Asheville Symphony Program Book Spring 2023

ASHEVILLESYMPHONY

ASHEVILLE SYMPHONY PROGRAM BOOK

Spring 2023

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Contents KEEP IN TOUCH

Letter from Executive Director

7

Staff

9

Board of Directors

9

About the Cover

9

Past Presidents & Directors Emeritus

10

Letter from Board President

11

Music Director

13

Orchestra Personnel

14

Masterworks 4: Aurora · February 18, 2023

18

ALT ASO @ The Orange Peel · March 7, 2023

24

Masterworks 5: Guitarra Española · March 18, 2023

28

Masterworks 6: New World · April 15, 2023

34

ALT ASO @ Salvage Station · May 13, 2023

40

Masterworks 7: Béla Fleck & Americana · May 20, 2023

44

Asheville Amadeus Festival

50

Food & Beverage Partners

55

Season & Concert Sponsors

56

Donors

57

Asheville Symphony Chorus

58

Phone 828.254.7046

Asheville Symphonettes

60

Asheville Symphony Guild

62

Online AshevilleSymphony.org

Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra

64

Music Sponsors

66

Legacy Society

71

Advertisers Index

74

Asheville Symphony Office 27 College Place Suite 100 Asheville, NC 28801 Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville Box Office 87 Haywood St Asheville, NC 28801

828.254.7046

info@ashevillesymphony.org

DONATE Mail or Visit 27 College Place Suite 100 Asheville, NC 28801

STAY SAFE, ENJOY THE MUSIC Please scan this QR code to learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies including masking and vaccination requirements.

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Executive Director

DANIEL M. CRUPI

Dear ASO friends and family, If my experience in the arts has taught me anything – especially throughout the challenges of the last few years – it is that together, with creativity, vision, and hard work, we can accomplish the unthinkable. And, if I have learned anything about Asheville during my first year here, it is that this community proudly fosters an incredibly vibrant and resilient arts scene, and that it is eager to support more innovative work in this sector.

With that in mind, we have crafted an ambitious and exuberant 2022-2023 Asheville Symphony season for you, filled with exciting new initiatives and reimagined takes on the classics, as well as the triumphant return of the Asheville Amadeus Festival.

The 2022-2023 Masterworks Series returns to full force with seven extraordinary concert programs, featuring composers ranging from Ludwig van Beethoven and Antonin Dvořák to Fazil Say and Jessie Montgomery. Our New Year’s Eve concert tradition continues in style with the music of one of the world’s favorite film franchises – Bond, James Bond – and we also continue to present an intimate Piano Recital showcasing rising talent on the national scene.

Our new and regularly sold-out ALT ASO series is expanding, growing to a fourconcert series in yet more iconic Asheville venues, including Hi-Wire Brewing’s RAD beer garden, Highland Brewing, The Orange Peel, and Salvage Station’s outdoor stage on the banks of the French Broad River.

The Asheville Amadeus Festival also makes a long-awaited return, this year exploring every facet of American music – and featuring banjo superstar, Béla Fleck, as the festival headliner! In addition to performing his acclaimed The Imposter Concerto with the ASO at the Festival’s grand finale, Béla’s week-long residency in Asheville will include a diversity of partners and, of particular note, feature a Young People’s Concert with the ASYO for every 5th-grader across our city and county. Altogether, this year’s Festival will feature more than 50 events from dozens of organizations across Western North Carolina – stay tuned for more details!

Last but certainly not least, we open our entire season with the return of our Symphony in the Park concert in downtown’s Pack Square Park, where we endeavor to unite our community and uplift our entire region in a free, collaborative performance for an audience of thousands.

We have big plans for the Asheville Symphony. We all envision an inclusive and representative orchestra that radically engages its community, showcases a diversity of musical interests and perspectives, prioritizes the education of the next generation, and achieves the highest of artistic standards. With your help, we can make this vision a reality.

Thank you for your generous support for the Asheville Symphony – we look forward to seeing you this season!

Warm regards,

Daniel M. Crupi Executive Director Asheville Symphony ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ 7

WITH EACH VISIT, AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE INSPIRED.

38 BILTMORE AVENUE DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE 828.251.0202 BLUESPIRAL1.COM

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Board of Directors & Staff OFFICERS

ASHEVILLE SYMPHONY STAFF

Michael Andry • President Sue Luther • President Elect Dr. Bolling Farmer • Past President John W. Ellis • Secretary Ed Towson • Treasurer

Daniel M. Crupi Executive Director Sally J. Keeney Orchestra Manager Michael Di Trolio Principal Librarian Paul Stroebel Stage Manager Madeline Womack Development Manager

DIRECTORS Jack Anderson Michael Andry Thomas C. Bolton* Sallie T. Broach Dr. Nancy J. Cable Dr. John Cuellar George Dambach John Donahoe John W. Ellis Lynne Eramo Dr. Bolling Farmer Betty Fox Adarrell Gadsden Bill Gettys* Debbie Green Fred Groce

Stan Ingber Mary Kirby Gerald Kitch Pamela Lowe-Hoyte Sue Luther Elizabeth McCorvey Carol McCollum* Patrick O’Cain Jeffrey Owen Irene Stoll James S. Thompson Sandra Tompkins Ed Towson* Sarah Van Gunten Olivia Zahler

*Distinguished Directors

Hannah Williams Patron Services & Festival Manager Matt Howe Ticketing & Office Administrator Sherry Blakely Controller Mary Ellen Dendy Marketing Strategy Consultant Claire M. Allen Marketing Manager & Creative Director

YOUTH ORCHESTRA STAFF Cynthia Roop General Manager Dr. Alexandra Dee Symphony Conductor Amanda Tant Chamber Conductor Ashlee Booth Prelude Conductor & Operations Manager Rodney Workman Site Coordinator

Jason Posnock Advisor Dr. Brian Tinkel Percussion Director Dilshad Posnock Woodwind Coach Franklin Keel Strings Coach Dr. Jason Slaughter Brass Coach Judah Barak Percussion Coach

CONTACT

828.254.7046 info@ashevillesymphony.org 27 Colllege Place Suite 100 Asheville, NC 28801

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ABOUT THE COVER “GARNET DAWN” Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 72 in.

Jeremy Russell is a contemporary abstract expressionist based in Asheville, NC. “My work is more influenced by music than visual art. Specifically, classical and jazz. I embrace the very same intuitive spontaneity that musicians harness in the heat of improv. Of course, there is a foundation of observation and accuracy in the landscape paintings to which I honor the energy of the natural places where I meditate. Like the complex compositions of a composer, a strong painting evolves through a harmonious push and pull between a foundational constant and all the variables and vibrations that surround that base subject. Regarding my interest in painting, I reference the incredible symphony of all the parts experienced at a location — The movement of light, the flow of water, the sounds of life, the presence of the divine.”

SELECTED IN COLLABORATION WITH

This piece will be auctioned for the benefit of the Asheville Symphony at the Asheville Amadeus Festival Gala on May 19, 2023.

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PAST PRESIDENTS 1962-1964: Gaylord Davis 1964-1966: Rudolf Gumpert 1966-1968: John W. Rutland 1968-1970: Robert K. Weiler 1970-1971: Robert Saenger 1971-1972: William C. Spencer, Jr. 1972-1975: John K. Knight 1975-1977: Lawrence D. Ford 1977-1979: Mortimer Ryon 1979-1982: James E. Dooley 1982-1984: J.K. MacKendree Day 1984-1985: George Saenger 1985-1987: Spencer Atwater, MD. 1987-1989: George Goosmann, III 1989-1992: John J. Sherman, Jr.

1992-1994: G. Edward Towson, II 1994-1995: Stephen L. Barden, III 1995-1997: Joyce R. Dorr, Ph.D. 1997-1999: C. David Pheil 1999-2001: George M. Bilbrey, MD. 2001-2003: W. Herbert Smith, Jr. 2003-2004: James P. Topp 2004-2006: Thomas C. Bolton 2006-2008: Carol McCollum 2008-2010: Jack Anderson 2010-2012: Carolyn L. Hubbard 2012-2014: William L. Gettys 2014-2017: Irene Stoll 2017-2019: Doris Phillips Loomis 2019-2021: Bolling Farmer

DIRECTORS EMERITUS George M. Bilbrey, Jr. M.D.* J.K. MacKendree Day Joyce R. Dorr, Ph.D. George F. Goosmann, III

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Karl S. Quisenberry, Ph.D.* John J. Sherman, Jr. W. Herbert Smith, Jr. *Deceased

Board President

MICHAEL ANDRY Dear Asheville Symphony friends and family, The Asheville Symphony has a wonderful year planned for you. We made it through the COVID reopening year and are now moving full steam ahead toward a bright future! While we continue to offer our traditional Masterworks series and our New Year’s Eve programming, this year also marks the expansion of our ALT ASO series and the return of the Asheville Amadeus Festival. We will also continue producing our annual gift to the community with our public Symphony in the Park concert, in Pack Square, as the season opener in late August.

This year should be especially fun, with the orchestra showcasing Beethoven to Brahms to Bach to Béla Fleck. We continue to embrace our entire community with concerts from Salvage Station to Highland and Hi-Wire Brewing. Your Asheville Symphony now reaches over 30,000 patrons and 6,000 youth in our community.

We cherish our place in representing the great classical repertory as well as the new ideas and programs that are continuing to drive this organization forward.

None of this could be possible without the support of you, our customers. We would also like to thank our donors once again – none of this would be possible without you. Finally, thank you to our wonderful business sponsors; please join me thanking them by patronizing their businesses, and often!

From the entire Board and Staff, I thank you for being here – and now, please sit back and enjoy the show.

Michael Andry Board President

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SETTING THE STAGE FOR BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES A love of the arts and a sense of hospitality inspired George Vanderbilt’s masterpiece: Biltmore.

Share in that legacy today by joining our Annual Passholder family.

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Music Director

DARKO BUTORAC

the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Neuss and the Georgische Kammerorchester Ingolstadt (Germany), the Rubinstein Philharmonic of Lodz (Poland), the Xiamen Symphony (China), the Tallinn Sinfonietta (Estonia), and the Slovenian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared at such prestigious venues as the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Gran Teatro Nacional of Lima, Belgrade’s Kolarac Hall, the Teatro Magnani in Italy, and the Tartu, Aspen and St. Olav summer music festivals. From 2009 to 2013, he served as the principal conductor of the Fidenza Opera Festival.

Praised by the Westdeutsche Zeitung for his “exceptional combination of passion, elegance and well-timed pacing”, Darko Butorac has established himself as a conductor in demand with orchestras both in Europe and the Americas. He currently serves as the Music Director of the Asheville Symphony and the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra.

Following his debut with the Belgrade Philharmonic in January 2011, Butorac was reengaged to conduct both the season finale and the opening concert of the 2012 season. Other notable guest conducting engagements include performances with

Distinguished collaborations include soprano Renee Fleming, pianists Garrick Ohlsson and Jon Kimura Parker, tenor Lawrence Brownlee, cellist Colin Carr, clarinetist Anthony McGill, and Oscarwinning actor J.K. Simmons among others.

Highlights of the 2021-22 season include performances with pianists Aaron Diehl and Stewart Goodyear, violinists William Hagen and Blake Pouliot, cellist Jamal Aliyev, and a New Year’s Eve gala with vocalists Morgan James and Erica Gabriel.

Butorac helped his orchestras emerge from the pandemic by creating programs featuring over 75 short works for chamber orchestra formations, with a focus on presenting works by underperformed composers and minorities. The Tallahassee Symphony was one of the first orchestras in the United

States to move to a fully virtual format, by committing to webcasting live performances in April of 2020.

As the Grand Prix Laureate and Gold Medalist of the Fourth International Vakhtang Jordania Conducting Competition, Butorac was invited to conduct orchestras across four continents. He was also selected to participate at the Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview hosted by the League of American Orchestras and the Jacksonville Symphony.

Butorac served as the Music Director of the Missoula Symphony from 2007-2019, marking a period of tremendous artistic growth of the orchestra. He challenged the ensemble with a broader repertoire leading to greater engagement with the community and frequently sold-out performances.

