PROUDLY PRESENTS
Jeremy Denk CHRISTENSEN PERFORMANCE HALL on The Madeline Janis Courter Stage
JANUARY 18, 2024 7:30PM
BIG ARTS 2024 Classical Circle Leadership Supporters David Huggin & Ken Nees
JEREMY DENK Winner of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and the Avery Fisher Prize, Jeremy Denk is one of America’s foremost pianists. He was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Returning frequently to Carnegie Hall, Denk has appeared with the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra and toured with The Academy of St Martin in the Fields and at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms.
“
. . . an unerring sense of the music’s dramatic structure and a great actor’s intuition for timing. -BOSTON GLOBE
”
PROGRAM NOTES DR. RICHARD E. RODDA
Partita No. 5 in G major, BWV 829 Johann Sebastian Bach Born March 21, 1685 in Eisenach, Germany Died July 28, 1750 in Leipzig Composed around 1730 Much of Bach’s early activity after arriving in Leipzig in 1723 as director of music for the city’s churches was carried out under the shadow of the memory of his predecessor, Johann Kuhnau, a respected musician and scholar who had published masterly translations of Greek and Hebrew, practiced as a lawyer in the city, and won wide fame for his keyboard music. In 1726, probably the earliest date allowed by the enormous demands of his official position for new sacred vocal music, Bach began a series of keyboard suites that were apparently intended to compete with those of Kuhnau. In addition to helping establish his reputation in Leipzig, these pieces would also provide useful teaching material for the private students he was beginning to draw from among the University’s scholars, who were less hampered by bureaucratic exigencies than their superiors in recognizing Bach’s genius. (Several of his secular cantatas were written for commissions from the University students.) The Partita No. 1 in B-flat major (BWV 825) issued in 1726 was the first of his compositions to be published, with the exception of two cantatas issued during his short tenure in Mühlhausen many years before (1707-1708). Bach funded the venture himself, and he even engraved the plates (to save money) with the help of his teenage son Carl Philip Emanuel, who was then learning that exacting craft. (Copies could be had directly from the composer, cash in advance.) Bach published an additional Partita every year or so until 1731, when he gathered together the six works and issued them collectively in a volume entitled Clavier-Übung (“Keyboard Practice”), a term he borrowed from the name of Kuhnau’s keyboard suites published in 1689 and 1692. The Partitas of what became Part I of the Clavier-Übung were well received; Johann Nikolaus Forkel, in the first full biography of Bach (1802), reported that “the works made in their time a great noise in the musical world.
Such excellent compositions for harpsichord had not been seen or heard before, so brilliant, agreeable, expressive and original are they. Anyone who could play them well could make his fortune in the world thereby, and even in our times, a young artist could gain acknowledgment by doing so.” Bach continued his series of Clavier-Übung with three further volumes of vastly different nature: Part II (1735) contains the Italian Concerto, the ultimate keyboard realization of that quintessential Baroque orchestral form, and an Overture (Suite) in the French Manner; Part III (1739), for organ, the Catechism Chorale Preludes, several short canonic pieces and the “St. Anne” Prelude and Fugue; and Part IV (1742), the incomparable Goldberg Variations. The term “partita” was originally applied to pieces in variations form in Italy during the 16th century, and the word survived in that context into Bach’s time. The keyboard Partitas of the Clavier-Übung, however, are not variations but suites of dances, a form that in France occasionally bore the title of Partie, meaning either a movement in a larger work or a musical piece for entertainment. The French term was taken over into German practice in the late 17th century as Parthie to indicate an instrumental suite, and Bach’s “Partita” seems to have been a corruption of that usage. The Partita No. 5 begins with a scintillating Praeambulum of whirling scales and arpeggios. A gracious Allemande and a brilliant Courante precede the sweet duet strains of the Sarabande. The delicate Tempo di Minuetto is paired with a Passepied, a quick variant of the minuet that was especially popular in French theatrical music. The closing Gigue is a full-fledged fugue in two-part dance form.
