pastoral quality. Calm, reflective, colorful and original, this arrangement by Maestro James Ross allows for a fullness and warmth of sound the composer no doubt would have appreciated.

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, D. 485 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Frederick Chopin, Felix Mendelssohn, George Gershwin and Franz Schubert all have two things in common: each is considered among the greatest melodists in history, and none made it to the age of 40.

The ability to create a beautiful melody is not a trait shared by all great composers. In Schubert’s case, his own vocal talents (first noted 58

Concert 4 • February 15 & 16

by Salieri) and his fortuitous friendships with great singers likely contributed to his understanding of the melodic line. Schubert’s melodies, even in instrumental works, have a particularly vocal quality to them. His enormous output of art song (typically for solo vocalist with piano accompaniment) defined the genre and influenced composers for generations. Film composer John Williams, student of Mario Castelnuevo-Tedesco (featured earlier on this program), quoted one of Schubert’s songs in his score for the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Schubert completed his fifth symphony at the ripe old age of twenty. It came just a few months after his fourth, a work he later titled “Tragic.” The fifth is almost unrelentingly cheerful and light in spirit, perhaps serving as an antithesis to the earlier work. At the time, Schubert was enthralled with the music of Mozart, and one can imagine the youngster allowing himself to be influenced by the master in the symphony’s airiness and warmth of expression.

The allegro first movement begins with a clever musical gesture, a short series of chords in the winds interrupted by descending eighth notes in the violins that morph into the main theme of the movement: a simple, ascending triad upon which much of the movement is based.

The second movement, andante con moto, takes the ascending triad of the first movement and inverts it, creating a songful yet compact musical experience.

The third movement inverts the melodic triad once again, returning it to its ascending pattern in a vigorous, angry sounding gesture of defiance.

The finale is a romp, full of vim and vigor, bringing the work to a rousing conclusion.

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Berta Rojas, guitar

Berta Rojas ranks among today’s foremost classical guitarists. She has been praised as “guitarist extraordinaire” by the Washington Post and by Classical Guitar Magazine as “ambassador of the classical guitar.”

Berta has been nominated three times for Latin Grammy Awards in the category of Best Instrumental Album for Día y Medio (A Day and a Half), a duet with Paquito D’ Rivera (2012), in the category of Best Classical Album for her album Salsa Roja (2014), and more recently in the category of Best Tango Album for her album History of Tango (2015), recorded with the Camerata Bariloche.

Berta’s acknowledged warmth and musicality have earned her the admiration of audiences at major venues worldwide: the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and the Frederick P. Rose Hall of Jazz at Lincoln Center, London’s South Bank Centre, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the National Concert Hall in Dublin, where she performed as a soloist with the Irish Radio and Television Orchestra, and the Flagey Studio 4 in Brussels, where she performed with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra for Belgian National Television.

In 2011, with guest artist Paquito D’Rivera, Berta initiated a four-year tour In the Footsteps of Mangoré which followed the travels of Agustín Barrios, pioneer of the classical guitar in the Americas. The duo performed in 20 Latin-American and Caribbean countries, concluding the journey at the national theater of the capital of El Salvador, final resting place of the celebrated composer.

Berta takes her audience on a colorful journey of sound, embracing new works by composers in diverse genres. The journey is echoed in 60

recordings such as Cielo Abierto (2006) and Terruño (2009), as well as the duo with Carlos Barbosa-Lima on Alma y Corazón (2007) and the celebrated Intimate Barrios (2008) featuring works by the great Paraguayan composer and guitarist. On her latest recording, Felicidade (2017), she pays tribute to Brazilian music, with guest artists including Gilberto Gil, Toquinho and Ivan Lins.