Butorac is also in demand as a public speaker on leadership. His TEDx Montana talk on the “Language of Conducting” has over a 150K views on YouTube. He has appeared as a speaker on behalf of Brighthouse, a division of BCG, and was the headline speaker at the Birla Carbon International Leadership Summit in Bangkok in 2018.

He is an avid traveler, having visited almost seventy countries, and is passionate about discovering the world and bringing people together through the beauty of music.

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Orchestra Personnel VIOLIN

Jason Posnock • Concertmaster Martha Gardner • Associate Concertmaster Open Chair • Assistant Concertmaster Kathryn Gardner Principal Second Violin (loa) Debra L. Anthony Associate Principal Second Violin Marianna Brickle Teresa M. Curran Elizabeth Fee-Elliott Lori G. Hammel Rachael Kistler-Igo Dorothy L. Knowles Virginia Kowal LuAda Malcom John R. Malloy Ruben Orengo Mariya S. Potapova Inez Hullinger Redman Essena Setaro (loa) *Paul E. Stroebel

VIOLA

FLUTE

TIMPANI

Lissie J. Shanahan • Principal

Todd D. Mueller • Principal

Kellie Henry

PERCUSSION

PICCOLO Dilshad B. Posnock

Matthew Richmond

OBOE

*Brian Tinkel

Alicia Chapman • Principal

HARP

ENGLISH HORN

Open Chair • Vetust Study Club Chair

Amanda J. LaBrecque (loa)

KEYBOARD

CLARINET

Open Chair • Susanne Marcus Collins Chair

Harry H. “Chip” Hill • Principal Karen Farah Hill

BASS CLARINET Shannon Thompson

BASSOON Michael J. Burns • Principal Amber Ferenz Spuller (loa)

*Michael L. Brubaker

CELLO

Travis A. Bennett

BASS

*M. Lee Metcalfe • Co-Principal Vance M. Reese • Co-Principal Michael Di Trolio Matthew P. Waid

Michael Morel

*Cara Mia Jenkins

Kara F. Poorbaugh • Principal Emily Schaad • Associate Principal Leigh Dixon (loa) Martha L. Geissler Gina Mashburn Heath Jennifer Kozoroz Karen Pommerich Edward J. Smith Daniel Mumm • Principal J. Franklin Keel • Associate Principal Open Chair • Assistant Principal Cherylonda F. Fitzgerald Paul S. GhostHorse Katie Hamilton Patricia Koelling Johnston

Caleb Breidenbaugh • Principal

CONTRABASSOON William L. Peebles

HORN Jeffery B. Whaley • Principal Anneka A. Zuehlke

TRUMPET T. Mark Clodfelter • Principal P. Bradley Ulrich (loa) Christopher Underwood

TROMBONE Justin Croushore • Principal

Supporting Our Musicians INSTRUMENT ENDOWMENT

Your support of the Asheville Symphony Society’s endowment is the ticket to a secure, stable financial future for your Symphony. Consider endowing your favorite instrument in perpetuity! To learn more about endowment, please contact the ASO's Development Department at development@ashevillesymphony.org or 828.254.7046.

MUSICIAN RESILIENCY FUND

The ASO Musician Resiliency Fund ensures that the Asheville Symphony can continue to attract the best orchestral talent and compensate its musicians competitively within the region. Thank you to those who support this fund:

Richard Schaffer and Anastasia Bartlett Michael and Catty Andry Dr. Bolling Farmer Jim and Mary Kirby Carol and Hugh McCollum Irene and Michael Stoll

L. Rienette Davis

BASS TROMBONE Jeremy Marks

TUBA Bethany Wiese • Principal 14 ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ Spring 2023 Program Book

Michael Di Trolio • Principal Librarian Paul Stroebel • Stage Manager * Orchestra Committee Member Section string players are listed alphabetically. (loa) = Leave of Absence

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Blue Ridge Public Radio is honored to support the Asheville Symphony Orchestra.

bpr.org BPR celebrates the arts and the role they play in enriching the quality of life in Western North Carolina.

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Proud supporter of the Asheville Symphony Society and its continuous commitment to the people of Western North Carolina. mwblawyers.com 828.254.8800

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MASTERWORKS 4 Thomas Wolfe Auditorium Saturday, February 18, 2023, 8:00 p.m.

Three legendary Scandinavian and Slavic composers channel the powerful spirit and splendor of the frozen north in this program inspired by the northern lights. Envision towering cliffs with Grieg’s only piano concerto, icy fjords with Sibelius’ epic Finlandia, and snowy fields with Tchaikovsky’s brilliant and dramatic Fourth Symphony.

Darko Butorac, Conductor Jacob Bernhardt, Piano

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18 ∙ Masterworks 4: Aurora

Jean Sibelius Finlandia, Op.26

PROGRAM NOTES

Finlandia, Op.26

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) Jean Sibelius’s first success as a composer came in 1892 with a nationalistic symphonic poem/cantata entitled Kullervo, Op. 7, which was premiered with great success but never again performed in his lifetime. During the next six years he composed numerous nationalistic pageants, symphonic poems and vocal works, mostly based on the Finnish national epic, The Kalevala. In appreciation, and in order to enable him to compose undisturbed, the Finnish government gave him a pension for life in 1897.

In February 1899, the Russian Imperial Governor published the notorious “February Manifesto,” designed to curtail Finland’s autonomy and facilitate its Russification. Among other restrictions, it imposed censorship of the press, forcing the demise of many newspapers.

In order to support the dismissed staff, a three-day cultural festival was organized in Helsinki to raise funds for the Press Pension Fund. Sibelius provided the music for the grand finale in the form of a dramatic seven-tableaux spectacle depicting episodes from Finnish history.

It culminated in a stirring patriotic anthem entitled Finland Awake. A year later, with some modification, Sibelius recast it as an independent tone poem, Finlandia. With its powerful opening, symbolizing Russia’s brutal repression of the Finns, and hymn-like middle section, it soon became the symbol of Finnish nationalism. Before 1917, in order to evade the Russian censor, it had to be performed under the euphemistic title “Impromptu.”

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16 Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)

The most successful and best known of nineteenth-century Scandinavian composers, Edvard Grieg, was one of the great exponents of Romantic nationalism. He saw it as his role in life to bring Scandinavian musical and literary culture to the attention of the rest of Europe. As composer, pianist and conductor he became a sought-after

fixture in Europe’s music centers. His wife Nina was an accomplished singer, and the two traveled extensively together, popularizing his songs and piano works.

In the process, he also helped introduce to the rest of Europe the writings of Scandinavian poets and dramatists, particularly Henrik Ibsen, for whose play Peer Gynt he composed incidental music.

Grieg was not happy with the constraints of the classical sonata form; of all his surviving output, only eight works fall into this category: a youthful symphony, a string quartet, a piano sonata, three violin sonatas, a cello sonata and the Piano Concerto. In all his other compositions he insisted on the freedom of form so dear to the Romantic tradition.

His aptitude for orchestration was indifferent at best. It is, therefore, surprising that the Piano Concerto, his only completed large-scale orchestral work outside of the student symphony, would end up as one of the most popular Romantic concertos. Composed in 1868 and revised extensively five times, the last revision coming shortly before the composer's death, the Concerto was modeled after the Piano Concerto of Robert Schumann, with considerable Lisztian influence. Franz Liszt was Grieg’s idol, and he consulted with the older composer on phrasing and piano technique, particularly in the large cadenza. While the Concerto's themes are not ethnic Norwegian – it was written before Grieg became interested in Norway’s folk music – it still has a "Northern" mood and does incorporate Norwegian dance rhythms. Initially, the Concerto was not well received; its apparent introverted style was foreign to a public used to the fire and bravura of concerti à la Liszt. Ironically, it was the enthusiastic endorsement by Liszt himself that turned the tide and converted both audiences and pianists to the work. Later in his life – his hero worship notwithstanding – Grieg had second thoughts about some of Liszt’s suggestions, and in the last revised version removed some of the latter’s more bombastic additions. This final version is the one commonly heard today.

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Edvard Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16 Jacob Bernhardt, Piano I. Allegro molto moderato II. Adagio III. Allegro moderato molto e marcato

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Gene & Lee Casey Lynne & John Eramo Richard & Yolanda Hall in memory of our son, Rikki Hall Carol & Hugh McCollum

INTERMISSION

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op.36 I. Andante sostenuto II. Andantino in modo di canzona III. Scherzo: Pizzicato ostinato IV. Finale: Allegro con fuoco

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This performance will be recorded for broadcast on Blue Ridge Public Radio on March 14 at 7:00 p.m. and March 16 at 9:00 a.m.

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Emulating his models, Grieg opens the Concerto with a strong piano declamation, spanning almost the entire range of the keyboard and followed by a wave of arpeggios before the first theme appears in the orchestra. Only then is the theme taken up by the piano and elaborated. The cellos introduce a lyrical second theme although in the earlier versions Grieg had scored it for the trumpets (probably on Liszt’s advice). The written-out cadenza is expansive and, of course, technically challenging. The second movement Adagio is a tender song-like theme on muted strings. When the piano finally enters, it gently embellishes the theme.

It is in the last movement that Grieg’s folk impulses break out in a Norwegian dance, the halling. But a gentle middle section introduced by the flute with string accompaniment serves as a contrast to the ebullient dance. After a brief cadenza, the soloist launches into a coda recasting the dance theme into the rapid triple time of the popular Norwegian springdans. The Concerto ends with the gentle flute theme now thundered out by orchestra and soloist.

Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op.36 Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Throughout Tchaikovsky’s creative career, his inspiration went through extreme cycles tied to his frequent bouts of deep depression and self-doubt. The composition of this symphony in 1877 was strongly influenced by the events in his life that year.

Things were actually looking up for Tchaikovsky during the early part of 1877.

He had his first contact with Nadezhda von Meck, the wealthy widow of a railroad builder, who adored Tchaikovsky’s music and arranged to pay him a large annual stipend. The only stipulation she attached to her generous help was that they never meet in person, although they corresponded voluminously. In May he started work on the Fourth Symphony, but in July came his disastrous marriage to one of his students, Antonina Milyukova, who had fallen madly in love with him and had written to him confessing her devotion. Although Tchaikovsky, who was homosexual, didn’t even remember the girl, he hoped 20 ∙ Masterworks 4: Aurora

the marriage would still the rumors about his sexual preference. Instead he fled Antonina after two weeks. In total despair, he made a pathetic attempt at suicide (walking into the Moskva River, hoping to die of pneumonia) and ended up in complete mental collapse. To recuperate, his brother Modest took him to Switzerland and Italy, where he picked up work on the symphony, finishing it in January 1878.

Tchaikovsky dedicated the work to Mme. von Meck, expressing his confidence in the new work: “I feel in my heart that this work is the best I have ever written.”

He did not return from abroad for the February 1878 premiere in Moscow, which was only a lukewarm success.

Tchaikovsky himself contributed to the notion that the Symphony was programmatic. He wrote to his patroness: Of course, my symphony is programmatic, but this program is such that it cannot be formulated in words. That would excite ridicule and appear comic. Ought not a symphony—that is, the most lyrical of all forms—to be such a work?

Should it not express everything for which there are no words, but which the soul wishes to express, and which requires to be expressed?

The Symphony opens with a sinister fanfare theme for the brass, which recurs several times as the movement unfolds and which Tchaikovsky associated with the cruel exigencies of fate. The anxietyladen main theme strives towards a resolution that continually seems to elude it. The relief comes with the second theme, one of Tchaikovsky's inimitable melodies for solo clarinet, and a third played in counterpoint with the clarinet theme by the strings and timpani. The development is based exclusively on the main theme and the fanfare.

A plaintive melody on the oboe, accompanied by pizzicato strings opens the second movement. The pace picks up in the middle section where the composer adds a dance-like melody that becomes increasingly intense until he returns to the gentle oboe theme now in the violins with the woodwinds adding feathery ornaments.