Three Romances, Op. 21 Clara Schumann Born September 13, 1819 in Leipzig Died May 20, 1896 in Frankfurt Composed in 1853 and 1855 Goethe called her “a noble phenomenon”; Franz Grillparzer, Austria’s greatest poet and a sensitive musician, was inspired to write a poem titled When She Played Beethoven’s F minor Sonata; the prestigious journal Neue Zeitschrift für Musik ranked her as the third greatest pianist of the day, behind only Franz Liszt and Sigismond Thalberg. The object of these encomia was a teenage girl from Leipzig, a dazzling Wunderkind who possessed not only flawless keyboard technique but also extraordinary
artistic sensitivity and unswerving dedication to the most elevated principles of the musical art — Clara Wieck. Clara’s father, Friedrich, a noted teacher of piano and voice, operator of a music-lending library and a piano store, and a former preacher, vowed even before the girl was born that he would develop her into a consummate artist, and he showed considerable restraint by not beginning her lessons until she was five. His instruction fell upon a fertile talent — Clara made her public debut at the Leipzig Gewandhaus on October 20, 1828 (she was nine-and-quarter years old), gave her first complete recital two years later, and made her debut international tour the following season. By 1835, she was acclaimed throughout Europe as a child prodigy. In 1829, the nineteen-year-old Robert Schumann met Friedrich Wieck, and he was accepted by the pedagogue as a student; the following year, Robert moved into the Wieck household. He was at first amused by his teacher’s gifted daughter, but over the course of the following years, the couple’s relationship developed into true love (“Clara grows more charming, inwardly, outwardly, every day, every hour,” Robert wrote in 1835) and became one of the great romances of the 19th century. That story — Papa Wieck’s nearly irrational resistance to the union, the lovers’ court battle to receive legal permission to marry, their passionate devotion to each other during their sixteen years of wedded life, Robert’s mental collapse and untimely death in 1856 — is well-known and carefully chronicled in a half-dozen books. Clara put her domestic duties before her professional ambitions during those years (she gave birth to eight children between 1841 and 1854), concertizing only occasionally and composing just a piano trio and a handful of songs and solo piano pieces, including her Variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann in 1853. Following her husband’s death in 1856, she resumed touring and teaching, but never composed again. The first of the Op. 21 Romances (A minor) is bittersweet, a sentiment somewhat moderated by a more animated central episode. Clara composed the piece after visiting her husband at the Endenich asylum on April 2, 1855 and then recorded in her diary, “It is really sad in mood, just as I was when writing it.” The Allegretto (F major), brief, lighthearted and colorfully harmonized, provides an intermezzo between the more serious movements surrounding it. The grace, subtlety and liquescent figurations of the closing Agitato (G minor) recall the waltzes of Frédéric Chopin, whose music Clara performed from age fourteen, when she began including his solo works in almost all of her recitals and first played his Concerto No. 1 in E minor, until her last appearance with orchestra, in his Concerto No. 2 in F minor when she was 71.
Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, Op. 47 Frédéric Chopin Born February 22, 1810 in Zelazowa-Wola, Poland Died October 17, 1849 in Paris Composed 1831, 1838, 1840-1841 and 1842 The Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, one of Chopin’s best-loved creations, was composed during the quiet and happy period he spent with George Sand in Paris in 1840-1841. Upon its publication in 1841, it was dedicated to Mlle. de Noailles, whom Antoine-François Marmontel, in listing Chopin’s pupils, referred to as one of the composer’s “disciples afféctionnées.” The work was said to have been derived from Mickiewicz’s poem Ondine, which Laurent Cellier paraphrased: “On the shores of a lake, a young man pledges fidelity to a young girl. Doubting the faithfulness of men, despite the protestations of her lover, she disappears and returns in the bewitching form of a water sprite. As soon as she tempts the young man, he succumbs to her charms. To expiate his sin, he is dragged to the bottom of the water and condemned to a breathless pursuit of the sprite, whom he can never catch.” American critic Irving Kolodin wrote of the A-flat major Ballade that “a certain underlying strength may be overlooked in the seductive appeal of its soft-contoured surface. Feminine it may be said to be also, but only if the female in question is possessed (as more than a few have been known to be) of a whim of iron.”
