Symphonic Dances, Concert Program, 2023- 2024 Season

Symphonic Dances

SUNDAY JUNE 9, 2024 3:00 p.m.

Mount Baker Theatre

Kinan Azmeh

clarinet

Officers

Corey Welch

President

Charli Daniels

Vice President

Mark Tomko

Secretary

Gena Mikkelsen

Treasurer

Carol Comeau

Past President

At-Large Members

Deborah Arthur

Kathleen Bell

Charles Halka

Sandra Payton

Jim Quist

James Ray

Garland Richmond

Barbara Ryan

Ted Schuman

Staff

Yaniv Attar Music Director

Gail Ridenour Executive Director

Stacee Sledge Marketing & Communications Manager

Samantha Sinai BYCP Director

Nia Pristas Administrative & Program Coordinator

Patty Bean Bookkeeper

Kinan Azmeh clarinet, composer

Hailed as “intensely soulful” and a “virtuoso” by the New York Times, clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh has gained international recognition for his distinctive voice across diverse musical genres. The New Yorker hailed a performance as “Spellbinding!”

Originally from Damascus, Syria, Kinan Azmeh brings his music to all corners of the world, with notable appearances at the Opera Bastille in Paris, Tchaikovsky Grand Hall in Moscow, Carnegie Hall and the U.N. General Assembly in New York, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and many, many more, including the opening concert of the Damascus Opera House in his native Syria.

He has appeared as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Dusseldorf Symphony, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the Qatar Philharmonic, and the Syrian Symphony Orchestra among others, and has shared the stage with such musical luminaries as Yo-Yo Ma, Daniel Barenboim, Marcel Khalife, John McLaughlin, Francois Rabbath Aynur, and Jivan Gasparian.

Kinan’s compositions include several works for solo, chamber, and orchestral music, as well as music for film, live illustration, and electronics.

In addition to his Arab-jazz quartet the Kinan Azmeh CityBand and Hewar trio, Kinan has been playing since 2102 with the Silkroad Ensemble whose 2017 Grammy Awardwinning album “Sing Me Home” features Kinan as a clarinetist and composer.

Kinan Azmeh is a graduate of New York’s Juilliard School and of both the Damascus High institute of Music and Damascus University’s School of Electrical Engineering. Kinan earned his doctorate degree in music from the City University of New York in 2013.

He was recently appointed to the National Council for the Arts on a nomination by President Joe Biden.

SUNDAY

JUNE 9, 2024

3:00 p.m.

Symphonic Dances

Kinan Azmeh clarinet

Music Director Yaniv Attar

Jack & Marybeth Campbell Music Director

21’ Suite for Improvisor and Orchestra

I. Love on 139th Street in D

II. November 22nd

III. The Wedding

35’ Symphonic Dances, Op. 45

I. Non allegro

II. Andante con moto (Tempo di valse)

III. Lento assai - Allegro vivace

Azmeh (1976-)

Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943)

Kinan

Sergei

Winner of the Opus Klassik award in 2019, KINAN AZMEH brings his music to all corners of the world as a clarinet soloist, composer, and improviser. Born in Syria in 1976, Azmeh started to play the clarinet at age six. In 1997, he was the first Arab musician to win the first prize in the Nicolai Rubinstein International Youth competition in Russia. He graduated from the Damascus High Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, where he received his master’s degree and graduate diploma, and earned his doctorate degree from the City University of New York. Since then, he has been a frequent performer with orchestras and ensembles all over the world, and has collaborated with musicians like Yo-Yo Ma, Daniel Barenboim, and John McLaughlin. In addition to his jazz quartet CityBand and the world fusion band Hewar, he has performed since 2012 with the Silk Road Ensemble, whose 2017 Grammy Award-winning album Sing Me Home features Azmeh as a clarinetist and composer.

Kinan Azmeh’s Suite for Improvisor and Orchestra was composed in 2007. He wrote the following about this work:

“I have always loved to compose, always loved to play as a soloist with orchestra and I have always loved to improvise, so I decided to write a piece that would allow me to do it all at once! The three movements were originally written in 2005 for my project Hewar, an ensemble made of clarinet, oud and voice, and what began simply as three lead-sheets ended up becoming a full orchestral work and my most performed work.