The third movement, Pizzicato ostinato (a persistently repeated phrase, here provided by the plucked strings), is a

playful diversion. It is a typical scherzo and trio. Within the Trio is a medley of tunes, the first for a pair of oboes, the second, a slightly mournful Russian folk tune, also for the upper winds, the third a playful staccato brass riff.

The movement ends with a medley of the various themes and instrumental combinations.

In Tchaikovsky's last three symphonies, motivic unity among the movements was to take an increasingly prominent role. The finale of the Fourth is the most “Russian” of Tchaikovsky’s symphonic movements. It is something of a musical battle between the festive and the melancholy, authentic Russian boisterousness set against the angst of the first movement. It is, therefore, hardly surprising that the movement is brought up short towards the end by the reappearance of the fanfare from the opening movement – the specter at the feast. An energetic coda, however, tips the balance into positive territory – or triumph over adversity.

Program notes by: Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn www.wordprosmusic.com

GUEST ARTIST

Jacob Bernhardt, Piano

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Jacob Bernhardt is a doctoral candidate at CIM, where he studies with Anita Pontremoli and Joela Jones. Bernhardt holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Bob Jones University and a master's degree in collaborative piano from CIM. He has won concerto competitions at both schools, and was a two-time prizewinner in CIM’s Milhaud Competition.

Upon graduating with his master’s degree, he received CIM’s Rosa Lobe Memorial Award for the highest level of achievement in the collaborative piano department. Choral accompanying forms a large part of Bernhardt’s work.

Since arriving in Cleveland in 2017, he has worked extensively as a collaborative pianist for the Cleveland Orchestra Choruses. He is also passionate about orchestral playing, and performs with the Canton and Firelands symphonies.

Use our Creative Portal to find artists and arts organizations, arts events, and more.

Explore Asheville’s art scene.

Bernhardt’s itinerary this season includes his debut with the Asheville Symphony, and a performance of Carnival of the Animals with members of the Cleveland Orchestra and CIM faculty for his final DMA lecture-recital.

SAVE

Bernhardt lives in the Cleveland area with his wife, Joanna, and their son Freddie— and a baby boy joining their family in April! He enjoys reading, playing cribbage, and being involved in his church.

RIDE

Ride the free Arts Trolley connecting downtown and the River Arts District with two overlapping routes.

Save on creative purchases.

Use your new SmART Pass at participating arts businesses and support arts programs for local schools.

Coming in 2023!

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Improving Lives

Music enriches our culture and our lives, promoting fulfillment and connection.

Givens Estates, a Life Plan Community, values the arts as an essential component for improving the lives of older adults along with life-enhancing services and a plan for healthcare.

Learn more about Arts & Culture at Givens Estates by scanning the QR code or by visiting givensestates.org

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Dear Friends of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, In 1960, you were created by a devotion to music, and the passion to share it. From performing in school auditoriums to finding your current home in the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, you continue to inspire countless patrons who share that passion and devotion.

We are delighted by the return of the Asheville Amadeus Festival this year. This innovative festival brings talent, culture, and craft together in an inspiring reflection of the creative mosaic that is Asheville. Congratulations on your fourth year of this incredible celebration of art and thank you for all the work you do to facilitate and diversify art here in Asheville.

Explore Asheville is honored to support your mission and talent in capturing the heart of the people of Western North Carolina and its guests. We are dedicated to shining our spotlight on the artists, makers, and musicians who help shape our community's distinct story.

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24 ∙ ALT ASO @ The Orange Peel

ALT ASO @ THE ORANGE PEEL Darko Butorac, Conductor Dee Roscioli, Vocalist Return to Downtown Asheville’s iconic Orange Peel for a seated orchestral event in the round! Direct from Broadway, powerhouse vocalist Dee Roscioli, the longest running Elphaba in Wicked's history on Broadway, joins the ASO for an eclectic evening of song, featuring showtunes from Les Miserables, Cats, and — of course — Wicked, alongside the music of Cher, Whitney Houston, Adele and more!

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MASTERWORKS 5 First Baptist Church of Asheville Saturday, March 18, 2023, 8:00 p.m.

Inspired by the Royal Palace of Aranjuez outside of Madrid, Rodrigo captures “the fragrance of magnolias, the singing of birds, and the gushing of fountains” in his concerto for classical guitar.

Accompanied by Vrebalov’s Gratitude from Sea Ranch Songs and Frank’s Coqueteos from Leyendas, Beethoven closes this program with his “revolutionary” First Symphony — a sparkling declaration of his young talent.

Darko Butorac, Conductor Ana Vidovic, Guitar

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28 ∙ Masterworks 5: Guitarra Española

Aleksandra Vrebalov The Sea Ranch Songs

PROGRAM NOTES

III. Gratitude

From The Sea Ranch Songs, No. 3 "Gratitude" Aleksandra Vrebalov (b. 1970)

Aleksandra Vrebalov is a prolific Serbian composer whose works have been performed extensively both here and in Europe. She received her Doctorate of Musical Arts from Michigan University, and currently resides in New York City.

Her opera Mileva, premiered in Belgrade in 2012, centers on the personality of Mileva Maric, the Serbian physicist and mathematician, who was Albert Einstein's first wife.

Sea Ranch is a planned community, established in 1965 in Sonoma County, California, noted for its simple timberbased structures designed by a group of noted architects. The aim was to preserve the area's natural beauty. It encompasses 10 miles of seashore, and has been a favorite spot for meetings and workshops.

Vrebalov composed The Sea Ranch Songs in 2014 for the Kronos Quartet on commission from the Sea Ranch community in celebration of its 50th birthday. The work connects with the spirit, landscape and architecture of this grand experiment in environmental stewardship, land development and community planning. In liner notes to a recording, Vrebalov writes: “The Sea Ranch idea on a global scale might be utopian, but through music, we praise its beauty and affirm its urgent relevance in our wounded world, so much in need of healing.”

According to David Harrington, founder and Violinist of the Kronos Quartet, the idea for the songs was born one early morning, when he and Vrebalov went for a walk along the wild coast of Sea Ranch, under the spell of this awesome place.

In the original recording with the Kronos Quartet, "Gratitude" is overlaid with the words of local residents commenting on the magic and beauty of the place. In 2019 Vrebalov arranged an orchestral suite Uncharted, from the songs, commissioned by the English National Ballet.

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Concierto de Aranjuez

Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) Like his fellow Spanish composers Enrique Granados and Manuel de Falla, Joaquín Rodrigo traveled to Paris to study composition and piano. Although he lost his eyesight to a severe illness at age three, he became an accomplished pianist and a star composition student of Paul Dukas (composer of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice).

In the early 1930s Rodrigo had to return to Spain when the family’s wine business went bankrupt, but he succeeded in obtaining a scholarship and returning to Paris for further studies. During the Spanish Civil War he traveled extensively in Europe, especially through France and Germany, finally returning home in 1939 to settle in Madrid. The premiere in 1940 of his Concierto de Aranjuez catapulted him to world recognition. In 1947 the Manuel de Falla chair was created for him at Madrid University where he composed and taught for the rest of his long life.

Rodrigo’s style is far removed from the major currents of European musical development in the twentieth century.

Rather, it reflects Spain’s classical and folk music, art and literature, frequently using old Spanish melodies as his themes.

His harmonic language is so conservative that the eighteenth-century composer to the Spanish court, Domenico Scarlatti beats him hands down in the use of dissonance and adventurous harmonies.

Rodrigo composed about 170 works, including eleven concertos, 60 songs and music for the ballet, theater and film.

The Concierto de Aranjuez has remained Rodrigo’s most popular work. While he maintained that there was no program implied, the title refers to a famous royal enclave on the road to Andalusia on the Tagus river near Madrid. According to the composer, the music “…seems to bring to life the essence of eighteenthcentury court life, where aristocratic distinction blends with popular culture. …The Concerto is meant to sound like the hidden breeze that stirs the treetops in the parks; it should only be as strong as a butterfly and as delicate as a veronica [a pass with the cape at a bullfight].”

Joaquín Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez Ana Vidovic, Guitar I. Allegro con spirito II. Adagio III. Allegro gentile

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INTERMISSION

Gabriela Lena Frank Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout VI. Coqueteos

Music Sponsors Adarrell Gadsden & Marcie Ownbey Gail Jolley Larry & Bille Marzullo Ada & John Nicolay

Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op.21 I. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio II. Andante cantabile con moto III.Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace IV. Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace

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This performance will be recorded for broadcast on Blue Ridge Public Radio on April 11 at 7:00 p.m. and April 13 at 9:00 a.m.

(continued on next page) Asheville Symphony ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ 29

The guitar solo that opens the Concerto sets up a series of strummed chords that promise, but delay, the arrival of the principal theme. Only a full minute later, after the orchestra has repeated the pattern, does the theme actually appear, played by the violins with the orchestra and soloist engaging in a musical dialogue.

The Adagio is the heart of the Concerto, capturing for the concert hall the brooding Flamenco strains in a latenight bar. The guitar sinuously, even lovingly, embellishes a melody like an example of fine decorative Moorish calligraphy. The melody has morphed into everything from elevator music to the award-winning jazz recording for trumpet and flugelhorn by Miles Davis.

The final movement comes like a splash of cold water on a sunburn. The movement is a series of free variations based on a lively sixteenth-century folksong.

From Leyendas: An Andrean Walkabout, "Coqueteos"

Gabriela Lena Frank (b. 1972) American composer and pianist Gabriela Lena Frank was born in Berkeley, California, to parents of widely mixed background: Her mother is of Peruvian/ Chinese ancestry and her father of Lithuanian/Jewish descent. A graduate of Rice University in Houston and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Frank has traveled extensively in South America drawing on its folk culture as inspiration for her compositions. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2009, she is currently a freelance composer living in California's Mendocino County, where she founded her own music school.

Frank composed Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout in 2001. The inspiration was "... the idea of mestizaje as envisioned by the Peruvian writer José María Arguedas, where cultures can coexist without the subjugation of one by the other..."

Composed originally for string quartet, Frank later expanded Leyendas for string orchestra. It recalls the sounds and imitates Andean indigenous instruments, interpolating traditional melodies, harmonies and rhythms into a European “Classical” ensemble.

30 ∙ Masterworks 5: Guitarra Española

“Coqueteos” is a flirtatious love song sung by gallant men known as romanceros, who sing in harmony against a backdrop of what Frank envisions as a vendaval de guitarras (“storm of guitars”).

Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op.21 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Born and educated in Bonn, Germany, Beethoven settled in Vienna in 1792, hoping to take the city by storm; but it took him several years to establish his credentials in this musically sophisticated city whose idol was the aging Franz Josef Haydn. Beethoven studied with Haydn, soaking up many of his compositional techniques and innovations. By the time the now notso-young composer premiered the First Symphony on April 2, 1800 at the Burgtheater, his reputation was secure.

He was well known as a pianist and in great demand as a soloist; his chamber and piano compositions had begun to attract serious attention and he had acquired numerous sponsors from among the aristocracy and the well-to-do.

He dedicated the First Symphony to one of them, Baron Gottfried van Swieten, a supporter and friend of Mozart, who had established a large library of music and promoted the music of Bach and Handel to Viennese audiences. The period of the First Symphony is also that of the Op. 18 String Quartets, and both represented important milestones for Beethoven as he sought to assimilate and surpass the achievements of Haydn in these two genres.

The concert was a benefit for Beethoven where he was featured both as performer and composer. The hefty program – by no means unusual for the time – included a Mozart symphony, two movements from Haydn’s Creation, an improvisation on the piano by Beethoven, the Septet, Op. 20, Symphony No. 1, and probably the First Piano Concerto in C major.

Yet, despite Beethoven’s growing reputation, the critics' initial reception of the Symphony was lukewarm at best, "...a caricature of Haydn pushed to absurdity" (immediately apparent in the opening chords that trick the listener as to the true key of the piece).

The third movement, although labeled Minuet, dashes forward almost at a gallop with oddly placed forte outbursts.