Heartbreaker Missy Mazzoli Born October 27, 1980 in Abington, Pennsylvania Composed in 2013 Premiered on April 15, 2013 at the American Pianists Association Competition in Indianapolis by Sarah Daneshpour Missy Mazzoli was born in 1980 in the Philadelphia suburb of Abington and studied at Boston University, Yale University School of Music and Royal Conservatory of the Hague. Mazzoli taught composition at Yale in 2006 before serving for the next three years as Executive Director of the MATA Festival in New York, an organization dedicated to promoting the work of
young composers. She is currently on faculty as Composer-in-Residence with the Bard College Conservatory of Music and previously taught at the Mannes College of Music. At New York’s Kaufman Music Center in 2016, Mazzoli and composer Ellen Reid Mazzoli established the Luna Composition Lab, a mentorship program and support network for female-identifying, non-binary and gender-nonconforming composers ages 13-19. Mazzoli was a Composer-Educator Partner with the Albany Symphony in 2011-2012, Mead Composer-in-Residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 2018 to 2021, and in 2018 was commissioned to write a new work for the Metropolitan Opera, the first woman with that distinction. Missy Mazzolli’s awards include a Grammy nomination for Best New Classical Composition, citation as 2022 “Composer of the Year” by the influential trade journal Musical America, Music Critics Association of North America Award for Best New Opera of 2016 for Breaking the Waves, and many other honors and grants, including both the Godard Lieberson Fellowship and the 2023 Marc Blitzstein Award for Musical Theater and Opera from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Mazzoli wrote of Heartbreaker, commissioned for the 2013 American Pianists Association Competition in Indianapolis, “As a composer who started her musical life as a pianist, it was unexpectedly difficult to write a short piece for the American Pianists Association’s Competition. I wanted to write something virtuosic but something that stood out from traditionally showy ‘competitive’ pieces. My work, Heartbreaker, is virtuosic in subtle, unusual ways. It starts out deceptively simple, and quickly spirals into something that is just within the limits of the pianist’s control. It requires a virtuosity that is not about playing faster than everyone else, or even about playing more accurately than everyone else, but more about striking a balance between rhythmic precision and the free-wheeling abandon the piece requires.”
Sonata in A major, D. 959 Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Composed in 1828 In the hall of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna on March 26, 1828, immediately after completing his magnificent C major Symphony (justifiably dubbed “The Great” by later generations), Franz Schubert gave the only public concert entirely of his works held during his lifetime. The event, prompted and sponsored by his circle of devoted friends, was a
significant artistic and financial success, and he used the proceeds to celebrate the occasion at a local tavern, pay off some old debts, acquire a new piano, and buy tickets for Nicolò Paganini’s sensational debut in Vienna three days later. Despite the renewed enthusiasm that concert inspired in him for his creative work, and encouraging signs that his music was beginning to receive recognition outside of Vienna, Schubert was much troubled during the following months by his health. His constitution, never robust, had been undermined by syphilis, and by the summer of 1828, he was suffering from headaches, exhaustion and frequent digestive distress. Despite his discomforts, he continued to compose, completing the Mass in E-flat, a setting in Hebrew of Psalm 92 for the City Synagogue of Vienna, and the Schwanengesang, doing extensive work on what proved to be his last three piano sonatas (D. 958-960), and beginning his C major String Quintet. At the end of August, Schubert felt unwell, complaining of dizziness and loss of appetite, and his physician advised that he move for a time to a new house outside the city recently acquired by the composer’s brother Ferdinand. Though Ferdinand’s dwelling was damp and uncomfortable and hardly conducive to his recovery, Franz felt better during the following days, and he was able to participate in an active social life and attend the premiere of a comedy by his friend Eduard von Bauernfeld on September 5th. Schubert also continued to compose incessantly, completing the three piano sonatas on August 26th and performing them at the house of Dr. Ignaz Menz the following day. The C major Quintet was finished at that same time; it and the sonatas were the last instrumental works he completed. On October 31, 1828, Schubert fell seriously ill, his syphilitic condition perhaps exacerbated by the typhus then epidemic in Vienna, and he died on November 19, 1828; he was 31. The A major Sonata (D. 959) begins with a heroic gesture immediately balanced by airy falling arpeggios — the opposed states of vigor and languor are juxtaposed throughout much of the movement. The Andantino is the most dramatic movement in the last three sonatas. Its outer sections exude barren bleakness, an uncommon emotion in Schubert’s music but one he had distilled perfectly the year before in his stunningly desolate setting of Wilhelm Müller’s Der Leiermann (“The Hurdy-Gurdy Man”), the closing song of the cycle Die Winterreise (“The Winter’s Journey”); the movement’s central portion rises to peaks of true passion. The Sonata is rounded out by a gentle Scherzo and a supple Rondo.