“The suite tries to blur the lines between the composed and the improvised, which comes from my belief that some of the best-written music sounds spontaneous and improvised, and some of the best improvisations are the ones that sound structured as if composed. This work is meant to both turn an orchestra into a band and to give a great room for the soloist to improvise and to ‘compose on the spot’ and to play freely within the larger structure of the work.

“Love on 139th Street in D is inspired by New York City’s neighborhood of Harlem, where I lived for a few years; a simple homage to its cultural mix and a dedication to my downstairs neighbor who blasted reggaeton all day long!

“November 22nd is a meditative work that tries to depict that ambiguous emotion one encounters by feeling at home somewhere far from one’s original home. I wrote this piece in the U.S. inspired by the sonic memory of a marketplace that used to exist behind my parents’ apartment back in Damascus; it seemed to have a slow and steady pulse to it similar to the rhythm of life, which keeps moving forward regardless of our emotions about it.

“Wedding is made of two contrasting sections, a relatively calm one followed by a fast and energetic dance. It tries to capture the general mood found in a Syrian village wedding party usually held in the public square for everyone to attend. These parties are always exciting and never predictable.”

Remembered as one of the great pianists of the twentieth century, SERGEI RACHMANINOFF is also one of the most performed of Russian composers. Building on early musical studies with his mother, Rachmaninoff attended both the St. Petersburg and Moscow Conservatories. In Moscow he met Pyotr Tchaikovsky, who became a mentor to the young musician. Rachmaninoff’s pianism soon attracted attention, leading to a furious round of concert appearances, including tours of the United States and Europe. He left Russia for good after the Russian Revolution of 1917, eventually making the United States his home. The power, clarity and lyricism of his piano playing (abetted by his huge hands) became legendary, and concert performances eventually became his main focus – to the exclusion of composing, as he completed just six works in the last quarter century of his life.

Buoyed by the success of his 1934 Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for piano and orchestra, Rachmaninoff went on to write his Symphony No. 3 in 1935-36. After settling permanently in the United States in 1940, he returned to music he had started in 1915 for a proposed ballet, a collaboration with the famed choreographer Michel Fokine, about the ancient Scythian race. That ballet never materialized, but some of its music may have made its way into the Symphonic Dances, his last large-scale composition.

He composed the Symphonic Dances – originally called Fantastic Dances, with its three movements titled “Noon,” “Twilight,” and “Midnight” – largely at the “Orchard Point”

estate in Centerport, New York. Rachmaninoff had just concluded a demanding concert tour of more than 40 performances, but during his recovery, became so inspired by his composing of the Symphonic Dances that he completed the initial piano score in a matter of weeks. The orchestration took two further months. The work was dedicated to his frequent collaborators, Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, who premiered it on January 3, 1941.

Rachmaninoff’s composing style had evolved over the years, and the Symphonic Dances feature many aspects of his later sound, including lively rhythms, unusual harmonies, and relatively lean textures, including frequent use of solo instruments – among them the alto saxophone, apparently suggested by the American composer Robert Russell Bennett.

The snappy, rhythmic, march-like idea heard at the beginning of the first movement, which dominates much of the movement, calls to mind the Tsaritsa of Shemakha’s theme in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Le Coq d’Or (The Golden Cockerel), which happened to be the only music other than his own that Rachmaninoff brought with him when he left Russia in 1917. There’s even a hint of that idea in the lyrical, vaguely mournful solo for the alto saxophone, accompanied by just oboes, clarinets, and English horn. There are also passing references to the Dies irae (Day of Wrath), the famous Gregorian chant that turns up in several of Rachmaninoff’s works and was also used by composers like Hector Berlioz and Franz Liszt. Later in the movement, that opening rhythmic phrase – now accompanied by heavy chords – reappears. In the coda, Rachmaninoff quotes in the strings the opening theme of his First Symphony.