It was also the first symphonic instance of Beethoven's innovation, the scherzo, which he already debuted in his earliest chamber music. If there’s a minuet at all in this work, it’s the lilting second movement, unusual also in that it begins as a fugue in the strings, adding the other sections of the orchestra with each statement of the fugue subject.

The humor of the stammering scale, plus another bit of tonal ambiguity in the introduction to the final movement, also went unappreciated. The Finale begins with a slow opening of a repeated partial scale in the violins, reaching one note higher with each repetition, until it suddenly bursts forth into a dance-like theme. It is an opening worthy of Haydn at his most witty.

In a short time, however, the Symphony became a great favorite, "...a glorious production, showing extraordinary wealth of lovely ideas..." A measure of its popularity was the appearance only two years later of an anonymous pirated arrangement for piano quintet that elicited a nasty letter from Beethoven – who always kept wary surveillance of his finances – to the Wiener Zeitung of October 30, 1802, disclaiming authorship and complaining of publishers' actions and the insecurity of a composer's rights. Copyright laws were still in the future, but one of Beethoven’s younger contemporaries, the enterprising composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel, made significant contributions to copyrights for composers.

Program notes by: Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn www.wordprosmusic.com

GUEST ARTIST

Ana Vidovic, Guitar Ana Vidovic is an extraordinary talent with formidable gifts taking her place among the elite musicians of the world. She is known for her beautiful tone, precise technique, welldefined phrasing and thoughtful artistry and musicianship.

Her international performance career includes frequent recitals, concerto engagements and festival appearances in most of Europe’s cultural destinations including Amsterdam, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, London, Oslo, Paris, Rome, Salzburg, Vienna, Warsaw and Zagreb. Her tours have also taken her to Australia, Brazil, Israel, Japan, Korea and Mexico. Equally impressive is the fact that she has recorded 6 CDs. Mel Bay Publications has released Ana Vidovic’s DVD entitled “Guitar Artistry in Concert,” a journey through the music of Torroba, Piazzolla and Pierre Bensusan, Sergio Assad, Stanley Myers, Villa-Lobos and Agustin Barrios Mangoré, and “Guitar Virtuoso,” a performance of works by Bach, Torroba, Paganini and Walton.

During recent seasons Ms. Vidovic’s prolific career has taken her to London where she has performed at King’s Place twice and returns in Fall, 2022. Her recent appearances include world famous venues like Vienna’s Musikverein, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw plus other notable destinations including Paris, Avezzano and Pescara (Italy), Baden-Baden and Ettlingen (Germany), Japan, Sao Paulo (Brazil), Brisbane and Sydney (Australia), Hong Kong, Istanbul, Tel Aviv, in addition to the Canadian cities of Calgary, Edmonton, Kitchener Toronto and Winnipeg, She has performed throughout the U.S. at major performance venues in Austin, Baltimore, Bethesda (The Strathmore), Boston, Champaign, IL (Krannert Center), Cleveland, Dallas, Dayton, Ft. Worth, Houston, the Hawaiian Islands, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Portland (OR), St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Seattle,

Washington, DC and New York City where Ms. Vidovic has performed in recital at the New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes College of Music, Baruch College, 92nd St. Y and Le Poisson Rouge. Her dazzling concerto performances have taken place with many orchestras including Asheville Symphony, Bangor Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Illinois Philharmonic, Knoxville Symphony, Missoula Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, Wheeling Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and more plus the Slovene Orchestra and Zagreb Philharmonic. Festival appearances include Le Domaine Forget (Quebec), International Guitar Festival (London), Big Sky, Montana, Caramoor Festival (Katonah, NY), Colorado Music Festival and Lake Tahoe Summerfest.

Ms. Vidovic has won an impressive number of prizes and international competitions including first prizes in the Albert Augustine International Competition in Bath, England, the Fernando Sor competition in Rome, Italy and the Francisco Tarrega competition in Benicasim, Spain.

Other top prizes include the Eurovision Competition for Young Artists, Mauro Giuliani competition in Italy, Printemps de la Guitare in Belgium and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York. In Croatia, the guitarist has performed Symphony Orchestra of the Croatian Radio and Television, as well as having been featured in three television documentaries by the eminent Croatian film director Petar Krelja.

Ana Vidovic comes from the small town of Karlovac near Zagreb, Croatia, and started playing guitar at the age of 5.

At age 7, she gave her first public performance and at the age of 11 she was performing internationally. She became the youngest student at age 13 to attend the prestigious National Musical Academy in Zagreb where she studied with Professor Istvan Romer.

Ms. Vidovic’s reputation in Europe led to an invitation to study at the Peabody Conservatory from which she graduated.

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MASTERWORKS 6 Thomas Wolfe Auditorium Saturday, April 15, 2023, 8:00 p.m.

Deeply rooted in American orchestral music is a sense of triumph over adversity. DuBois’ exploration of We Shall Overcome embodies that powerful and unifying sentiment. Followed by Herbert’s inspirational Cello Concerto No. 2, witness the dawn of American symphonic music with Dvořák’s New World Symphony, a uniquely American masterwork inspired by Native and Black melodies.

Darko Butorac, Conductor Amit Peled, Cello

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34 ∙ Masterworks 6: New World

Alexandra Du Bois Fanfare on We Shall Overcome

PROGRAM NOTES

Fanfare on We Shall Overcome

Alexandra Du Bois (b. 1981) Over the last half century, fanfare-like compositions – under various titles – have to a large extent replaced overtures as orchestral concert openers. Alexandra Du Bois composed Fanfare, inspired by "We Shall Overcome" and the inauguration of the first African American as President, in 2008 on commission from the Anchorage, Alaska, Symphony.

A native of Virginia and a graduate the Indiana University School of Music and The Juilliard School, composer and violinist Du Bois is currently Department Chair of the Longy School of Music of Bard College.

Cello Concerto No.2 in E minor, Op.30 Victor Herbert (1859-1924)

Victor Herbert is remembered today primarily as the composer of some of the best loved operettas composed in this country. From 1884 to 1924 he wrote more than forty, the best-known being Babes in Toyland and Naughty Marietta.

Herbert was born in Ireland, grew up and studied the cello in Germany and moved to the United States in 1886 when his wife, the opera singer Therese Föster, was invited to join the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He became a cellist with the Opera Orchestra but soon struck out on his own as a soloist and conductor, including six years as conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony.

In the early 1890s Herbert served as cello teacher on the faculty of the new National Conservatory of Music, the same institution that had brought in Antonín Dvorák as its first director.

The two colleagues became friends. He composed his Cello Concerto No. 2 in 1894 and premiered it with the New York Philharmonic Society in the Following year. The critics were lukewarm, most of them not considering the cello as a suitable solo instrument.

But Dvorák reacted with excitement: "famos! famos! – ganz famos!" (Splendid!

Absolutely splendid!). It probably gave Dvorák’s the impetus to fulfill a promise to his friend, the cellist Hanus Wihan, to write him a cello concerto, a work that was premiered just two years later.

While it was fairly common for composers to write multi-movement works that shared some thematic material among the movements, there are few pieces that go to the extent of the Second Cello Concerto, which is made up of essentially two themes. The first, a stormy, angular theme, dominates both the first and third movements. The second movement is based entirely on a gentle andante theme. The work contains numerous small cadenzas for the soloist, always hovering around one of the two themes. It is the role of the soloist to give the work enough emotional variety to keep it from merely sounding repetitive.

Symphony No. 9 in E minor, "From the New World" Op.95

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Victor Herbert Cello Concerto No. 2 in E minor, Op.30 Amit Peled, Cello I. Allegro impetuoso II. Andante tranquillo III. Allegro

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Antonín Dvořák Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op.95 "From the New World" I. Adagio — Allegro molto II. Largo III. Molto vivace IV. Allegro con fuoco

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Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)

A grim picture of the lethal clash of Antonín Dvořák’s sojourn in the United States from 1892 to 1895 came about through the efforts of Mrs. Jeanette B. Thurber.

A dedicated and idealistic proponent of an American national musical style, she underwrote and administered the first American music conservatory, the National Conservatory of Music in New York. Because of Dvořák’s popularity throughout Europe, he was Thurber’s first choice for a director. The fact that he spoke no English was of little consequence since the language of musical discourse was German. He, in turn, was probably lured to the big city so far from home by both a large salary and convictions regarding musical nationalism that paralleled Mrs. Thurber’s own.

Thirty years before his arrival in New York, Dvořák had read Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha in a Czech translation and was eager to learn more about the Native American and AfricanAmerican music, which he believed

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(continued on next page) Asheville Symphony ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ 35

should be the basis of the American style of composition. He also shared with Mrs. Thurber the conviction that the National Conservatory should admit AfricanAmerican students. One of them, Henry Burleigh, who became an important African-American composer in his own right, is credited with exposing his teacher to African-American spirituals.

While his knowledge of authentic Native American music is questionable – his exposure came through samples transcribed for him by American friends and through Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show – he became familiar with AfricanAmerican spirituals through Burleigh, as well as indirectly via the songs of Stephen Foster. He incorporated both of these styles into the Symphony No. 9, composed while he was in New York.

Just as Dvořák never quoted Bohemian folk music directly in his own nationalistic music, he did not use American themes in their entirety. Rather, with

his unsurpassed gift for melody, he incorporated characteristic motives into his own themes. Nevertheless, any listener with half an ear can discern “Massa Dear” (also known as “Goin’ Home”) in the famous English horn solo in the second movement. We can deduce the importance of these musical motives from the fact that they appear as reminiscences in more than one movement, especially in the Finale. The symphony, however, is hardly an American pastiche; the second motive in the Largo movement is a phrase of wrenching musical longing that many listeners interpret as the composer’s nostalgia for his native Bohemia. The New York music critic and Dvořák’s friend, Henry Krehbiel, claimed that the movement was inspired by incidents from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha. Which incidents, however, have never been definitively determined.

Krehbiel posited the scene in which Hiawatha woos Minnehaha, while others have suggested Minnehaha’s funeral.

Incidentally, Dvořák had also intended

to compose an opera on Hiawatha, which never left the drawing board.

The third movement as well, in its rhythmic thumping, the pentatonic scale and the orchestration dominated by winds and percussion, is meant to portray an Indian ceremonial dance described in Longfellow’s poem. Dvorák’s symphonic use of what he believed to be an authentic Native American musical idiom may have reflected his initial ideas for the opera.

One of the most important features of the Symphony is its thematic coherence.

Whatever the origin of the melodies, they all have a modular characteristic in that they can be mixed and matched in many different ways. In the last movement, Dvořák brings nearly all of the Symphony's themes together, sometimes as one long continuous melody, sometimes in contrapuntal relationship to each other.

Program notes by: Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn www.wordprosmusic.com

GUEST ARTIST

Amit Peled, Cello Praised by The Strad magazine and The New York Times, internationally renowned cellist Amit Peled is acclaimed as one of the most exciting and virtuosic instrumentalists on the concert stage today. Having performed in many of the world’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center in New York, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., Salle Gaveau in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, and the Konzerthaus Berlin, Peled has released over a dozen recordings on the Naxos, Centaur, Delos, and CTM Classics labels. Musical America named Peled one of the Top 30 Influencers of 2015.

Recent career highlights include Bach Suite cycles in the United States, Europe, and Israel; performances of the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto at the Kennedy Center; a debut collaboration with the Peabody Chamber Orchestra led by Maestra Marin Alsop; a return to the Ravinia Festival in celebration of Peled’s recording of the Brahms Cello Sonatas on the Goffriller cello (1733) once owned by the legendary cellist Pablo Casals; a return visit as a soloist to the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico; performances of the Shostakovich Cello Concerto and Penderecki’s Second Cello Concerto conducted by the legendary Krzysztof Penderecki himself; Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata recorded on the Casals cello; and a worldwide musical celebration of Beethoven’s Sonatas for Cello and Piano to commemorate the composer’s 250th anniversary.

36 ∙ Masterworks 6: New World

An enthusiastic chamber music artist, Peled is a member of the acclaimed Tempest Trio with violinist Ilya Kaler and pianist Alon Goldstein. Peled also performs with Goldstein and clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein as a member of the GoldsteinPeled-Fiterstein Trio.

