Kwamé Ryan, conductor
Feb 13 & 14
BELK THEATER
CSO SPOTLIGHT ARTIST GABRIEL KAHANE Pattern of the Rail
A Message from the President & CEO
This month brings a moment of extraordinary pride for the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and for our city. Music Director Kwamé Ryan has been awarded the GRAMMY for Best Opera Recording, becoming the first Music Director in Charlotte Symphony history to receive a GRAMMY and the first Black conductor ever to win in this category. We could not be more proud. If you have already witnessed Kwamé lead the Orchestra, this recognition will feel especially well-deserved. It affirms what we see and hear in every performance: a conductor of remarkable depth and insight whose music-making lifts us all up. It also shines a national spotlight on Charlotte, reflecting the exceptional caliber of artistry flourishing right here at home in our musical community.
February is a wonderful month to experience that energy in person. We welcome Maestro Ryan back to the podium for Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, joined by this season's CSO Spotlight Artist Gabriel Kahane, who performs a work inspired by his crosscountry train ride in the wake of the 2016 Presidential election. Audiences can once again surround the Orchestra at Booth Playhouse for Mozart 360 — come experience the thrill of the proximity! — enjoy evenings with our On Tap series
at NoDa Brewing Company and Triple C, discover Beethoven at our next Family Series concert, and dance along with our tribute to ABBA.
Later this month, we look forward to sharing the details of our 2026–27 season — one that builds on this exciting momentum. Subscribers who renew early will secure their seats at this season’s prices, before they increase, so I encourage you to watch for the announcement and respond quickly! And finally, to all of our subscribers, donors, and patrons, thank you! Your commitment sustains this Orchestra and makes performances like this possible. We’re grateful for your support and honored to have you with us for the music ahead.
David Fisk President & CEO
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Kwamé Ryan Congratulations!
GRAMMY WINNER
Best Opera Recording
Jake Heggie’s Intelligence with Houston Grand Opera
Concert Program
THE NINETY-FOURTH SEASON
Friday, February 13, 2026, at 7:30 pm
Saturday, February 14, 2026, at 7:30 pm
Belk Theater at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
DANI HOWARD (b. 1993)
GABRIEL KAHANE (b. 1981)
Kwamé Ryan, conductor Gabriel Kahane, piano & vocals
Argentum [~7’]
Pattern of the Rail
I. Introduction · Baedeker · Model Trains
II. Baltimore · Friends of Friends of Bill
III. What If I Told You · October 1, 1939 · Port of Hamburg Gabriel Kahane, piano & vocals [~26’]
INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64
P. I. TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) [~47’]
I. Andante – Allegro con anima
II. Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza
III. Valse: Allegro moderato
IV. Finale: Andante maestoso – Allegro vivace
CONCERT DURATION: approx. 2 hours, including one 20-minute intermission.
Kwamé Ryan music director
Kwamé Ryan is a Grammy Award-winning conductor, currently in his second season as Music Director of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. Ryan formerly held the position of General Music Director of Freiburg Opera from 1999–2003 and served as Musical and Artistic Director of the Orchestre National BordeauxAquitaine from 2007–13. As a guest conductor in Germany, he has led the Radio Orchestras of Stuttgart and Bavaria, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Staatsoper Saarbrücken, and Staatsoper Stuttgart. While in France, he worked with Opéra de la Bastille, Opéra de Lyon, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Work in the US and the UK has taken him to the Symphony Orchestras of Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Houston, Boston Lyric Opera, English National Opera, and the London Philharmonia.
Ryan has been a regular guest of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Proms, and Dutch National Opera, at which he has worked with the Residence Orchestra, The Hague, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic. In 2024, he returned to La Monnaie, Brussels for the revival of Kris De Foort’s The Time of our Singing, his 2021 premiere of which earned the International Opera Award for World Premiere of the Year.
The 2025–26 season sees returns to the Washington National Opera and the New York Philharmonic as well as his debut at the Metropolitan Opera.