The second movement opens with foreboding chords from stopped horns and muted trumpets, followed by a strange, somewhat ghostly waltz that seems to grow more agitated as it progresses, stuttering along in 6/8, 3/8, and 9/8 meters. Occasional blasts from the brass briefly halt the momentum. Quiet, scampering figures from the woodwinds and strings close out the movement.

Rachmaninoff’s longstanding interest in Russian church music is evident in the third movement, which quotes both the Dies irae and the chant “Blessed be the Lord”

(Blagosloven yesi, Gospodi), the ninth movement of Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil of 1915. They do something like battle with one another – the death theme of the Dies irae and the resurrection motif of the chant (the words tell of the discovery of Christ’s empty grave and his ascension) – in music that veers between vehemence and triumph. In the end, the Resurrection theme wins out: Rachmaninoff even wrote the word “Alleluia” (Hallelujah) at that place in the score. At its conclusion, he wrote, “I thank Thee, Lord.”

Kinan Azmeh clarinet, composer

SUNDAY

JUNE 9, 2024

3:00 p.m.

VIOLIN I

Dawn Posey

The Garland Richmond & Richard

Stattelman Concertmaster

Shu-Hsin Ko

Assistant Principal

Concertmaster

Emily Bailey

Laura Barnes

David Bean +

Carolyn Canfield §

Gaye Davis + Irene Fadden

Matt Gudakov + Audrey Negro §

Yelena Nelson

Sandra Payton

Krissy Snyder + John Tilley

Karen Visser

Bill Watts

VIOLIN II

Yuko Watanabe

Principal 2nd Violin

Heather Ray

Assistant Principal 2nd Violin

Linnea Arntson

Augustine Chionis §

Judy Diamond

Kathy Diaz

Geneva Faulkner +

Helen Koenig

Ben Morgan + Audrey Negro

Meg Olsen §

Sigrid Schumacher §

Lisa Toner §

Liza Varon +

Tasa Weaver

Joy Westermann +

VIOLA

Morgan Schwab + Principal Viola

Katrina Whitman

Acting Principal Viola

Assistant Principal Viola

The Jack & Marybeth Campbell Music Director

Lisa Humphrey §

Acting Assistant Principal Viola

Genevieve Blum

Kacey Bradt

Alia Kerr

Valerie McWhorter +

Michael Neville

Jim Quist

Lauren Waldron §

Corey Welch

CELLO

Samantha Sinai

The Phyllis Allport Principal Cello

Brian Coyne

Assistant Principal Cello

Erin Esses Lusk

Omar Firestone

Rebekah Hood-Sava §

Barb Hunter +

Mary Passmore

Bette Ann Schwede

Daniel Watterson +

BASS

Mark Tomko

The Charli Daniels Principal Bass

Amiko Mantha

The Mark Tomko Assistant

Principal Bass

Faye Hong

Stuart Jamieson

Amelia Scanlon §

FLUTE

Deborah Arthur

The Marcela Berg & Michael Addison

Principal Flute

Gena Mikkelsen

Assistant Principal Flute

Kate Johnson

The Deborah Cool 3rd Flute

PICCOLO

Gena Mikkelsen

The Carol & Dennis Comeau Piccolo

OBOE

Kristy Fairbank

Co-Principal Oboe

Gail Ridenour

The Ridenour Family

Co-Principal Oboe

Ken Bronstein

ENGLISH HORN

Ken Bronstein

The Corey Welch & Judy Diamond

English Horn

CLARINET

Erika Block

The Gordon & Rosalie Nast Principal

Clarinet

Emily Prestbo

David Bissell

BASS CLARINET

David Bissell

ALTO SAXOPHONE

David Decker §

BASSOON

Phillip Thomas

The Brian & Marya Griffin

Principal Bassoon

Pat Nelson §

Acting Principal Bassoon

Jackson Stewart-DeBelly

Assistant Principal Bassoon

CONTRABASSOON

Phillip Thomas

HORN

Brad Bigelow

The George & Crystal Mills

Principal Horn

Jack Champagne +

Kristi Kilgore

Doug Robertson §

TRUMPET

Karolyn Labes

The Bill & Leslie McRoberts

Principal Trumpet