In addition to continually enriching her own career through international tours and master classes, Berta Rojas is firmly committed to furthering and disseminating the classical guitar. A particular focus is on promoting the music of her country, Paraguay, as well as LatinAmerican music more widely, and her ongoing support for the careers of upcoming guitarists. With this aim, she created the first online classical guitar competition, the Barrios World Wide Web Competition in 2009, and was the Artistic Director of the Ibero-American Guitar Festival at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. She also co-founded the young persons’ Beatty Music Scholarship Competition for Classical Guitar, offering winners the opportunity to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. After initial studies in her native Paraguay with Felipe Sosa and Violeta de Mestral, Berta studied in Uruguay under Abel Carlevaro, Eduardo Fernández and Mario Payseé, and at the Peabody Institute under Manuel Barrueco, Ray Chester and Julian Gray.

She has recently joined the prestigious Berklee College of Music as Associate Professor, sharing her knowledge and love of music with a select group of young guitarists from all over the world.

Berta Rojas has been ranked amongst the most influential women in the Hispanic world. She has been named a Fellow of the Americas by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for her artistic excellence, and honored by her country with the title Illustrious Ambassador of Musical Art. In 2015 she was awarded the National Order of Merit of the Comuneros, and honorary doctorate degrees by two national universities. In 2017, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to culture, she received both the National Order of Merit Don José Falcón and the Carlos Colombino Awards.

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What does a nighttime serenade sound like? Does it include a guitar?

Must it be outdoors underneath a window, or can it be indoors gathered around a piano? Would a quartet end the evening playing a song on the patio that sounds like Auld Lang Syne? Does it matter whether that night is happening in Austria, or Italy, or Arkansas? The idea of serenade seems to be that you can reach the heart of someone more easily if they can’t actually see who is making the music or exactly where it is coming from. Ideally, we should be playing this program in the dark somewhere down by the Potomac starting around 11 p.m. at an undisclosed location which the audience has to find by following their ear.

These are all pieces that aspire to reach the heart. Mozart’s serenade is curiously orchestrated for strings and timpani (What? No trumpets or horns?) and features special solo turns not just for the leading violin but also for the lead double bass and the rambunctious kettledrummer.

The Castelnuovo-Tedesco D major guitar concerto continues in the same key and vein as the Serenata notturna despite having been written some 160 years later. We lose track of time at night. Florence Price’s yearning Andante seems to connect with Schubert at the level of serene and simple singing. I remember a nighttime serenade in Asuncion (Paraguay) 16 years ago with our soloist, guitarist Berta Rojas, which captured the precise spirit of this evening’s darkness-infused yet loving program. Close your eyes and just listen. “Might you love me?” asks a plantive voice.

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g n i g n o l e B f Tales o MAY 16, 2020 • 8:00 PM

Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center

MAY 17, 2020 • 3:00 PM

George Washington Masonic Memorial James Ross, conductor Sympatico Groups

PROGRAM Tribute (world premiere)

Brian Prechtl

Commissioned by Classical Movement’s Eric Helms New Music Program Featuring Students from Sympatico

Three Latin-American Dances

Frank

- INTERMISSION Scheherazade, Op. 35

Rimsky-Korsakov

Claudia Chudacoff, concertmaster

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Concert 5 • May 16 & 17

Brian Prechtl (b. 1962) Tribute (world premiere) Tribute is a world premiere inspired by the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven and is commissioned by Classical Movement’s Eric Daniel Helms New Music Program for the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra and ASO Sympatico. In this work I have sewn references from Beethoven’s writing into this original piece of music that celebrates the dynamic and dramatic voice that Beethoven brought to the symphony orchestra. I have endeavored to capture the musical landscape of today as an evolution from Beethoven’s seminal orchestral language. We hear emotional motives in Beethoven’s music that evoke fate, bucolic beauty, triumph, and the brother-(and sister)-hood of all people, and I have endeavored to weave these into the fabric of this work as well.

In writing a piece specially designed for the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra and ASO Sympatico, I have made it a special focus to include opportunities for our young musicians to join in this special celebration in the same spirit of community that Beethoven captured in his Ninth Symphony. I look forward to a beautiful celebration on stage for the entire ASO family.