Save the Date! BIG ARTS 45TH ANNUAL BENEFIT MARCH 22, 2024 Lavish pre-show buffets & open bars followed by post-concert desserts, dancing, drinks & more in the Malone Family Sculpture Garden!
THE DOO WOP PROJECT featuring stars of Broadway’s smash hits Jersey Boys and Motown: The Musical CLICK HERE TO LISTEN!
Benefit Sponsorship Opportunities PRESENTING SPONSORS ($10,000)
8 complimentary event tickets VIP backstage photo with The Doo Wop Project artists VIP seating Plus Pacesetter additional benefits
PACESETTERS ($5,000) 6 complimentary event tickets Premium seating Name on event e-blasts Name on sponsor webpage Recognition on social media Plus Fan additional benefits
FANS ($2,500) 4 complimentary event tickets Plus Groupie additional benefits
GROUPIES ($1,500) 2 complimentary event tickets Preferred seating Complimentary valet parking Name on Benefit webpage Name listed in post-event “thank you” newspaper ad Name on printed invitation (print deadline February 10)
PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT TODAY! Contact Michelle Schweber, Director of Development mschweber@bigarts.org | 239.395.0900 ext. 301 | 404.441.2261
Meet Our Supporters Thank you to our loyal donors. Your support is needed now, as never before. PREMIERE Gustav & Vibeke Christensen Leslie Fleischner Florida Department of State Kenneth L. Nees Jim & Gaye Pigott Bob & Kathy Wiesemann
PACESETTER Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Dr. Michael & Mrs. Marilee Wood
BENEFACTOR Bank of The Islands James C. & Susan H. Berg Ginny Bowen Andrew & Ruthelen Burns Dick & Mary Butler Congress Jewelers Janice Devitt Barb & Tom Dunham Kathleen & John Green Jr. Dorothy & Seth Hemming
Bob & Marilyn Klaskin Dorothy Lichtenstein Northern Trust Sue Pick Jeffrey & Rene Savarise Charlie & Gail Sheetz Patricia Thurber Linda & Tom Uhler Linda & John Wulff
GRAND PATRON Edward & Catherine Anderson Lore Bahnik, The Bahnik Foundation David and Judy Baum Mary Buck Jack & Fay Chestnut Nancy Dehmlow David Filkins Doug & Sherry Gentry Laurie & Steve Hafener Melissa & Jason Halliburton George & Susan Heisler David Huggin Peter & Ann Lambertus
Vicky & John Lettmann Bruce & Antonette McDonald Philip & Roberta Puschel Richard & Nathalie Pyle Gary & Maureen Saage Vreni Scheu Dawn Schumann Chris & Crystal Smith Dr. Robert & Betty Van Tassel Anni & Jack Wellauer Penny Wilkinson & Dick Boehning Gene & Margaret Zelek
PATRON Charles & Linda Adams Brenda & Marty Harrity Elaine & T.P. August Tony & Angie Lapi John & Mary Ann Boorn William & Barbara Millar Barry & Judy Bronstein Stephanie Rahe Linda & Gordon Coons Dick & Peggy Raney Anonymous Joyce & Don Rice Mr. & Mrs. Manny Fernandez Chip & Nancy Roach Susan & John Freund Ed & Virginia Stringer Emily (Lee) Haines Morton & Betty Tavel Law Office of Janet M. Strickland, P.A.