One of the most sought-after cello professors in the world, Peled is a professor at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University where he has taught since 2003 and was one of the youngest professors ever hired by a major conservatory.

He has instructed students who have gone on to garner top prizes at international competitions such as the Carlos Prieto International Competition in Mexico, the Schoenefeld International Competition in China, and Young Concert Artists Guild in New York. Passing on the tradition in which he performed with his mentors Bernard Greenhouse and Boris Pergamenschikow, Peled regularly performs with the Amit Peled Cello Gang. Composed of students from Peled’s studio at the Peabody Institute, members of the Cello Gang range in age from undergraduate freshmen to second year master’s students. Peled and the Cello Gang tour regularly around the country with recent performances at the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, the Society of Four Arts in Palm Beach, the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, as a resident ensemble in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and all across Maryland, the gang’s home state.

Raised on a kibbutz in Israel, Amit Peled began playing the cello at age 10. From 2012 through 2018, Peled performed on the Pablo Casals 1733 Goffriller cello, which was loaned to him personally by Casals’ widow, Marta Casals Istomin.

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40 ∙ ALT ASO @ Salvage Station

ALT ASO @ SALVAGE STATION Darko Butorac, Conductor Kishi Bashi, Soloist We head for the banks of the French Broad River to perform on Salvage Station’s massive outdoor stage. Featuring Kishi Bashi — a folk-infused, cinema-inspired artist known the world over for his cross-genre and multi- disciplinary approach to musicmaking — this ALT ASO performance doubles as the festival opener for Asheville Amadeus 2023. The final ALT concert of the year will feature representation from Kishi Bashi’s expansive catalog, including orchestrated versions of “I am the Antichrist to You,” “Can’t Let Go Juno,” and “Manchester,” alongside American symphonic favorites specially curated by Maestro Darko Butorac and Kishi Bashi himself!

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MASTERWORKS 7 Thomas Wolfe Auditorium Saturday, May 20, 2023, 8:00 p.m.

American music is ever-evolving, refusing to be constrained by tradition or expectation. Our soloist and Asheville Amadeus Festival headliner, Béla Fleck, brings that same approach to the banjo by rediscovering and redefining the instrument.

Doubling as our season closer and Asheville Amadeus Festival finale, this program challenges and explores the many shades of Americana.

Darko Butorac, Conductor Béla Fleck, Banjo

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44 ∙ Masterworks 7: Béla Fleck & Americana

J.S. Bach

Arranged by Darko Butorac

Partita for Violin No. 2 in D minor, BWV.1004

PROGRAM NOTES

Chaconne from Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV.1004 J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Unique in structure and sound, Johann Sebastian Bach’s three sonatas and three partitas for violin solo are the ultimate challenge in both technique and musicianship. Bach composed the six works during his tenure as Capellmeister at the princely court of Cöthen (17171723). The surviving manuscript in Bach’s hand is dated 1720. To judge from the many copies that have survived, including some copied by his second wife, Anna Magdalena, the works must have become popular even beyond Germany’s borders.

The pièce de résistance of the six compositions is the Chaconne, the final movement of Partita No. 2. This variation form, in which a short, repeated bass pattern underlies increasingly complex contrapuntal figuration in the upper voices, was but one of the many works in which Bach set rigidity of form against the highest level of musical creativity and expressiveness.

Although the Chaconne is written for a single line, Bach supplied the harmonic context by using broken or rolled chords, double stops, and, most importantly, by sustaining a pitch on one string while simultaneously playing a contrapuntal voice on the others.

Our ears and experience in Western harmony also have a role by “filling in” Bach’s implied harmonies. The effect is to provide a satisfactory solution to the musical conundrum of creating 31 unique variations. Moreover, while the chaconne genre generally assumed that repeated phrase resided in the bass (hence the English term “ground bass”), Bach offers his theme as a melody, which he ingeniously maneuvers above, below and around the attendant figurations; he frequently omits it entirely, relying on the listener to “hear” the missing tune while the violin supplies the figurations or counterpoint. Always the musical architect, Bach designs the Chaconne as an arch. Exactly halfway through, he changes the mode from D minor to D

V. Chaconne

major, thins out the texture and implicitly reduces the dynamics (although he never specified them).

In the autograph, Bach specified “Senza basso accompagnato” (without accompanying bass). But his instructions did not prevent composers in the nineteenth century, including Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn, from adding a keyboard part, matching the difficulties of the original with equivalent pianistic hurdles. Others, like Brahms and Busoni, transcribed it for piano, and others for piano trio and string quartet; and Leopold Stokowski could not resist transcribing it for symphony orchestra.

The Imposter (Concerto for Banjo and Symphony Orchestra) Béla Fleck (b. 1958)

Considered the foremost banjo player of our time, Béla Anton Leos Fleck (named after Bartók, Dvorák and Janácek) was born in New York City. He embraced the banjo after hearing Earl Scruggs play the theme song for The Beverly Hillbillies, and received his first banjo at 15 from his grandfather. He developed a unique playing technique, playing bluegrass, jazz, pop, rock and crossover. He won 15 Grammy Awards and was nominated for 32, in more different musical categories than anyone in Grammy history.

The Banjo Concerto – the first of its kind – composed in 2011 on commission by the Nashville Symphony, was dedicated to Earl Scruggs. It is Fleck’s second solo venture into the classical music field, although he had earlier composed a double concerto jointly with bassist Edgar Meyer and a triple concerto with Meyer and tabla player Zakir Hussain.

With no training in classical theory and composition and only minimal ability to read music – banjo notation is a combination of numerical notation and tablature that replicates the fingerboard – writing a concerto was a challenge.

The computer wizardry of the Sibelius software aided him in converting banjo tablature into standard notation and in experimenting with and adapting his

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Béla Fleck The Imposter Béla Fleck, Banjo I. Infiltration II. Integration III. Truth Revealed

Music Sponsors George & Kathy Dambach Adarrell Gadsden & Marcie Ownbey Sarah Van Gunten

INTERMISSION

Juan Tizol & Duke Ellington Caravan

Music Sponsors John & Suzie Donahoe Barbra & Keith Love Jim & Mary Kirby

Leonard Bernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

Music Sponsors Diana Bilbrey in memory of George Bilbrey Lynne & John Eramo

CONCERT CO-SPONSORS

Olivia & Gary Zahler

GUEST ARTIST SPONSOR

SEASON MEDIA SPONSOR

SEASON RADIO SPONSOR

This performance will be recorded for broadcast on Blue Ridge Public Radio on September 19 at 7:00 p.m. and September 21 at 9:00 a.m.

(continued on next page) Asheville Symphony ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ 45

intuitive composition process on the banjo into orchestral sounds.

The title The Impostor came to Fleck after the fact. He sees himself as an outsider, an impostor on the classical music scene where he sometimes feels he does not belong. But he does belong – almost everywhere – both as a composer and a performer, splitting his time between recording with The Flecktones, as well as symphony orchestras, the Brooklyn Rider String Quartet, Chick Corea and several virtuoso artists in non-Western music.

Considering his three given names, it is clear that young Béla must have grown up listening to and internalizing classical music, even if he didn’t pursue formal training. His familiarity with the symphonic modus operandi is apparent in the Banjo Concerto, in which he almost seamlessly blends classical melodic and harmonic styles plus a significant understanding of orchestration, with echoes of his blues, bluegrass, jazz, and popular musical persona. The titles of the movements tell a self-effacing, although not necessarily accurate, musical narrative. Fleck writes: “Everyone knows the feeling of being the outsider or the ‘other,’ that you really don’t belong. A musician like myself can feel that way pretty regularly...I often feel like an imposter, and if anyone figured out the truth, I’d be ejected immediately.

So maybe the banjo player snuck into the orchestra with a disguise on (movement 1: Infiltration), and was pretty convincing that he belonged there (movement 2: Integration), but at some point, he let the cat out of the bag (movement 3: Truth Revealed).”

Fleck adheres to classical concerto structure only superficially. “Infiltration” introduces several themes, sometimes in the orchestra, sometimes by the soloist, which the banjo then elaborates upon in Fleck’s inimitable almost guitar-like sound. He expands on each theme for a considerable time before embarking on a new idea.

“Integration” owes quite a bit to Bach with its intricate counterpoint and even its harmonic language. It is a slow movement based primarily on an expansive melody, interrupted in the

46 ∙ Masterworks 7: Béla Fleck & Americana

middle by the strings and continued with a Latino cast. Another solo ensemble between the unlikely combination of oboe, bassoon, chimes and timpani forms the middle section.

The “low-class” banjo composer emerges at the beginning of the finale with a bluesy theme, but it is the orchestra, led by the woodwinds – over the objection of the violins – that sets the tone. Of course, this is the movement for the most virtuosic banjo picking, and the banjo leads the orchestra on a merry chase.

And at the conclusion of the movement, a whole series of new themes in a jumble of styles make for a lively discussion among the blues, jazz, a little bluegrass and the early twentieth-century harmonic language of his namesake – who also based his music on the folk traditions he loved.

Caravan

Juan Tizol (1900-1984), elaborated

by Duke Ellington (1899-1974) Puerto-Rican trombonist and composer Juan Tizol started his musical education under his uncle, the director of the municipal band and symphony of San Juan. He started playing the violin, but soon switched to the valve trombone, his signature instrument. He joined a band that traveled as stowaways to Washington, where he first met Duke Ellington. He joined Ellington's band in 1929, and became a band composer, introducing Latin sound into the band.

Tizol came up with the theme of Caravan, a jazz standard, in 1936, and Ellington took it up, elaborated and improvised on it with his band. He adapted his performance and the length to the audience and venue at hand – probably no two performances were exactly alike.

Irving Mills, who published the first recording in December 1936 – by Barney Bigard and His Jazzopaters – paid Tizol a flat fee of $25.

There are more than 350 different versions of the work that have been recorded, most of them about 3 minutes long, made to fit on one side of a 10" 78 rpm disc of the period. It has never left the repertoire, and has been used by Woody Allen, Steven Soderbergh and Damien Chazelle in their movies.

Symphonic Dances from West Side Story Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

West Side Story was Leonard Bernstein’s attempt to demonstrate that it was possible to write a Broadway musical with the characteristics of high art. He succeeded beyond all expectations.

With lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and with Jerome Robbins as director and choreographer, the show opened on Broadway on September 26, 1957 and ran for over 1,000 performances. The movie was just as spectacular a success, as was the recording.

But its birth was not easy. The show was originally conceived eight years earlier as a conflict between Jews and Catholics during the Easter-Passover celebrations and at one point was to be called East Side Story. The protagonists were finally switched to ethnic gangs on the Upper West Side, but no backers could be found.

West Side Story became notorious for having been turned down by nearly every producer because no one thought that such a tragic story was suitable material for Broadway. Finally, Harold Prince and Robert Griffith, two successful Broadway producers, emerged as the show’s financial “angels.”

Casting was another problem. The perfectionist Robbins wanted a cast of 38 who could both dance and sing – a nearly impossible demand in those days, but now the rule rather than the exception.

A choreographer first and foremost, Robbins finally settled on dancers who could sing – as opposed to singers who could dance. When Bernstein, unencumbered by staging constraints, rerecorded West Side Story in 1988, he used opera singers for the main roles: Kiri Te Kanawa, José Carreras, Tatiana Troyanos and Marilyn Horne. It became another bestseller.

While describing the tragic life of ordinary people in a New York Puerto Rican ghetto, West Side Story tackles an archetypal theme: love clashing with prejudice and clan hatred, an inner city Romeo and Juliet.

The Symphonic Dances, which Bernstein extracted from the musical, are not played in the order of the original show.

Consisting of nine segments played

without pause, the suite was first performed by the New York Philharmonic in 1961: 1. Prologue: Portrays the rising violence between the two street gangs, the Sharks and the Jets in harsh, jazzy dissonances and rhythms.