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Concert 5 • May 16 & 17

Gabriela Lena Frank (b. 1972) Three Latin-American Dances

Gabriela Lena Frank is an American composer who embodies the richness of her many diverse influences. European, South American and Asian elements infuse her music with a special blend of character and meaning. Born in the United States in 1972, Gabriela has family roots in China, Peru and Lithuania. Her Peruvian mother may have had the greatest influence on her. As the composer told an interviewer, “I think my music can be seen as a byproduct of my always trying to figure out how Latina I am and how gringa I am.”

Frank has had commissions and performances by the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and many others.

She is closely associated with Yo-Yo Ma’s eclectic chamber group The Silk Road Project; she and the group received a Grammy nomination for their recording of her work Ritmos Anchinos. An accomplished pianist, she was nominated for a Grammy for her performances of the complete works of Leslie Bassett.

Gabriela describes the first of her three dances in this set as “an unabashed tribute to Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Symphonic Dances’ from West Side Story.” For the second dance, “Highland Harawi,” she looks to the Andes Mountains of her mother’s homeland, Peru, for inspiration. The third and final dance, “Mestizo Waltz,” honors the musical traditions of the Mestizo community of western South America.

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Concert 5 • May 16 & 17

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) Scheherezade, Opus 35

In the 1850s a group of five young composers, later known as “The Russian Five” or “The Mighty Bunch,” set out to make Russians aware of their unique musical traditions by creating a singularly Russian style of classical composition.

Formality, conventionality and especially “German-ness” were eschewed. None of the five had much formal musical training; indeed, when one of the five took a position with a conservatory, the others were highly critical of him. Yet the group was enormously influential, and to this day the recognizable qualities of Russian music stem from The Five’s exploration, inventiveness and originality.

A naval midshipman by trade, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was drawn to the group after meeting composer Mili Balakirev; Modest Mussorgsky, Alexander Borodin and César Cui rounded out the group. RimskyKorsakov often found himself helping in the editing and completion of many of the group’s works. Ultimately Rimsky-Korsakov broke from the others, taking up the study and teaching of Western idioms and accepting a position at a conservatory. He created what we now consider to be the modern technique of orchestration: the assigning of musical elements to the instruments of the orchestra. His text is still used in music schools today. His style was virtually self-taught, a product of his own talent and imagination. Whether you’re listening to orchestral music of Igor Stravinsky or John Williams, you are hearing the influence of Rimsky-Korsakov.

The creation of his best-known work, Scheherezade, arose from RimskyKorsakov’s desire to connect Russian sounds with exotic themes. This “orientalism,” as it was called, was a key element in The Five’s stylistic 66

Concert 5 • May 16 & 17

handbook. Rimsky-Korsakov chose four stories from One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of narratives from Middle Eastern sources.

Each story is part of a framework built around the sultan Shahryar and his wife—or should we say his LAST wife—Scheherezade.

Shahryar had learned that his brother’s wife had been unfaithful; he was shocked to learn that his own wife had been even more flagrant in her dalliances. He had her killed; in his despair he determined that all women are deceitful. He ordered his vizier to line up some virgins to marry; after each blissful wedding night he had his bride beheaded. Of course, eventually the vizier could find no more virgins—but his own daughter, Scheherezade, bravely stepped forward. After their wedding feast, Scheherezade began telling the sultan a remarkably compelling story with a real cliffhanger of an ending, which she refused to share unless Shahryar allowed her to live until the next evening. She repeated this trick 1,001 times, until finally she was pardoned.

Much like Wagner’s leitmotiv, Rimsky-Korsakov helps us keep track of each story’s progress by assigning musical themes and gestures to characters. The bombastic music we hear at the start is a portrayal of the sultan himself; later we are introduced to the bride Scheherezade through the sweet, soulful voice of the solo violin. The composer uses themes conversationally, passing them from one instrument to another to help the listener imagine the storytelling.

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Avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson on hearing and seeing stories…

“Switch the article ‘the’ to ‘a’ and the world changes. Mystery is embraced.”