Charlie Burns

Steve Sperry

TROMBONE

Phil Heft

The Wendy Bohlke & Brian Hansen

Principal Trombone

Brian Thomson

BASS TROMBONE

Bob Gray

TUBA

Mark Lindenbaum

The Marty & Gail Haines

Principal Tuba

TIMPANI

Stephanie L. Straight

Principal Timpani

PERCUSSION

Kay Reilly

The Valerie McWhorter Principal

Percussion

Jamie Ihler

Lucas Webster

HARP

Jill Whitman

The Barbara & Michael Ryan

Principal Harp

KEYBOARD

Andrea Rackl

The Sibyl Sanford Principal Keyboard

Greg Verbarendse + on leave § substitute

CONDUCTOR CIRCLE

($10,000+)

Marcela Berg & Michael Addison

ArtsFund & Washington State Department of Commerce

Jack & Marybeth Campbell

City of Bellingham

Garland Richmond & Richard Stattelman

Carol & David Robinson

COMPOSER CIRCLE

($5,000 to $9,999)

Brian Hansen & Wendy Bohlke

Wilma & Bob Bryant

Terry Clark

Charli Daniels

Corey Welch & Judy Diamond

Mark Lindenbaum & Margaret Jahn

George Mills, in memory of Crystal Mills

Gwendolyn Payton & John Neeleman

Bob & Lois Nicholl

Kirk Smith

Marv & Joan Wayne

Anonymous, in honor of Phyllis Allport

MUSICIAN CIRCLE

($2,500 to $4,999)

Kathleen and Larry Bell

Seth Pollack & Jessica Choe

Dennis & Carol Comeau

Mark Tomko & Lina Dahlberg

Marty & Gail Haines

Leslie McRoberts, in memory of Bill McRoberts

Maureen O’Reilly

Catherine Rae Sheldon

Barbara & Michael Ryan

Sibyl Sanford Fund of the Whatcom Community Foundation

Anonymous

BENEFACTOR

($1,000 to $2,499)

Debbie & Steve Adelstein

ArtsWA Washington State Arts Commission

Yaniv & Meredith Attar, in memory of John Harriman & Susan Jay

Elisa Barston, in honor of Conductor

Extraordinaire Yaniv Attar and the wonderful musicians of the BSO

Bayview Fund of the Whatcom Community Foundation

Lesli Beasley

Julie Fleetwood Binns & John Binns

David Goldman & Linda Blackwell

Denise & Frank Catalano

Barbara & Ross Craigie

Bill & Lynn Day

Nancy Goldfogel

Brian & Marya Griffin Fund of the Whatcom Community Foundation

John & Marcia Harter

Sara Johnson

Nancy Jordan

Mark Litt Family Donor Advised Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle

James E. Dahlberg & Elsebet Lund

Rodney & Sandra Payton

Frank & Barbara Sanchez

Virgil & Linda Thompson

John W. Tilley Jr.

Susan & Loch Trimingham Fund of the Whatcom Community Foundation

Howard & Maryann VandeKieft

Nancy Vignec

Whatcom Community Foundation

SUSTAINER

($500 to $999)

Eduard Schwan & Jeri Abernathy

David Netboy & Marian Alexander

Elizabeth J Anderson

In Memory of Carmen Spofford

Marcia Corey, in honor of Robert Wright

Tim & Joanne Douglas

Robert Gage & Victoria Goodhope

Bruce & Kathryn Gustafson

Peter & Becky Harder

Karen & Jim Hollingsworth

Mrs. Susan Jay

Bonnie Larson, in memory of Larry D. Larson

Melinda Lunsford

Stu McKay

Barry & Debby Meyers

Donna Fields Moore

Donna Moore

Sherry & Dick Nelson

Bruce & Maggie Peters

Kevin Woods & Gail Ridenour

Nancy & Fritz Ridenour

Nora Ridenour

Margot A Schenet

Ann Schwemmin, in memory of Donald J. Schwemmin

Erica Shepard, in memory of Barbara Logan

T.R. Shimon

Dorothy & Philip Tenkhoff

Joel & Mary Pat Thuma

Drs. Robert Stoops & Virginia Tucker

Vera Lau & Gilbert Wu

PATRON

($250 to $499)

Judy Coons

Ron & Kathy Delbecq

Amanda & Nathan Dwyer

Nancy & George Gale

Barry Morgan & Craig Henderson

Mary & J.C. Hickman, in memory of Cleary & Aleen Cone

Clayton & Adria Libolt

Tom Williams & Cheryl Marier

Jean L Marshall

Dr.