© Valentin Behringer
Gabriel Kahane piano & vocals
Gabriel Kahane is a musician, writer, and storyteller. Highlights of the 2025–26 season include collaborations with Roomful of Teeth, Attacca Quartet, and Jeffrey Kahane; conducting debuts with Santa Fe Pro Music and the San Antonio Philharmonic; composer-in-residence posts with the University of Iowa and the Charlotte Symphony; the world premiere of a new set of songs at the 92nd Street Y; and the Carnegie Hall premiere of If love will not swing wide the gates, a clarinet concerto written for Anthony McGill.
An avid theater artist, Kahane opened last season at Playwrights Horizons with the off-Broadway debut of two solo pieces, Magnificent Bird and Book of Travelers, the latter of which chronicled the composer’s 8,980-mile railway journey in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election. His album and stage spectacle, The Ambassador, was produced at the BAM Next Wave Festival in 2014, under the direction of Tony-winner John Tiffany. A musical, February House, written with the playwright Seth Bockley, received its New York premiere at the Public Theater in 2012. In 2018, Kahane made his Broadway debut with the score for Kenneth Lonergan’s play The Waverly Gallery, starring Elaine May, Lucas Hedges, and Michael Cera.
Kahane is known for tackling politically thorny subject matter in his work with subtlety and grace, perhaps most notably
in his orchestral oratorio, emergency shelter intake form, which addresses economic inequality through the lens of homelessness and housing insecurity, and has been heard from London to New York to Chicago to San Francisco and beyond. He is also increasingly productive as a writer, with prose appearing in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. Via the newsletter “Words and Music,” Kahane publishes bi-weekly essays on a variety of topics, all of which can be accessed at gabrielkahane. substack.com.
Kahane’s wide-ranging discography includes five albums as a singersongwriter, several orchestral projects, a disc of chamber music (with the string quartet Brooklyn Rider), as well as various other collaborative albums. He has worked with an array of artists spanning the aesthetic gamut, from Phoebe Bridgers, Paul Simon, Sylvan Esso, Chris Thile, and Sufjan Stevens, to the Danish String Quartet, Caroline Shaw, and Pekka Kuusisto, with whom he plays as the duo Council. The recipient of a 2021 Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Kahane relocated to Portland, OR, in the spring of 2020, where he lives with his family and serves as Creative Chair of the Oregon Symphony, a post he has held since 2019.
Introducing the CSO
Explore a new musical voice each season with the CSO Spotlight Series. We start with a focused look at an artist’s work and gradually expand, illuminating more facets and revealing a fuller picture as the season unfolds.
This season, the Charlotte Symphony shines a light on composer, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Kahane, whose poignant musical storytelling traverses genres and themes with insight, empathy, and imagination.
CSO Spotlight Series Concerts
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 · October 24–26 featuring Judith
Delve into a character study of a fictional older widow performed by the CSO, based on Gabriel Kahane's original song “Last Dance.”
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 · February 13 & 14 featuring Pattern of the Rail: Six Orchestral Songs from Book of Travelers
Follow the musical diary of Gabriel Kahane's cross-country train journey after the 2016 Presidential Election, revealing a portrait of the United States as he sings and plays piano with the CSO.
Copland & Kahane · May 15 & 16 featuring emergency shelter intake form
In the season finale, Gabriel Kahane’s oratorio-style work responds to Portland’s housing crisis, drawing from the sterile intake process at shelters. The societal issues of homelessness and poverty are humanized with power, humor, and honesty with Kahane, the CSO, and a community chorus of people affected by homelessness — inviting us to reflect on what home and privilege truly mean.