ANGEL Hazel Barber Curtis A. Barton Lynn Bernard Walter & Wendy Berninger Naomi Bloom Robert & Dixie Bowden Philip & Helen Bradbury Dan & Donna Casey Ralph & Carolyn Clark
Aaron J. Cohen Coile Foundation Lillian Decker Dana DiCarlo Yvonne & Phillip Dressel Boomer Duvin Kim Eastman & Louise Sinclair Eastman Dave & Linda Essig Cecy Faster
ANGEL Mardi Glenn David & Nora Mimms JoAnn & Bob Glick Attila & Patty Molnar Jean & John Halligan Vincent & Celina Monte-Sano Albert & Sandra Hann Mr. & Mrs. John R. Morse Al & Sally Hanser Pamela & Kevin Murray Susan & Bill Hartz Pam & Bob Norton Herman Foundation Denis O'Connor Peter & Donna Holden Rob & Mindy Pierce Anonymous Barbara Powers Anonymous Eileen Kehoe & Bud Reinhold Deborah Jaeger Christine Schluter Jan Jaeger Lowell Schwab & Rae Carter Mary & Dick Jalkut Tom & Susan Sheridan Charles & Helen Ketteman Nancy & Steve Siegel Alan & Joan Klutch The Reverend Doctor Ellen Sloan Ray & Diane Knight Sheridan & Dick Snell The Health Whisperer Mary Snyder Robin & Barbara Lee Robert & Nancy Sperte John & Barbara Lies Merrill Taylor Calvin & Patricia Linnemann Nancy Traylor Dudley & Kristin Malone Carolyn & Gerald Wheaton Gene Massey Dr. Edward C. Wheeler & Anne Haslem Richard & Adele Mattern Barry & Fran Wilson Douglas McLemore & Judith Rittenhouse Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Yenkole Tom & Pam Miller Patty & Bill Zimmerman Art and Martha Kaemmer Fund of HRK Foundation Kristen & Douglas Ryckman/Ryckman Family Charitable Fund
SUPPORTER Bob & Sharon Barton The Berger Foundation Robert & Lynn Bolz Mike & Pat Boris Tom & Pam Campbell Mr. & Mrs. William Cheney Michael & Laurie Chouinard Richard & Beth Davis Don & Gaither DeLuca Barb & Neil Demchick
The Dooling/Danussi Fund Molly B. Downing John & Pam Fridlington Christopher & Carol George Bob & Marvis Gillison Neal & Sherry Halleran Barry & Marilyn Humphries Kyle & Marybeth Jackson Hope & David Jeffrey Tom & Jan Knowlton
SUPPORTER Charles Krahmer Mrs. Gloria Lagrassa Tom & Susan McCully Sue & Ted Merrick Michael & Mary Miller Moreland and Devitt, LLC Edward & Carol Mosel Gar & Nicole Murtha Robert & Elizabeth Nanovic Jim & Mary Nelson Donna Oberhill Dave & Karen Paulin Jeffrey H. Pierce Anonymous Robert & Susan Ross
Jennifer & Daniel Sager Patricia Schwarz AJ & Sunny Scribante Hank & Linda Spire Art Stevens Kathi Straubing Jim & Josie Urbelis Joel & Cathy Vogel Annie Wainwright Richard & Gloria Waterhouse Carol Watkins Martin & Deborah Watz Tommy & Trudy Williams Mark & Debbie Wimmer
CONTRIBUTOR Robert M. Allen David & Diann Frantz Teresa Anzalone Ted Gasteyer Richard & Carol Arnould Phyllis K. Gresham Doug & Lu Bannerman Ed & Sharon Hannon Christopher Berman Madeline Etkin & Jeff Hayward Laurence Bettcher Mr. & Mrs. Richard Healey Douglas & Meg Born Mark & Paula Henry Donald Breitner & Debbie Gurman Becky Higbie Pamela Z. Brislin Jo-Ann & Robert Hilliard John & Sarabess Cahill Norma Hoppenfeld Reynolds & Barbara Challoner Doug & Janie Jacobson Nancy Clark Louis & Mary Kahn David & Robyn Cook Roger & Christine King Peter & Sue Danford Donna & Jim Kraft James & Maggie Davis Linda Kramer Robin & W. Patrick Dickson Bob & Helen Lambiase Jim & Catrina Drotleff Donna Leahy Ron & Jeannie Ellington Brenda & Matt Levatich Carolyn & Oliver Esman Dale Luchsinger Mary & Millard Everhart Ann McCarthy Myra Fisher Don & Joan McDonald Greater Milwaukee Foundation James and Mary LaVelle Fund