“Books were there for me as a tiny kid; they were a world…I can still walk into a book and be there, but it’s in a different way now, and I really wish I could still do it as a child. But I wish I could do a lot of things as a child: to be as innocent as I was, and to be hopeful as I was, and to be sure that I came from the sky and knew all sorts of things that I have forgotten over my lifetime.”

“Secretly, I do think that stories can cure you … but you have to find out what’s wrong first.”

Our final program is made up of stories that kids and wives and mothers tell: bedtime stories, stories of heritage, stories to keep living, stories to tell the world you are here. When we adults ask kids what they’d like to be when they grow up, I always sense behind the question a somewhat desperate search for new ideas. What can the fabric of the young lives of our Sympatico musicians offer us as unconscious guidance and direction for our city and country and world? Ostensibly, we are helping their young lives by offering this program, but since life is what it is, we are also receiving something invaluable through this act of support…a live connection not just to their future but to ours.

Gabriela Lena Frank tells of dancing as a vital half of her hybrid heritage.

Even though each of her tales would begin with once upon a time for violin, Scheherazade ended each of her nighttime stories halfway through in order to insure that she would be alive the next day to continue. What can we strategically leave undone today that will help fuel us to live more fully and richly tomorrow? A picture is worth a thousand words. Music is worth a thousand pictures.

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Brian Prechtl, composer Percussionist Brian Prechtl has been a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 2003. Before joining the BSO, he was a member of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic in Fort Wayne, Indiana for 14 seasons. Previous to that appointment, he held Principal Percussion positions in both the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra.

He graduated with high distinction from the University of Michigan in 1984 with a Bachelor of Music degree and went on to earn his Master’s of Music degree from Temple University in 1986. There he studied with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra and performed as a substitute player in Philadelphia.

Mr. Prechtl spends his summers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming as a performer in the Grand Teton Music Festival where he has been a member of the percussion section since 1992.

An active composer, Mr. Prechtl has had world premiere performances at the Grand Teton Music Festival, at the Eastman School of Music and in Baltimore. He has won composition prizes from the Percussive Arts Society and the College Music Society. He has also served as the composer-in-residence for the Community Concerts at Second Chamber Music Series in Baltimore since 2011.

Mr. Prechtl’s music is characterized by rhythmic drive as well a rich harmonic and melodic palette. He has written extensively for chamber percussion and percussion with other instruments. He recently completed a set of pieces, which are settings of the poetry of Walt Whitman from Leaves of Grass. Mr. Prechtl is also accomplished as an orchestral composer and arranger having had world premiere performances with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the BSO OrchKids Program and the Minnesota Orchestra. Tribute is his newest work for orchestra and El Sistema-inspired ensembles.

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ASO Supporters 2018-2019 Includes contributions made to the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra League of Alexandria from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019.

Foundations, Government, and Corporate Support

ACT Community Foundation KBR Foundation Alexandria Commission for the Arts Kostizka and Wicks Alexandria Times Lois Herr Family Foundation Alexandria Kiwanis Marietta Jemison (Keller Williams) Amazon Smile The Maple Tree Fund Bittersweet Catering Mary & Daniel Loughran Foundation Boeing Corporation McEnearney Associates, Inc. Brobst Violin Shop National Endowment for the Arts Burke and Herbert Bank N.E.T. (Networking & Engineering Kendra Carey (Long & Foster) Technologies, Inc.) Caudron Megary Blackburn New Target Charles Delmar Foundation NOVA Community College Clarke & Sampson Parkfairfax Community Concerto Foundation Paul M. Angell Foundation Connection Newspapers Redmon, Peyton & Braswell, L.L.P. Conn-Selmer Renner & Company CPA, PC D’Addario Foundation Rotary Club of Alexandria Dominion Energy Rucker Properties Donnan Wintermute (Coldwell Simpson Commercial Real Estate Banker) SOLA (Symphony Orchestra Entergy Corp.