Marcia

Terence

Willy

Barbara

Anonymous (2)

FRIEND

($50

David

Linda Katz

Karl and Edwina Kleeman

Janet Labes

Kate Birr & John Lawler

Martha L Lopez

Janet & Rick Maricle, in memory of Evelyn

Karin Matzen

Larry & Mary Jo Menninga

Eleanor Mischaikow

Marcy & J.

Linda

Anonymous (3)

MATCHING GIFTS

LEGACY SOCIETY

Bayview

Naida

Anonymous

Karen

Doug

Joanne

Michael

Audrey

Noni

Dave

Elaine &

Thank you

Allegro Strings

Audi Bellingham

Barkley Village

Bayshore Symphony

Belcher Swanson Law Firm, PLLC

Bellingham Arts Academy for Youth

Bellingham Chamber Chorale

Bellingham Chamber Music Society

Bellingham Festival of Music

Bellingham Music Club

Bellingham Pediatric Dentistry

Our 2023-2024 season is made possible through the support of our advertisers. Want to see your business here? Contact us about advertising opportunities!

Bellingham Theatre Guild

Bellingham TheatreWorks

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Bruce Cox Imports

Chocolate Necessities

Erin Schlichting, CPA

Hotel Bellwether

Jansen Art Center

KMRE Radio

Kulshan Chorus

Lesli Beasley, Windermere Real Estate

Lynda Hinton, Windermere

Real Estate

Mount Baker Theatre

Myers, Neubeck & Hulford Elder Law and Estate Planning

Northwest Guitar Festival

Northwest Public Broadcasting

Peoples Bank

Pacific Northwest Opera

Pickford Film Center

The Plant Collective NW

Soundings of the Planet

Skagit Symphony

Treble Creative

Village Books & Paper Dreams

Visit Bellingham Waycross Investment Management Company

Western Washington University College of Fine and Performing Arts

Westford Funeral Home & Cremation Service

Whatcom Chorale

Whatcom Community Foundation

The Willows Woods Coffee

Sustaining the Excellence of the BSO

The BSO is proud to recognize individuals whose major support of the nonprofit orchestra ensures our continued financial and artistic health for seasons to come (list is updated as of May 1, 2024). If you are interested in discussing chair underwriting opportunities, please contact executive@bellinghamsymphony.org or (360) 255-5184.

HEN WE STARTED THE HARMONY FROM DISCORD SERIES IN 2016 featuring music that transcends oppression, we were one of a small handful of orchestras throughout the United States with this kind of programming in place. Now, other orchestras contact us about how to feature such programming! How did this come about?

Harmony from Discord sponsors Carol & David Robinson felt called to action after hearing Yaniv’s ideas and passion about featuring these works, starting the series with a commitment to three years of programming of one concert per season for a solid, multi-year start.

The response of you, our community, has been so overwhelmingly positive that we have begun weaving more of these works amplifying underrepresented voices throughout each season. Look for the Harmony from Discord graphic on our website and in programs to spot works chosen with this in mind.

We are honored and inspired by Carol and David’s enthusiastic, “Yes!” to support Harmony from Discord . They encourage everyone in our audience and community to wonder what they could say “Yes!” to, in supporting and sharing the gift of music.

You are our community, we are your orchestra, and we are so grateful for your support for this important work. What can you say yes to? Let us know!