CONTRIBUTOR Mark McQuade & Ellen Mayeron Howard & Ruth Menken Scott & Arlene Mowry Robert & Mary Ellen Paulson Steve & Susan Peltzman Carol & Ron Periard Mike & Anna Puma Mr. & Mrs. David Rappaport Robert & Lorraine Rippe Cecily I. Robinson Scott & Marianne Rogers Lawrence & Phyllis Sager Marcel & Jane Saghir Sanibel Historical Museum & Village
Francie & Larry Schenck Shirley Schlossman Howard & Pam Shaw Frank & Jeanne Speizer Chris & Janis Swain August & Maureen Thoma Nancy Trimbur Ken & Virginia Trudell Thomas & Kathleen Veratti Douglas H. & Priscilla B. Viets John & Beverly Voorhees Ellen Wersan The Buckman Family George C. Witte
FRIEND Don & Betty Abbott Cindy Bixler Borgmann Corrine & Art Addie Dick & Victoria Bourdow Judith Adler Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Susan Ahlcrona Raymond L. Brennan Clare Almack John & Catherine Bridge Amejo Amyot Kathryn Brintnall Judie Anderson Jo & Arthur Brisbane Leslie & Joe Anding Leslie Brunn Susan Andrews Peter & Connie Bukowick Mary S. Arceneaux Rodger & Mary Jo Bunnell Dr. Donald Bachman & Dr. Karen Back Deborah Butler Suzanne & Randy Baker Melissa & Mark Calkin Charles & Ann Balch Richard & Marcy Calkins George & Molly Barbee Mr. & Mrs. John Campbell Dr. Ann Tice & Dr. Joe Barkmeier Ron & Janice Chaddock Richard & Madeline Baron Carl & Mary Ann Chambers Mary & Dan Bell Mrs. Marcia Chauvet & Mr. John Dolan Tom & Laura Bernhardt Leslie Cimino Kathryn Bielefeld Michele Classe Virginia Bisby Janice Udesen Cohen PJ Blankenhorn & Tony Wagner Robin & David Coleman Mark & Doreen Bolhuis & Maureen Corpron-Vel
FRIEND Tom & Barbara Cooley Raymond & Nancy Cooper Carmen & Jim Courter Foundation Julie Cronin Cheryl & Tom D’Altrui Patricia David John & Linda DeFrancisco Laura & Chris Denick Andrea & Daniel Derrington Nicole Dewoolfson Richard & Deborah Donahue Marlene Donaldson Nancy Donaldson Bob & Ellen Dugan Mary Dunnavan Barbara & Jim Egan Angela & Brian Ellacott Kathryn Engle Anonymous John & Judy Evans Anonymous Bill & Virginia Fellows Bev Forslund George Foster Shirley & Byron Frank Raf & Bonnie Frankel John W. Fredericks Barbara Hill Freeman Dorothy C. Fritze Rabbi Stephen & Rabbi Victoria Fuchs Beverly Gaabo Walter & Methel Gale Fred & Barbara George Brenda A. Pommerenke & Larry George Maureen & Andy Ginipro Lisabet & Gertrude Girr Nancy & Clivie Goodwin Ron & Joan Gould Carol Gregg Bill & Shelley Greggs