League of Alexandria) Everly-Wheatley Funeral Home Theodore H. Barth Foundation Fidelity Investments Unalane Foundation Kelly Green, florist Virginia Commission for the Arts Goodwin House, Inc. Virginia Theological Seminary Harry Braswell, Inc. The Virginia Florist IBM Corporation Wells Fargo Advisors Jeanne Warner, (Sotheby’s Wells Fargo Foundation International Realty) Woodbine Rehabilation & Healthcare

Gifts were given in Memory or in Honor of the following: In Honor of ASO Sympatico In Honor of Judy Grey In Memory of Elliott Bunce In Memory of Ruth Kupperschlag In Memory of T. Sills Bunn In Honor of Harriett McCune In Honor of Nancy Davenport In Honor of Jane Ring In Memory of Lisa Flippo In Memory of Edward William Ross 70

Conductor’s Baton Circle (over $20,000)

Suzanne S. Brock Linda Bunce Harriett Glover McCune Mr. and Mrs. Carlyle C. Ring

Conductor’s Circle ($10,000-$19,999)

Dr. and Mrs. William P. O’Grady James Page and Raquel Cordero-Page Mr. and Mrs. Frank Quirk Anne Best Rector and Timothy Allen Platinum Circle ($5,000-$9,999)

Carl and Susan Behnke Sally Guy and Thomas Brown Miriam and David Browning Ronal Butler and Martha Lloyd Nancy Davenport Mr. & Mrs. Caswell O. Hobbs H. Arthur Sauer Mrs. Robert Wineland Golden Circle ($2,500-$4,999) Becky and George Bostick Mr. and Mrs. Gant Redmon Kendra Carey Ralph Shepard and Susan Yonts-Shepard Ann D. Corson and B. Jon Jaeger Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Siegel Gerry and Diana Dreo Clyde Gary Sydow CAPT Fred S. Dunning, Jr. USN (Ret.) Dorothy and James Taft Carolyn Fuller Richard and Sandra Toye Margaret Hodges CDR, USN (Ret.) Kenneth and Mr. and Mrs. Edward Knight Sharon Walker Ellen LaBelle David W. and Melynda Dovel Wilcox Rita and Dennis Meyer Linda Windsor Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Paslawski Nancy Ziegler Lucy Thomson & Arthur Peabody, Jr.

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Patron’s Circle ($1,000-$2,499) Richard Blackburn Dr. and Mrs. V. Joseph Braddock Michael Brown and Kirsten Knapp Amoret Bell Bunn Mr. and Mrs. Edward Dyson Marc Eaton and Brooksie Koopman Candy and Greg Fazakerley Lisa and Brian Flippo Judy Grey Nancy Griswold Dr. and Mrs. John Klousia Ward Lasley Craig Miller and Lisa Brock Temple and Marty Moore Claire and Theodore Schwab Phyllis Sintay Mr. and Mrs. Forrest Williams Rance Willis Donnan C. Wintermute

Donors ($500-$999)

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Arthur and Jeanne Hoenicke Bailey Bruce Batten and Currie Smith Ken and Meredith Brown Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Campbell Elisabeth Campbell Gincy and Nick Carosi William and Willa Cleary Michael Powers and Christa Cochran Florence and Neal Cohen Nicholas F. and Victoria A. Coward Mrs. John Davies Louise F. Dovel Mrs. Larry Frommer Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Hayes John and Lynn Hooff Erwin Jacobs Margaret Kenna Rosita Kerr Mang Janet E. King Adron Krekeler and Rebecca Mahood Loyd and Eve LaMois Kit Leider Virginia Martin Jackie and David Mason Richard and Michelle Moorhouse

Donors ($500-$999)

Genevieve Moorhouse and Joshua Compton Suzanne and James Morrison Anne and Steve Reed Michaela and Robert Robinson Shannon Russell Craig and Martha Schiele George Spalding Christine Corcoran and Edward Stark Maureen Sullivan Claudia Sumler Patricia and George White