CHAIR UNDERWRITERS

Jack & Marybeth Campbell

Music Director

Garland Richmond & Richard Stattelman

Concertmaster

In honor of Phyllis Allport

Principal Cello

Charli Daniels

Principal Bass

Mark Tomko

Assistant Principal Bass

Marcela Berg & Michael Addison

Principal Flute

Deborah Cool

3rd Flute

Carol & Dennis Comeau

Piccolo

The Ridenour Family

Principal Oboe

Corey Welch & Judy

Diamond

English Horn

Gordon & Rosalie Nast

Principal Clarinet

Brian & Marya Griffin

Principal Bassoon

George & Crystal Mills

Principal Horn

Bill & Leslie McRoberts

Principal Trumpet

Wendy Bohlke & Brian Hansen

Principal Trombone

Marty & Gail Haines

Principal Tuba

Valerie McWhorter

Principal Percussion

Barbara & Michael Ryan

Principal Harp

Sibyl Sanford

Principal Keyboard

2023–2024 SEASON SPONSOR

CONCERT & GUEST ARTIST SPONSORS

Joan & Marv Wayne Catherine Rae Sheldon

Porsche Bellingham

Bellingham

Lynda Hinton

James E. Dahlberg & Elsebet Lund

BSO friends & family,

As we come to the close of yet another powerful season of music, we’re already excitedly looking forward to what comes next! But first, I must offer my deepest gratitude for your ongoing support — because none of this would be possible without you.

Our 2024/2025 season will introduce brilliant soloists and an eclectic mix of pieces to the historic Mount Baker Theatre stage. From Philippe Quint bringing to life Tchaikovsky’s lush, romantic Violin Concerto, to a trio of talented guest soloists — Mae Lin, Eric Han, and Xiaohui Yang — who will help us close out the season with the masterwork of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto.

And that only scratches the surface! Guest performers Jeff Midkiff, Richard Hodges, Ibidunni Ojikutu, David Rahbee, Dawn Posey, Jessica Choe, Itamar Zorman, and Heather Dudenbostel will join us for pieces from Ginastera, Haydn, and Chevalier de Saint Georges, as well as John Williams, Ravel, Debussy, and much more.

As always, I cannot thank you enough for sharing our commitment to the music arts. For 49 years, the support of our community has sustained BSO’s efforts to create one-of-a-kind live performances for our audiences — and I look forward to many more!

Musically yours,

Yaniv Attar

Proud to support the arts in our community.

29

MOVING FORWARD

Philippe Quint, violin

T CHAIK OVSKY | V iolin Concerto in D majo

JESSIE MONTGOMERY | Banner

STR AV INSKY | S uite from The F

AMERICANA

Je Midki , mandolin

JOHN WILLIAMS | Cowboys Overture

MIDKIFF | M andolin Concerto “F

C OPL AND | Appalachian Spring

G INASTERA | Fo ur Dances from Estancia

HOLID AY MAGIC !

Richard Hodges, narr ation and baritone

Ibidunni Ojikutu, sopr ano

RISING UP

HAYDN | S ymphony N o. 104 JA N 26

MA R 23

AP R 27

David Rahbee, guest conductor | Dawn Posey, violi n

HAYDN | Il Mondo della luna (The world on the moon )

RAVEL | M enuet sur le nom d’H aydn

MAKING WAVES

Jessica Choe, piano

CHEVALIER DE SAINT GEORGES | V iolin Concerto Op. 5 No . 2

RAUTAVA ARA | C antus Arcticus, Concerto for Birds and Orchestr a MOZART | Piano Concerto No. 23

JOHN WILLIAMS | T heme from Jaws

DEBUSSY | La Me r

SINGING OUT

Itamar Zorman, violin | Heather Dudenbostel, sopr ano | Richard Hodges, baritone

B UNCH | S upermaximum

HENRIËT TE BOSMANS | Concert Piece

FA URE | R equiem

With the Bellingham Chamber Chorale & Phoenix Chamber Choi r

TITANS!

Mae Lin, violin | Eric Han, cello | Xiaohui Yang, piano

B EETHOVEN | T riple Concert o

M AHLER | S ymphony No . 1 JUN 8 Part of the Harmony from Discord series

tickets, please visit our website or call

artists and repertoire are subject to change