Lois Gries Buzz & Mary Jo Griffin Kathy & Alan Grundei Richard & Jane Guelich Lyder & Charlene Gulbrandsen John & Betty Gundersdorf Roberta Gutwein George & Audrey Hagerman Ella Hall Miriam Pepper Gloria Hammersley Anonymous Gene & Jo Hardy Anonymous Karen Bush Havrilla Dale & Suzette Heeres Susan Marie Herrmann Linda J. Hooper Libby & Rob Hoops Richard & Stephanie Huddleston Janet Hurley Louise Huyck Don & Stefanie Irwin Andrew & Teresa Jacob John & Lana Jacobs Bob & Amy Johnson Paul & Janet Johnson Norm Johnston Thomas J. Juedes Petra & Wolfgang Kaiser Stanley & Jo Ann Katz Jack Kennedy Mally Khorasantchi John & Wendy Kindig Candy & Steve Klare Carl Knight Mark & Kristen Koelmel Susan Kolson Julian Korn Jack & Cathy Kozik Kathy Kuck
FRIEND Thomas LaFond Dr. Allen & Wendy Pois Melissa Laidlaw & Menashe Ben-David Anonymous Linda Laird Isabella Rasi Virginia & Tim Lattner Marianne Nyhan Ravenna Mr. & Mrs. Paul R. Lawrence Debra & David Ray Annie Layman James Reynolds Ann Lindberg Jan Rice Karen Holder & Randy Lisk Rob & Debbie Rizzo Maryann L. Loh Carlos & Mary Roche Gary & Margot Long Carol & Bill Rosenberg Howard Lorsch & Tracy Dwyer Margaret Ross David & Kelly Lowden Carolyn Ruff David & Jackie Lurio Jolene & Kooroush Saeian Janet MaGirl Di Saggau Marla Manning Mr. & Mrs. Peter Saltz Joan M. Martyn Michael Samet & Elissa Karasin-Samet Pamela M. Mascio Pat Santucci, M.D. John & Jennifer Masters David Scheiber Roy & Judith McCloskey Laurence & Jeanie Schiffer John & Janet McLaughlin John & Lisa Schmidlin Dana Mehlig Craig & Lynn Schneider Michele Messenger Bob & Caren Schoen Sarah Ashton & Jim Metzler Steve & Laurie Schulz Eleanor Miller Walter & Betsy Schuman Rene & Margarethe Miville Michelle Schweber Joseph & Linda Mondelli Debbie Scray Mike & Debbie Morgan Mr. Terry See & Mrs. Theresa Shea-See Mary Beth & Scott Morrison Mr. Juan Serret & Mrs. Karen Serret Drs. John & Gwendolynn Newman Jack & Karen Shaw Randall & Marilyn Niehoff Sally & Dwight Shelton Fred C. Nordstrom Bradford Shingleton Mr. & Mrs. John L.S. Northrop Joseph Shuster & Barbara Bazzone Jim & Barbara O’Hare Karen Shutway Bruce & Catherine Odlaug Cathy Simon Tom & Barbara Olson Dennis & Brooke Simon Carl Ordemann Anonymous Enid Packard Joyce & Joe Sirkin Jim & Nancy Patterson Ellen Smiley & David Bollinger Mica Pennington Jon & Kathryn Sternburg Nathan Perkins Priscilla Stevens Mr. & Mrs. Erich Pfanzelt Betsy Sugerman Dr. Anjanette Stoltz & Mr. Anthony Bango
FRIEND Dennis Sutherland Al & Monica Taylor Kathleen Taylor & Bruno Notari Lynn Thelen Kersti Thompson Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Timson Kay Trainor Karr & Joan Van Nordstrand Janice VanBuskirk Kelli Vestal Gary & Linda Vroegindewey David Waks & Sandra Teger Anne Walter Bob & Roberta Washlow James Weddell
Ina Weissblatt Lyman & Deana Welch Lynne Wesolowski Berta & Carroll Wetzel Helene Weyant Brian & Susan White Patricia Pombo Wilson Elaine & Sanford Winer Linda & Jim Winn J Pamela Weiner & James Wittenberg E. Blake Wood The Dunham Children Nancy Zeedyk Mr. & Mrs. Jeffry Zimmer
LEGACY SOCIETY Jack T. Bailey Jerry Churchill K. Ann Dempsey Elizabeth Eagleton Ruth F. Frank Roni Freer