2. Somewhere: Tony and Maria’s idyllic dream sequence in which the gangs are joined in friendship and the lovers united, originally from Act 2 after Tony has stabbed Maria’s brother.

3. Scherzo: The dream continues as the two gangs leave the city for the idyllic countryside.

4. Mambo: The rival gangs compete at a school dance, originally from Act 1 when the two lovers first meet.

5. Cha-Cha. Tony and Maria, from opposing gangs, meet for the first time and dance together.

6. Meeting Scene: The lovers hesitantly exchanging their first words.

7. “Cool” Fugue: The hostility of the Jets gradually builds in anticipation of street warfare.

8. Rumble. The violent, dissonant climax results in the final tragedy in which both rival gang leaders are killed.

9. Finale: Tony dies in Maria’s arms, a victim of gang violence. In an ironic twist, the dream melody of “Somewhere” hauntingly reappears during the funeral procession.

Program notes by: Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn www.wordprosmusic.com

GUEST ARTIST

Béla Fleck, Banjo Just in case you aren’t familiar with Béla Fleck, there are some who say he’s the world’s premier banjo player. Others claim that Béla has virtually reinvented the image and the sound of the banjo through a remarkable performing and recording career that has taken him all over the musical map and on a range of solo projects and collaborations. If you are familiar with Béla, you know that he just loves to play the banjo, and put it into unique settings.

The 15-time Grammy Award winner has been nominated in more categories than any other artist in Grammy history, and remains a powerfully creative force globally in bluegrass, jazz, classical pop, rock and world beat. Most recently, Béla and Abigail Washburn took home the 2016 Grammy for Best Folk Album. In 2009, Béla produced the award-winning documentary and recordings, Throw Down Your Heart, where he journeyed across Africa to research the origins of the banjo. In 2011, Fleck premiered The Impostor with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, an unprecedented banjo concerto, followed by the companion documentary, How to Write a Banjo Concerto. In 2016, Béla unveiled his second concerto Juno with the Canton Symphony Orchestra. His third concerto, an homage to Louisiana, was premiered by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in March 2018.

Any world-class musician born with the names Béla (for Bartók), Anton (for Dvořák) and Leos (for Janáček) would seem destined to play classical music. Fleck made the classical connection with Perpetual Motion, his critically acclaimed 2001 Sony Classical recording that went on to win a pair of Grammys, including Best Classical Crossover Album, in the 44th annual Grammy Awards.

Collaborating with Fleck on Perpetual Motion was his long time friend and colleague Edgar Meyer, a bassist whose virtuosity defies labels and also an acclaimed composer. Béla and Edgar co-wrote and performed a double concerto for banjo, bass and the Nashville Symphony, which debuted in November 2003. They also co-wrote a triple concerto for banjo, bass and tabla, with world renown tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain entitled The Melody of Rhythm.

These days, Fleck bounces between various intriguing touring situations: he performs his concerto worldwide with symphonies, collaborated in a duo with Chick Corea, and in a trio with Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer.

He performs in concert with the Brooklyn Rider string quartet, in banjo duet with Abigail Washburn, banjo and mandolin duet with Chris Thile, and back to bluegrass with his old friends Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Bryan Sutton and others. He collaborates with African artists such as Oumou Sangare and Toumani Diabate, in a jazz setting with The Marcus Roberts Trio, and – with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, who continue to perform together 25 years after the band’s inception.

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HENDERSONVILLE . ARDEN . ASHEVILLE . CANDLER . WEAVERVILLE

9 ACTIVE COMMUNITIES Offering Townhomes & Single Family Homes from the high $300s – the high $400s*

*Home and community information, including pricing, included features, terms, availability and amenities are subject to change and prior sale at any time without notice or obligation. Pictures, photographs, drawings, features, colors, square footage and sizes are approximate for illustration purposes only and will vary from the homes as built.

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ASHEVILLE AMADEUS

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ASHEVILLE AMADEUS IS BACK This extraordinary ten-day celebration of arts and culture is one of the many reasons why the Asheville Symphony is regarded as one of our country’s most creative and innovative orchestras. It is with tremendous enthusiasm that we bring you the fourth Asheville Amadeus Festival starting on May 11 through May 20, 2023, this year celebrating the many shades of Americana, from bluegrass, jazz, and classical to pop, rock and folk. More festival details are on the way... Keep an eye on your inboxes and mailboxes this spring.

This season, we welcome the world’s biggest name in bluegrass and traditional music to the Asheville Symphony stage as Festival Headliner: banjo legend, Béla Fleck.

Performing his The Imposter concerto for banjo and orchestra with the ASO at our grand festival finale on May 20 and collaborating with the Asheville Chamber Music Series to perform his banjo quintet, Night Flight Over Water, Béla’s participation in this

Opening this year’s Amadues Festival is multi-instrumentalist Kishi Bashi, a folk-infused, cinema-inspired artist known the world over for his cross-genre and multi-disciplinary approach to music making.

Take part in the festival!

Opportunities to support the fourth Asheville Amadeus festival include participating as a partner, becoming a member of the 1756 Society, and more.

Interested? Reach out to info@ashevillesymphony.org for more details on the Asheville Amadeus Festival.

year’s festival will make for a truly Appalachian musical experience.

Music education will also be a centerpiece of Béla’s residency in Asheville, as he joins forces with Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra and the ASO in a performance for more than 4,000 5th graders in Buncombe County!

Kishi Bashi recently performed with the Seattle, Virginia, and Oregon Symphonies, and was featured in Ben Folds’ DECLASSIFIED series with the National Symphony Orchestra.

Now, on May 13 as part of the festival’s opening weekend, he will join forces with the Asheville Symphony on its final ALT ASO concert of the year at Salvage Station on the banks of the French Broad River.

ASHEVILLE SYM PHONY CHORUS

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Encore.

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Food & Beverage Partners Many of Asheville’s greatest local businesses are those that serve the best food and drinks!

Your Asheville Symphony is proud to partner with some of Asheville’s best restaurants, breweries, bars, and more. They serve Symphony patrons all year long; now they are doing more by supporting the Symphony as advertisers and sponsors.

Visit our Food & Beverage Partners to support your Symphony, and send these partners our love when you visit their establishments!

MUSIC SPONSORS LIST

Do you work at or own a local restaurant or bar and want to be on this list? Contact the ASO's Development Department by phone (828.254.7046) or email (development@ ashevillesymphony.org).

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$25,000+

Season & Concert Sponsors OFFICIAL AUTOMOTIVE COMPANY OF THE ASHEVILLE SYMPHONY

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in Memory of Katherine Armitage & Jack Jones

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MEDIA PARTNER

Season & Concert Sponsors are critical to the Asheville Symphony’s success each year. Sponsors support a variety of key Symphony offerings including events, ALT ASO performances, special projects, guest artists, multi-day festivals, concert series, donor events, and even an entire season.

Thank you so much to the individuals, foundations, and businesses who support the Asheville Symphony and recognize the importance of arts organizations in our community.

With options ranging from $250 to more than $25,000, sponsorship is a great way to partner with your Asheville Symphony.

Each sponsorship package includes benefits custom tailored to your needs or the needs of your business.

If you would like to see your name or business on this list of philanthropic individuals and businesses, contact development@ ashevillesymphony.org or 828.254.7046.

Asheville Symphony Supporters The Asheville Symphony Board of Directors, staff and musicians want to extend our deepest appreciation to our patrons. We are delighted to present this exciting and innovative 2022-2023 season, with more 2023-2024 plans to come — all thanks to your support.

Your gifts cultivate the next generation of music lovers by supporting our Music in the Schools program, the Young People’s concert and our spectacular Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra!

Your gifts sustain our vibrant music community by allowing us to be one of the largest employers of performing artists in WNC; we are proud we are able to employ and retain the area’s most highly trained and talented musicians!

Your gifts strengthen the local economy by creating jobs and attracting home owners. The Asheville Symphony is a source of great community pride and your support ensures we continue our positive development trajectory!

To learn more about supporting the Asheville Symphony please contact development@ashevilleysmphony.org or call the Asheville Symphony office at 828.254.7046.

January 1, 2022 - December 17, 2022* ASO Supporters

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COMPOSER CIRCLE ($10,000-$24,999)

Asheville Symphony Guild Blue Spiral 1 Thomas C. Bolton Explore Asheville Flow Volkswagen Porsche Audi of Asheville Bill and Nancy Gettys Dr. John Hazlehurst iHeart Media, Inc. Kimpton Hotel Arras Gerald and Nancy Kitch Henry A. LaBrun David and Pamela Lane North Carolina Arts Council Maurice and Bonnie Stone Drs. Joanne and Tom Parker The Payne Fund Noretta L. Taylor

Michael and Catty Andry Anonymous Asheville Citizen Times Asheville Symphony Symphonettes Audrey Love Charitable Foundation Diana Bilbrey Timothy Butts and Susan Harrington Butts Diane and Rich Byers in memory of Katherine Armitage and Jack Jones Gene and Lee Casey The Chaddick Foundation Brouwerïj Cursus Kĕmē Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation Lynne and John Eramo Dr. Bolling Farmer Helle Creative Highland Brewing Company Hi-Wire Brewing Bill and Kitty Hunt Keith Keener Jim and Mary Kirby

Jill and Joe Lawrence Barbra and Keith Love National Endowment for the Arts The Pattis Family Foundation Bob and Martha Pierce in memory of Dr. Elizabeth Pierce Litteral Robert & Mercedes Eichholz Foundation Richard Schaffer and Anastasia Bartlett Donald Gavin and Jayne Schnaars Ed and Cindy Towson James S. Thompson Olivia and Gary Zahler

CONDUCTOR CIRCLE ($7,500 - $9,999) Craig Allen and Julie Cowden Mary and Jack Anderson Clover CBD Dispensary Hatchworks Coworking Amy Loether Carol and Hugh McCollum McGuire Wood & Bissette Walnut Cove Member's Association

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Anonymous Atelier Maison & Co. Awaken Skin & Body George and Kathy Dambach Gan Shan West Debbie Green HomeTrust Bank Kathryn Theodore Travel Dr. and Mrs. Ralph C. Loomis William McKenna and Suzanne Landis Mountaine Mort Jonas in honor of Sally Keeney Northwestern Mutual Jennifer Marlowe and Kevin Pasarilla Phil and Katie Osborn Sarah Van Gunten Gary and Neesa Warlen

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58 ∙ Asheville Symphony Supporters

Dr. John and Wendy Cuellar Jerry and Diane Cunningham John and Suzie Donahoe D.R. Horton Kathryn and Harry Durity Nancy and Ron Edgerton John and Suellyn Felker Betty Fox Judy Galloway in memory of Don Galloway Richard and Yolanda Hall in memory of Rikki Hall Margaret W. Moon Endowment of the CFWNC Ann and Jerry McLellan Russell and Ladene Newton Jim Reeves Morgan Stanley Gary and BA Schenk Bill Schulz and Odile Perrenoud Irene and Michael Stoll Waynesville Cycle Center WNC Bridge NOW David and Dianne Worley Hank Young

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The Asheville Symphony Chorus seeks to enrich and inspire our community through impactful performances of the masterworks of choral music. This year, the Asheville Symphony Chorus and the Asheville Symphony Orchestra combined forces for Masterworks 3: Night at the Opera (see page 36). Additional performances will be announced in the spring. The Asheville Symphony Chorus is also pleased to welcome Kyle Ritter as Conductor.

Please scan the QR code to the right for more information or visit www.ashevillesymphonychorus.com. Follow and like the Asheville Symphony Chorus on Facebook and Instagram for details on upcoming events.