Sustainers ($100-$499) Patrick and Kim Anderson Leslie Ariail Kate Armstrong Nancy Clayton Ault Annette Avery Eugenia Ballering and Anna Wolz Charles W. and Suzanne S. Ballou Walter and Roberta Barbee Clark and Mason Bavin Clare Bisceglia Shirley and Charles Bisselle Margaret Breida Paul Brinkman and Lisa Jacobs Zita and Herb Brooks Hilda Burcher Evalyn Carter Bill and Teddye Clayton Brian and Paula Coupe Dorothy and David Crabb Donna Cramer Betty Cranwell Robert and Teri Culbertson Elizabeth DiGregorio George and Pat Day Sue Dikeman Rita and Earl Donaldson Daniel and Mary Taylor Dose Jim and Joyce Draper Samuel Ellsworth Laura Peebles and Ellen Fingerman Andrea Flax Nicholas and Sandra Fleischmann

Sustainers ($100-$499)

Michele M. Franco Caroline and John Guy, IV Marilyn and Peter Haase Jon Hakken Lawrence Hall Nancy Hall-Berens Diana Povolotskaya and George Hanson James Hauhart Ross and Carolyn Heasley Frisky Hickey Michael E. and Ann Reed Hobbs Patrick and Sally Hunnicutt Raymond and Irene Husson Mary Frances Jetton David Johnson and Scarlett Swan Richard Jones and Christine Cheevers Anne Beverly and Freeman Jones Jacqueline Jones William Jordan Susan Kelly Kathleen and Edward Kelly Taylor Kiland Florence King Suzanne King Beth Knickerbocker Betty Kuehnle Andrea Lacey Robert Larke Laura and Thomas Lawler Mary Lawson David Levy Sylvia Linke Patricia Macgowan and T. Whittier Warthin Jessi Macleod David Magsumbol John and Rosemary Maloney Maureen Maloney Marion Mangus Mary Carol Mason Claride Mayo Libby McClary Michael McCormick William and Joan McCulla Susan McGrath Elisabeth Millard

Sustainers ($100-$499)

Bowman and Pamela Miller Robert Montague, III Mr. and Mrs. Robert Montague, IV Susan Montague Gloria Morote Robert Newlen Fran Olsen Nancy Olson Robert and Susan Orttung Julianne Owens Roger Parks Katharine Patterson Elizabeth Peabody Peter Pennington Jane Perkinson Timothy Peterson Geraldine Prefontaine Mrs. Richard Reid Nancy Rettig Mira and Vincent Ricardel William and Frances Rice Beth and Jim Roberts Cindy Roscoe James Ross John Ross Gail Rothrock and Charles Trozzo Frank Ryan Richard Ryan Ralph and Jacqueline Schenkel Patti Schmid Mark Schraf Richard Schumacher Robert and Barbara Seraphin Mary and David Shilton Alex and Ivy Sinaiko Irwin and Joan Singer Susan and Keith Stalder Joerg Starke Eugene Steuerle and Marge Scheflen Janet and Rhodri Thomas Peter and Helen Toepffer Stephen Toth Michelle Trigg Dawn and Kenneth Tyler Anne and Sam Ulm Toni and Harrison Wadsworth

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Sustainers ($100-$499)

Friends ($1-$99)

Charles and Ellen Walker Bianca Warner Sandra Welch Deborah Wells Michael and Priscilla Wiener Richard and Suzanne Willett Nancy and Marcus Williams Bonnie Williams and Robert Skelly Elizabeth Wilmot and Pete Adler John and Pat Wilson Linda Wilson Glenna Winnie Margherita Woods David Wormser and Janet Hawkins Kay and Terry Zerwick

Paula Danko Helene Dyson William Elwood Margaret Elblom-Callahan Debra Fairweather Najwa Farhi Joan Ferrell Virginia Fike Barbara Fisher Kathryn Franklin Rosa Fullerton Ronald and Jeanne Garant Jeffrey Gathers Dale Gibb Patricia Gill Barbara Glover Sue and Allison Goodhart Susan Amber Gordon Glenda and T. Brooke Green Gila Harris Joanna Hudson-Therway Paul and Pamela Hunt Lindalyn Hutter Jenny Indelicato Meaghan Curry and Anthony Jamberdino Carol James Deborah Johnston Barbara Jonas Harry Jones Phil and Caroline Jones Ryan Jordan Ann Kavaljian Sharon Keefer Melinda Kernc Virginia Kress Patricia and Sean Laane Michael Lamb James Langmesser Martha Lee Mrs. Kirk Lindsey Richard Loranger Joe Ludovici Teresa Lustig Laurie MacNamara