Deborah & John La Gorce Kenneth L. Nees Don & Joyce Rice John Schork Penny Wilkinson & Dick Boehning
GIFTS IN HONOR OF Chuck Bonser Donna Leahy The Dunham Family Kris Gurall Patrick Harder David and Ann Hedges George & Susan Heisler Ken Nees
Dan & Gerri Perkins Jim & Gaye Pigott Carol Rosenberg Elmer Stilbert Janet M. Strickland, P.A. Monica Taylor Ellen Whitten
GIFTS IN MEMORY OF Henry Foltz Suzanne Crawford Suzanne Crawford Dave Havrilla Blake Devitt Bea Pappas Blake Devitt Beth Murphy Beth Murphy
Dr. Laurence Oberhill Tom Pick Paul Powers Blake Devitt Karen Shaw Davis Thurber Ronald Glenn Wallace Pat Whitaker
IN-KIND DONORS Landgraphics Sanibel-Captiva David M. Platt, PA DONOR LIST AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2023
Become a Supporter
Gifts can be made in many forms. For information on how to support BIG ARTS and all its programs, visit BIGARTS.ORG or call (239) 395-0900.
Meet Our Staff
Lena Baranova - Staff Accountant Denise Dillon - Events Assistant Marina Dowling - Office Manager Barbara Freeman - Executive Assistant Meghan Govoni - Marketing Manager Melody Hampton - Database and Information Manager Lee Ellen Harder - Executive Director Charlotte Hardt - Customer Service Associate Wendy Harriman - House Manager Aimee Harrison - Workshops Manager Richard Jones - Technical Director David Kolson - Chief Financial Officer Greg LeBlanc - Facilities and Maintenance Supervisor Kelly Lowden - Customer Service Associate Wilson McCray - Gallery Director Michelle Schweber - Development Director Olga Semreen - Staff Accountant
Meet Our Board Chair - Rene Savarise Vice Chair - Bob Wiesemann Treasurer/Secretary - David Lowden Past Chair - Don Rice Gustav Christensen Scot Congress Mike Wood
Great communities create great organizations – not the other way around. In 1979, BIG ARTS was created, by, and for the community, and owes its rich history to a small band of dedicated artists who drew inspiration from each other and from the breathtaking island beauty that infused their work with grace and authenticity. They set out to create a special gathering place where artistic and educational experiences were accessible to all. Today that vision is alive and well. With the help of our loyal donors and supporters, BIG ARTS will carry that vision forward – providing joy, inspiration and a sense of community for generations to come.
Vision
To create great arts, entertainment and learning experiences that always inspire, enrich and delight.
Mission
Provide an array of quality entertainment, arts and education programs that enrich and nurture the lives of Sanibel and Captiva residents and visitors through: • professionally led arts and enrichment classes and workshops for students of all ages • stimulating and informative lectures and group discussions with renowned national thought leaders and educators • dynamic visual and performing arts presentations of the highest caliber
TICKETS:
IN PERSON: 900 Dunlop Road, Sanibel, Florida 33957 BY PHONE: 239.395.0900 ONLINE: BIGARTS.org