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Diane and John Martin Jessica and David May Bill and Sue Novak Dwight and Shirley Oltman Susie and John Ruhl Wade and Mary Margaret Saunders Joyce Pressley and Mike Schumacher Yvonne Smith in memory of Jack Smith J. Howard and Honey Solomon Carol and Terrance Tinkel Donna and Randy Weast Robert and Jean Williams Paul B. Williamson Pamela H. Winkler in memory of Boo Boo Lovelace Marla Woeckener

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ASO SUPPORTERS

Robin T. Rutledge and Karen Keeler Rogers Carole R. Roskind Rotary Club of Asheville Foundation, Inc. Anne Jarema and Cliff Albertson Jon and Ann Kemske William Bond and Johnny Ko Debbie Lee The Leever Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Paul Lerwick John and Janet Long Sue and George Luther Larry and Billie Marzullo Suzy Mayer Osada Construction LLC Ralph Protsik and Susan Wolin Kitti Reynolds Sabrina and Isaac Rockoff Martha G. Rowlett David and Bettie Sousa Margaret K. Storey Ray and Patricia Strong Jeff and Beth Sturkey in honor of Bill and Nancy Gettys Thomas G. Tachovsky and Lynn G. Baird Shirley Tenney and Paul Merriken Jim and Peggy Tobin Dr. and Mrs. Larry R. Versteegh Betty Walker Raymond Watkins

MEMBER ($100-$249) Anonymous Mary Bachrach in memory of Lindley C. Garner Viiva Banzon & Robert Evans Dina Bassett Tom and Kay Beardsley Richard Bogner Elinor Bowman Adlai and Karen Boyd Rita Nilsen and Carl Brickman Allan and Jean Brown David G. and Lin Brown Clinton Bugg and Jeff Nucey Jim Cahill Jane Caris John Carpenter Marshall Carter Bill and Meg Clontz Bishop Charles and Karen Crutchfield James Cullen Cecil and Sue Durham Kristen Dusenbery Martin and Ivy Dyckman Kim Eiring Edward and Amy Euler David and Ellen Feingold

ASHEVILLE SYMPHONY SOCIETY AFFILIATE

ASO SUPPORTERS

Barbara and Marty Stickle James Storey and Janice Collins Marleen and Allen Varner Judy Watson Marlene and John Yokim

Stephen and Jackie Finstad Judy Fore Ellenor Frelick Patricia Friend Mary Gallagher Mary Goodkind Scott and Sally Gregg Amy and Ryan Haldeman Amanda Hall and Robert Zeid Dot and Wade Hampton Peter Wortham Hawes Virginia W. Hayes Peggy Hindert in memory of Threasol Traw Kathleen Holmes Nancy Houha Joshua and Kari Hubbard Barbara and Bill Hume Miranda F. Hunter in honor of Jenna Hunter Thorunn Ivey John and Karla Jalocha Patrick Hill and Nanette Johnson Walter and Anne Justice Daisy Karasek Bob and Donna Kaye Ann Batchelder and Henri Keiffer Margaret Kelso Jess and Phyllis Key Karen Lachow Eric and Mala Lapp Jana and Chris Lechner Walter Leginski Dr. Ken and Mrs. Marjorie Loken James Losse and Ellen Haack Suzanne and Jay Mahler

Symphonettes

60 ∙ Asheville Symphony Supporters

Dr. John and Xandra Manley Carol Marin Kevin and Jill Workman Martin Judith Mayer Dr. and Mrs. Ben McCarty Rev. Nancy McCarthy John and Jansen McCreary Mes Ami Salon Gayle Miller Elwood and Margaret Miles Martha and Thomas Mills Reid, Alyson, Ellis, and Tess McCollum in honor of Carol McCollum Lucille Mueller Ada and John Nicolay Francis Nullet William O’Connell Jane Okuma, Chris and Mika Gordon in memory of Lindley Garner John K. Orr Lori Oxford and Alberto Centeno-Pulido John Paar Donald and Brenta Poole Dr. and Mrs. H. Leonard Porter Kathleen Quinlan and Marc Parham Gail Reagan Holly Renfro Stacy Reyher Richard and Deobrah Reynolds Don Roberts Julene Reese Roberts Sherree Roller and David Janson Evan and Susan Rosenberg

The Asheville Symphonettes is a high school girls’ service group that has been serving the Asheville area since 2011. Exposing high schoolers to live symphony concerts creates a lifelong love and appreciation of classical music, and Symphonettes experience this while forging lifelong friendships and bettering their community. This season, Symphonettes participated in a Lock In fundraiser in the fall and will pair up with the Symphony Guild in the spring at the well known “Pass The Hat” event with proceeds from both events going to benefit the Symphony. The Symphonettes also serve as ushers for Asheville Symphony concerts and serve the community in a multitude of ways.

For Symphonette membership or funding inquiries, please contact Gretchen Brown at gbgb123@gmail.com.

FRIEND ($1-$99) Erin Abernethy Dr. Leanne Apfelbeck and Ms. Bonnie Snyder Ardenwoods Retirement Community in memory of Threasol Traw Joe and Lynn Armour in honor of Albert Allen Gumpert Clinton and Victoria Barden Amy Berry Mr. and Mrs. James Berry David and Tracy Booth

Julian and Martha Biller Elizabeth and Kemper Brown Lana Burns Nan Buschmann Sylvia Cassel Jackie Carden and Jane Dupont James Crumlish Alexa and Rich Dann Kathryn Daughton Erin and Tom Doyle Bruce Frank and Ayla Ficken Mr. and Mrs. J Price and Gay Fox Erwin Fuller Molly-Kate Garner Russell Gerleve in memory of Lindley C. Garner Eric and Robin Gibbs Carol Goodson Gloria and Gale Haldeman Kate Townsend and Michael Hawkins Gene Hill Austen High Michael and Laura Hoskins Robert DuBrul and Judith Hoy Drs. William and Sara Hoyt Beverly Hudson in memory of Threasol Traw Gary and Virginia Hunt Henley Hurt Ralph and Sheryl Husby JJMM LLC Michael and Ashley Kanipe Sharon Kanipe Katherine and Jon Karraker Harold and Cathy Kee Philip and Kathleen Leftwich

Matching Gifts Many companies offer a matching gift program for employee (and retiree!) charitable donations – this can double or triple your gift! Thank you to the following companies who have recently matched donor gifts: AIG Boeing Eaton Corporation IBM Corporation McMaster - Carr Supply Company Prudential Financial, Inc. State Farm Companies Foundation Steelcase Foundation Shell Oil Company Foundation Lynn Lederer and Leslie Long Ned and Jane Lesesne Patricia Lipsey Barbara Loeb Barbara Mayer Stephanie Milani Alan and Lois Mills in memory of George Bilbrey Kathleen Mullaney Larry and Linda Nelson Linda L. Newton Brenda and Robert O'Brien Sarah R. Rah in memory of Ann Rennard Thomas and Jeanne Rennard Frederick W. Selph Stephen and Adina Schoenberger Anita Shields William and Ann Smith Winfred and Barbara Speight Cathy Stryker Janice Teal Susan Novak Wagner Barbara Witt Andrew Woelflein Rich Wyde and Angela Branch in memory of Lindley C. Garner * This list includes new donations and previously unrecorded donations from January 1, 2022 to December 17, 2022.

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this list, however, if you note an omission or an error please contact our Development Department at development@ashevillesymphony.org or 828.254.7046. Thank you!

Asheville Symphony ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ 61

ASO SUPPORTERS

Dorothy Sagel Sharon Sandel Reed Fendler and Erin Sawyer Barbara Schrader in honor of Phil and Katie Osborn Nancy Schuman Frie and Liz Shulz Katherine and Robert Silvers Gail and Nelson Sobel Thomas Southwick Barbara and Barry Stagg Jan and Wayne Stanko John and Mary Tadey Eric Taylor Janet Thatcher Trillium Real Estate, LLC William Waff Susan and Don Watson Norman and Janet Weeks George Wilds and Steve Connell Larry and Janie Wilson

ASO SUPPORTERS

Tribute Gifts In memory of Jocelyn Baumgarten

Paula J. Grillot Gayle Miller

In memory of our son, Rikki Hall

Richard and Yolanda Hall

In memory of Katherine Armitage and Jack Jones

In memory of Louie Baker

Diane and Rich Byers

In memory of George Bilbrey

Mountaine Mort Jonas

Peggy Baker and Margaret Small Diana Bilbrey Alan and Lois Mills

In honor of Henry Candler

Shannon Candler

In memory of Lindley C. Garner

Mary Bachrach Rich Wyde and Angela Branch Russell and Margaret Gerleve Jane Okuma, Chris and Mika Gordon

In honor of Bill and Nancy Gettys

In honor of Sally Keeney In honor of Ralph and Mary Keil

Buster and Karen Brown

On behalf of Gerry and Nancy Kitch Barbara and Bill Hume

In memory of Dr. Elizabeth Pierce Litteral

Bob and Martha Pierce

In celebration of Chris McNabb

Salette Gressett JB Media Group

In honor of Phil and Katie Osborn

Monte and Palmer Gaillard Barbara Schrader

In honor of Ann Rennard

Sarah R. Rah

In honor of Cynthia Roop

Ruth Sieber Johnson

In honor of Threasol Traw

Ardenwoods Retirement Community Peggy Hindert Beverly Hudson

In memory of Karl and Shirley Quisenberry

Jeff and Beth Sturkey

Al and Betsy Gumpert

In memory of Annette Luethold

Richard and Yolanda Hall

In honor of Albert Allen Gumpert

Joe and Lynn Armour

In honor of Billie Marzullo

Clair Griffith and Geoffrey Mitchell

Yvonne Smith

In honor of Ginny and Gary Hunt

In honor of Carol McCollum

Inez Hullinger Redman

Amy and Ryan Haldeman

In honor of Jenna Hunter

Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Bayer Reid, Alyson, Ellis and Tess McCollum

In memory of Jack Smith In memory of Jack Redman

ASHEVILLE SYMPHONY SOCIETY AFFILIATE

Miranda F. Hunter

62 ∙ Asheville Symphony Supporters

The Asheville Symphony Guild proudly supports the Asheville Symphony and the part it plays in our community through volunteer support and fundraising. In the more than 50 years since it was founded, the Guild has raised over $1 million to support the Asheville Symphony Orchestra.

If you love music and want to form a deeper connection to other music-lovers and to the Asheville Symphony, we invite you to join the Guild today! For more information or to join the Guild, visit ashevillesymphonyguild.org or scan the QR code to the right.

Asheville’s passion for music helps shape the quality of our community and inspires our musicians and the guest artists who work with us. This passion culminates in the incredible live experience we offer people of all ages and backgrounds through our programs, inside and outside of the concert hall.

We are only able to achieve our mission because of the generous support of people like you who are passionate about music, education and their community. Ticket revenue covers less than half of the symphony’s operating cost.

Help us set the stage for the present and future of classical music by making a contribution to the Annual Fund.

Visit AshevilleSymphony.org, contact us by phone at 828.254.7046, or email development@ashevillesymphony.org to make a donation to this season’s Annual Fund today.

ASO SUPPORTERS

Support your Symphony’s Annual Fund Supporting your Symphony can bring you closer to the music and provide unique and exclusive benefits! Check out some highlights below, but visit www.AshevilleSymphony.org for the full list of donor benefits for Annual Fund supporters.

>> Free parking... even in Downtown Asheville! ($1,000+ to the Annual Fund) >> Inclusion on event signage and promotional materials (sponsorship options start at $250) >> VIP experiences including exclusive invitations to donor events with guest artists, musicians, and fellow music lovers (starting at $500+) >> Unprecedented access to the Asheville Amadeus Festival plus the option to purchase festival tickets in advance (1756 Society membership starts at $1,756) Curious about our full benefit offerings? Interested in customized benefits for you or your business? Contact the Development Department at 828.254.7046 or development@ashevillesymphony.org for more details.

GUILD-SUPPORTED MUSIC EDUCATION PROGRAMS

GUILD GATHERINGS: SHARE THE LOVE!

From garden parties to barbecues to elegant evenings — join the Guild and experience these fun Musical Feasts while supporting our Symphony!

The Guild introduces more than 7,000 elementary school children to classical music each year through the Music in the Schools program. The Guild also helps support our wonderful Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra.

From our Fall Potluck to the annual May Gathering, Guild members enjoy getting together to share their love of music and our wonderful Symphony.