Friends ($1-$99) Canek Aguirre Sue and David Aland Audrey Andrist Marlyn Aycock Katherine Babbitt Jocelyn and Thomas Ballantine Diana Banat Barbara and Joseph Bankert Walter and Andrea Baumann Candace Beane Margaret Benghauser Rosann and Michael Brodie Jim and Marcia Buchanan Linda Budinski Reba Burns Jane Hughes Carlson Lauren Catts Susan and Dave Cavanaugh Harlene and Bill Clayton Karen Coda Mollie Danforth and Steve Colangelo Jolanta Coleman Emelie Colmery Robert Coontz Anne Crowther Michael Custis Carola Czernik

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Friends ($1-$99)

Friends ($1-$99)

Rebecca and Christopher Manthey Bob Martini Ann and James McCrery Cassie and Shawn McLaughlin Anita and Robert McSwain Robert and Vivian Miller Alexandra Miller Daisy Moseley Melinda Mount Christopher and Katherine Murphy Diane and James Murphy Greg Perett and Diane Beyer-Perett Anne Peterson Annmarie Pittman Ethel Pomerantz John Porter Ann Rinehart Lori and Rusty Ring Wil Rivers Carol Roach Martha Roberts Marjorie Roddy Patricia Rogers Nancy and James Ross Nancy Rowe Jo-Ann and Robert Royer Scott and Anna Russi David Salness Sitora Saloeva Ilona Savage Richard Scerbo Elizabeth Schepps Barbara Schmidt James Sehn Janet Skipko Barbara Silverman Roy Snyder Ann and Glenn Spitler Emma-Jo and Bob Staton Heather Stern Gregory Stieber Paula and Jack Sullivan Evelyn Sweet Tamera Thom Joan Vogel

Jerry Wagner Holly Wallace Katharine Walvick Brian Washington Colleen Weiser Trudie Williams Eleanor Wilson Leona Wilson Laura Withers Barbara Yentzer and John Shuster

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ASO Concert Venues Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center • Complimentary concert parking is provided by the ASO in the Beauregard Street garage, located across East Campus Drive from the Schlesinger Center. We highly encourage all our patrons to park in this location, as parking is restricted on campus.

• Our Will Call pickup and On-Site Box Office sales begin 60 minutes prior to the start of each performance in the lobby of the Schlesinger Center.

• Restrooms and drinking fountains are available to the right of the lobby on the first floor, and to the right of the Seminar Room on the second floor.

• An elevator is available for your convenience and is located around the corner from the restrooms.

• Concessions are sold in the lobby during intermission – choose from a variety of wines, sodas, snacks and bottled water.

George Washington Masonic Memorial • Complimentary concert parking is provided by the ASO in the north parking lot with an entrance directly to the concert hall.

• All patrons should enter the Memorial on the parking lot side of the building, where the handicap ramp can be found as well. This entrance is the closest one to the concert hall and can be accessed without stairs.

• Our Will Call pickup and On-Site Box Office sales begin 60 minutes prior to the start of each performance.

• An elevator is available for your convenience. Please note that the elevator runs slowly, and we encourage you to arrive early if you intend to use it.

• Concessions are sold in the lobby during intermission – choose from a variety of sodas, snacks, and bottled water.

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THINK OUTSIDE THE CUBICLE.

Host your creative meetings and gatherings at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center.

Our Forum and Seminar Room are ideal for business meetings, conferences and other weekday events.

For availability and pricing, please visit www.nvcc.edu/schlesingercenter/rentals or call 703-845-6229.

18-472_Schlesinger Room Ad Insert_V1.indd 1

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11/26/18 6:37 AM

UPDATE TO THE ASO’S 75TH ANNIVERSARY CAMPAIGN

GOAL OF

Your gift will keep live orchestral

$300,000 BY 2021 $275,000

music in Alexandria for another 75 years! For more information and to contribute to the Anniversary Campaign,

PLEDGED

please contact us.

AS OF

AUGUST 31 2019

75% REVENUE FROM CONTRIBUTIONS

25% REVENUE FROM TICKET SALES ASO’S ANNUAL INCOME

THE IMPACT OF

YOUR GIFT The 75th Anniversary Campaign provides for the ASO’s future by...

• Initiating new artistic projects • Expanding community engagement • Funding special events and appearances

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History of the

Alexandria Symphony Orchestra The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra was founded during World War II. President Roosevelt asked all Americans for sacrifices to free more of the nation’s capacity and resources to help the war efforts. In spite of the war and necessary sacrifices, Alexandria came together as a community. During this time, in 1943, a young music teacher, Miss Lucie Neale Landen, recruited 40 amateur musicians to play orchestral music together. A few years after founding the “Alexandria Civic Orchestra,” Landen moved to California, where she spent more than 40 years as a high school orchestra teacher.

The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra was officially incorporated in 1954 with an annual budget of $1,200. Dr. Wendell Margrave, Director of the Washington Musical Institute, took over the baton in 1948 and led the orchestra until the mid 1960s. In 1966, as demand for a more formal programming schedule arose, the orchestra hired George Washington University professor Dr. George Steiner as Music Director. Under Steiner’s influence, the ASO introduced its first subscription series, performed at Albohm Auditorium on the campus of T.C. Williams High School. He also started the “Lollipop” children’s educational concerts.

In 1976, the ASO strengthened its dedication to education with the introduction of the Mary Graham Lasley 80

Scholarship Competition. Now in its 44th year and co-sponsored with the Symphony Orchestra League of Alexandria (SOLA) since its founding in 1981, the annual event promotes the ASO’s commitment to nurturing young talent and creativity by encouraging college-level musicians to pursue careers in classical music. Besides co-sponsoring the competition, SOLA is dedicated to fundraising and volunteer support for the ASO. In 1988, Kim Allen Kluge was chosen to succeed Dr. Steiner. Under Kluge’s direction during the 1990s, the ASO became a professional orchestra. In partnership with the City of Alexandria, the ASO significantly expanded its programs and concerts in the schools and began performing in the Alexandria Birthday Celebration concert on the waterfront each July.

In 2001, the ASO gave the inaugural concert at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center, now its primary venue. In the Schlesinger era, the ASO emerged as a leader of the Washington, D.C. inter-arts movement forging artistic partnerships with many of the region’s leading cultural institutions including the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art, the Washington Ballet, the Choral Arts Society of Washington, and the Shakespeare Theatre.

The ASO has performed with many of the world’s leading musicians including Midori Gotō, Peter Serkin, Nadja Solerno-Sonnenberg, Richard Stoltzman, Garrick Ohlsson, Yefim Bronfman, Lynn Harrell, Sarah Chang, Elizabeth Pitcairn and Branford Marsalis.

In 2012, the ASO took its education program in an exciting new direction, led by the vision and support of Linda Bunce and the late Elliott Bunce. Sympatico, a program based on the El Sistema model of social change through music education, was launched at John Adams Elementary School. This fall, in partnership with the Alexandria City Public Schools, Sympatico expanded to Patrick Henry K-8 School serving 180+ students in both schools.

In 2018, the ASO welcomed James Ross as its fifth Music Director.

Maestro Ross has introduced new concert experiences, audience engagement and nontraditional venues and formats to the community, attracting new attendees and growing the ASO family.

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Celebrating community spirit

Friends, family, neighbors, and local business owners are the backbone of this community. Our vibrant spirit comes alive at events like these.

Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, you continue to help build the spirit of our community.

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James Ross, Music Director