ASHEVILLE SYMPHONY SOCIETY AFFILIATE

MUSICAL FEASTS: YOUR SOCIAL AGENDA AWAITS!

Asheville Symphony ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ 63

ASO SUPPORTERS

Friends of the ASYO Anonymous Sheryl Aikman Mike and Lorna Anderberg Mary and Jack Anderson Michael and Catty Andry Charles and Stephanie Baer Diana Bilbrey Thomas C. Bolton Charles and Beverly Briedis Claude and Sallie Broach Bill and Clarita Burton Tim and Susan Harrington Butts Gene and Lee Casey Sylvia Cassel James and Patricia Cooley Daniel and Caroline Crupi Dr. John and Wendy Cuellar Jerry and Diane Cunningham Kamini and Jagdishbhai Desai Erin and Tom Doyle Amanda Durst Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation Kim Eiring Nancy and Ron Edgerton Lynne and John Eramo Dr. Bolling Farmer Polly S. Feitzinger Stephen and Jackie Finstad Betty Fox

Ellenor Frelick Adarrell Gadsden and Marcie Ownbey Robin and Gordon Gaiser Bill and Nancy Gettys Salette Gressett Al and Betsy Gumpert Kate Townsend and Michael Hawkins Sue Holliday Dr. Earl Stephen Hunt and Mrs. Edeltraut Gilgan-Hunt Bill and Kitty Hunt Ruth Sieber Johnson Keith Keener Margaret Kelso Jon and Ann Kemske Jim and Mary Kirby David and Pamela Lane Jill and Joe Lawrence Debbie Lee Doris and Ralph Loomis Barbra and Keith Love Sue and George Luther Henry and Elizabeth Mainwaring Jessica & David May Carol & Hugh McCollum Anne McKenzie Dagi Murphy Russell and Ladene Newton

Nicole Norian and Robert Dennis Jeffrey and Lisa Owen Drs. Joanne and Tom Parker Morgan and Barbara Pearson Kathleen Quinlan and Marc Parham Sarah and R. Rah Donna Robertson Cynthia Roop and Dr. Brian Tinkel Mary Ropson and Mary Streckenbach Irene and Michael Stoll James S. Thompson Carol and Terrance Tinkel Kate Townsend and Michael Hawkins Ed and Cindy Towson Sarah Van Gunten Ted and Karen Wallace Meigs Larry and Janie Wilson Olivia and Gary Zahler

Scholarships for ASYO Students Kris-Kel for Kids Fund

Bu Scherf Memorial Scholarship

Given by Jerry and Diane Cunningham

Michael Di Trolio Lee and Sharon Metcalfe Dr. Vance M. Reese Charlene Scharf

Philharmonia Scholarship Given by Keith Keener

Drs. Joanne and Tom Parker Scholarship Fund Given by Drs. Joanne & Tom Parker

NOW Fund Scholarship Through the WNC Bridge Foundation

64 ∙ Asheville Symphony Supporters

Terrence and Carol Tinkel Scholarship Fund Given by Terrence and Carol Tinkel

At the ASYO, we believe that all students deserve access to incredible musical experiences regardless of their economic circumstances.

These scholarships have been created to assist ASYO participants with tuition, ensuring that all students have equal access to the best musical training and resources that Asheville has to offer. Thank you to our generous donors!

The Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra program serves more than 150 student musicians throughout the greater Asheville area. The program consists of two string orchestras, one symphony orchestra, and one percussion ensemble.

Students also have the opportunity to participate in string, woodwind, and brass small chamber ensembles. Throughout the year, students participate in masterclasses, retreats, workshops, and social events.

Each group of young musicians receives the highest quality of orchestra training from the region’s most respected professional conductors and musicians. ASYO members gain a strong sense of discipline, increased confidence, build lifelong friendships, and a deep appreciation for the arts.

WINTER CONCERT

December 5, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. • Asheville High School

SPRING CONCERT

May 1, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. • Asheville High School

ASHEVILLE AMADEUS FESTIVAL

May 19, 2023 • Thomas Wolfe Auditorium The advanced Youth Orchestra will have the opportunity to perform during the Asheville Amadeus Festival with a side-by-side concert featuring professional Asheville Symphony musicians and festival headliner Béla Fleck.

For more information about the ASYO, including how to join and how to support, please visit www.ashevillesymphony.org/asyo

A special thank you to Drs. Joanne and Tom Parker for their generous support for the ASYO this season.

Their financial support will positively enhance music education for hundreds of students across Western North Carolina by providing scholarships, access to instruments, and opportunities for students to engage in chamber music and our annual retreat.

Asheville Symphony ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ 65

Music Sponsors Cliff Albertson Michael and Catty Andry Diana Bilbrey in memory of George Bilbrey Darko Butorac Timothy Butts & Susan Harrington Butts Dr. Nancy J. Cable Gene and Lee Casey Charles and Patricia Sloan Clogston Carole and Joel Cotter Daniel and Caroline Crupi George and Kathy Dambach Mary Ellen Dendy and Aaron Dahlstrom John and Suzie Donahoe Amanda Durst and Jason McCoy Lynne and John Eramo Dr. Alan and Suzanne Escovitz Adarrell Gadsden and Marcie Ownbey Robin and Gordon Gaiser Donald Gavin and Jayne Schnaars Debbie Green Richard and Yolanda Hall in memory of our son, Rikki Hall Sam and Robin Harben Stephanie and Bill Harlan Bill and Kitty Hunt Anne Jarema Gail Jolley Jim and Mary Kirby John and Janet Long Barbra and Keith Love Sue and George Luther Jessica and David May Larry and Billie Marzullo Ann and Jerry McLellan Carol and Hugh McCollum Ada and John Nicolay Ralph Protsik and Susan Wolin Kitti Reynolds Samsel Architects Richard Schaffer and Anastasia Bartlett J. Howard and Honey Solomon Barbara and Marty Stickle Irene and Michael Stoll James S. Thompson Sarah Van Gunten Marla Woeckener Hank Young

We believe music matters. We believe it changes lives.

Here’s how we make music with your dollars:

$20,000 Covers the cost of presenting one Young People’s Concert for school children

$7,500 Pays the fees and travel for one guest soloist

$5,000 Allows for one workshop for the Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra

$2,500 Covers the cost of renting and moving a concert grand Steinway into our venue for Piano Recitals

$1,300 Covers the purchase of music for a single Beethoven symphony

$1,000 Provides tuition scholarships for ten Youth Orchestra students

$750 Allows us to offer one Masterclass for emerging young musicians with an esteemed guest soloist

$375 Pays for one Music in the Schools program (one quintet, one school, one hour)

$170 Covers the cost of orchestra folders for ten Youth Orchestra students

Support Your Symphony Donations to the Symphony’s Annual Fund support all of these programs and more.

To learn more please call 828.254.7046 or email development@ashevillesymphony.org.

∙ Spring 2023 Program Book 66 ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org Asheville Symphony Supporters

Asheville Symphony ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ 67

68 ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ Spring 2023 Program Book

Asheville Symphony ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ 69

Donate Your Car Change a Life!

Support local working families with safe, reliable transportation.

Free towing available!

Donating is easy and tax-deductible

(828) 633-6888 workingwheelswnc.org

漀渀攀ⴀ漀昀ⴀ愀ⴀ欀椀渀搀 漀爀椀最椀渀愀氀 搀攀猀椀最渀猀 昀氀愀眀氀攀猀猀 渀愀琀甀爀愀氀 最攀洀猀琀漀渀攀猀 攀琀栀椀挀愀氀氀礀 猀漀甀爀挀攀搀

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70 ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ Spring 2023 Program Book

Legacy Society Members Dorel Abbott* Don and Nancy Ackermann Cole Jack Jones and Katherine Armitage* Mr.* and Mrs. Stephen Barden III Dr. and Mrs. Luther Barnhardt Mary and Leland Bartholomew* George* and Diana Bilbrey Marion Bleyler* Mr. and Mrs.* Thomas C. Bolton Joyce Bost Hogan* Mrs. Charles Butler* Ken and Alma Chatfield* Barbra and Beirne Chisolm* Mr. and Mrs. Gary Coleman Nancy Crosby Dr. and Mrs. John Cuellar Robert DiDiego Lori Doerr Mr. and Mrs. David Dolan Drs. Joyce and Lawrence* Dorr Mrs. C.H. Elmslie Robert and Jeanne Etter Dr. Linda Sokalski Farrell Dr. Bolling Farmer Francis Fee Doris Kistler and Fred Wightman William and Nancy Gettys Lindley Garner* and Mary Goodkind Mr. and Mrs. George Goosman Paula J. Grillot Mr. and Mrs. Steven Hageman Dr. and Mrs. Matthew Hahner

Eleanor Hall* Dick and Yolanda Hall Virginia and Emmet* Hayes Anna and Anthony* Hayward Bill and Kitty Hunt Bill Jacobs and Susan Posey Pat and Doug Johnston Mountaine Jonas James Laird* Christine Longoria Dr. and Mrs. Carlo Mainardi Mabel Marlsbury* Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Mattson* Carol and Hugh McCollum Ann and Gerald McLellan Ingeborg and Kenneth* Meeke Fred Meyer Russell and Ladene Newton Arch and Zeffie Nichols* Mr. and Mrs. David Pheil Mary L. Powell Education Fund in memory of Beatrice Wells Monte Richardson* Ernest Rosenau* Dr. and Mrs. Joel Rosenberg William* and Carole Roskind August Schmidt * John Schuler* Robert Sorton Bonnie Stone Norretta L. Taylor* Edna Thompson* Mr. and Mrs. Ed Towson Albert and Lucia Ward* Eleanor Weil Schulmon*

Tomorrow is listening. Will Isabella’s Asheville Symphony be the same vital part of the community as it is now?

Plan a gift today, so when tomorrow listens... she’ll hear you.

*Deceased

The Asheville Symphony Legacy Society recognizes people who have planned a gift to the Symphony in their will or estate plans. Speak to your financial advisor and contact the Development Department to learn more about the Legacy Society: (828) 254-7046 or development@ashevillesymphony.org.

Asheville Symphony ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ 71

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72 ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ Spring 2023 Program Book

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Asheville Symphony ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ 73

Advertiser Index ALFIE

BC

Gillespie Dental Associates

52

Advantage Direct

27

Givens Estate

22

ArtsAVL

21

Gould Killian CPA Group, P.A.

10

Asheville Dental

3

Groce Funeral Home

72

Asheville Eye Associates

49

Hatchworks Coworking

70

Asheville Symphony Chorus

58

Helle Creative

31

Asheville Symphony Guild

62

Hi-Wire Brewing

54

Asheville Symphony Symphonettes

60

Highland Brewing

69

Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra

64

HomeTrust

2

Atelier Maison & Co.

33

iHeart Media

4

Awaken Skin & Body

26

Kathryn Theodore Travel Advisors

22

Biltmore Estate

12

Kimpton Hotel Arras

42

The Blackbird

38

McGuire Wood & Bissette Law Firm

17

Blackbird Frame & Art

38

MemoryCare

67

blue

70

Mercy Urgent Care

72

Blue Ridge Public Radio

16

Mission Health

75

Blue Spiral 1

8

Modesto

53

Celine & Co.

10

Morgan Stanley

32

Citizen Times

6

Northwestern Mutual

27

Clover CBD Dispensary

49

QC Kinetics

68

Crawley, Lee & Company, P.A.

32

Red Maple Dental

73

Cursus Keme

37

Roberts & Stevens

48

D.R. Horton

48

The Spice & Tea Exchange

72

Deerfield

74

Tryon Estates

72

Explore Asheville

23

Waynesville Cycle Center

49

Flow Automotive

15, 39

Working Wheels

70

Frugal Framer

32

Wortham Center for the Arts

38

Gan Shan

26

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74 ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ Spring 2023 Program Book

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DEDICATED TO OUR PATIENTS. COMMITTED TO OUR EMPLOYEES. Visit missionhealth.org/mymission

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Asheville Symphony ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ 75

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76 ∙ www.AshevilleSymphony.org ∙ Spring 2023 Program Book

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