SPOTLIGHT ARTIST
Gabriel Kahane
Kwamé Ryan · Music Director
Christopher James Lees, Resident Conductor Christopher Warren-Green, Conductor Laureate
MUSICIAN ROSTER
FIRST VIOLINS
Calin Ovidiu Lupanu Concertmaster
The Catherine & Wilton Connor Chair
Joseph Meyer* Associate Concertmaster
Kari Giles
Acting Associate Concertmaster
Hanna Zhdan
Acting Assistant Concertmaster
Susan Blumberg°°
Jane Hart Brendle
Cynthia Burton
Fengwan Chen†
Ayako Gamo
David Horak†
Oliver Kot°°
Lenora Leggatt
Jenny Topilow
Dustin Wilkes-Kim*
SECOND VIOLINS
Kathleen Jarrell, Acting Principal
The Wolfgang Roth Chair
Carlos Tarazona°
Acting Assistant Principal
The Pepsi-Cola Foundation of Charlotte Chair
Monica Boboc
Martha Geissler
Sakira Harley
Laura Herrera†
Tatiana Karpova
Ellyn Stuart
VIOLAS
Benjamin Geller, Principal
The Zoe Bunten Merrillt Principal Viola Chair
Pin-Hao Liao
Assistant Principal
Ellen Ferdon
Wenlong Huang
Pedro Mendez
Viara Stefanova
Ning Zhao
CELLOS
Jon Lewis, Principal
The Kate Whitner McKay Principal Cello Chair
Allison Drenkow
Assistant Principal
Marlene Ballena
Jeremy Lamb
Sarah Markle
Nicco Mazziotto
David Olson
DOUBLE BASSES
Jason McNeel, Acting Principal
Judson Baines, Assistant Principal
Jeffrey Ferdon
Eric Thompson†
HARP
Andrea Mumm Trammell
Principal
The Dr. Billy Graham Chair
FLUTES
Victor Wang, Principal
The Blumenthal Foundation Chair
Amy Orsinger Whitehead
Erinn Frechette
PICCOLO
Erinn Frechette
This roster lists the full-time members of the Charlotte Symphony. The number and seating of musicians on stage varies depending on the piece being performed.
° Non-revolving position
°° Alternates between first and second violins
† Acting member of the Charlotte Symphony
‡ Funded by The Symphony Guild of Charlotte, Inc.
* On leave
OBOES
Timothy Swanson, Principal
The Leo B. Driehuys Chair‡
Erica Cice
Jamison Hillian†
ENGLISH HORN
Erica Cice
CLARINETS
Taylor Marino, Principal
The Gary H. & Carolyn M. Bechtel Chair
Samuel Sparrow
Allan Rosenfeld
E ♭ CLARINET
Samuel Sparrow
BASS CLARINET
Allan Rosenfeld
BASSOONS
AJ Neubert, Principal
Joshua Hood
Nicholas Ritter
CONTRABASSOON
Nicholas Ritter
The CSO is a proud member of the League of American Orchestras.
HORNS
Byron Johns, Principal
The Mr. & Mrs. William H. Van Every Chair
Andrew Fierova
Christopher Caudill†
The Robert E. Rydel, Jr. Third Horn Chair (acting)
Richard Goldfaden
Paige Quillen
TRUMPETS
Alex Wilborn, Principal
The Betty J. Livingstone Chair
Jesdelson Vasquez†
Gianluca Farina†
Acting Associate Principal
The Marcus T. Hickman Chair
Gabriel Slesinger*
TROMBONES
John Bartlett, Principal
Thomas Burge
BASS TROMBONE
Scott Hartman, Principal
TUBA
Colin Benton, Principal
The Governor James G. Martin Chair
TIMPANI
Denis Petrunin, Acting Principal†
The Robert Haywood Morrison Chair
PERCUSSION
Brice Burton, Principal
The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is one of the premier music organizations in the Southeastern United States and the oldest continuously operating symphony orchestra in the Carolinas. As Charlotte’s most active performing arts group, the CSO presents around 150 concerts each season, reaching more than 150,000 music lovers.
The 2025–26 season marks the next chapter in the Charlotte Symphony’s artistic evolution under Music Director Kwamé Ryan. Framed by a season-long exploration of home — reflecting on belonging, identity, and place through a wide range of musical voices — the season offers bold new works, symphonic masterworks, and creative collaborations across the Classical, Pops, Movie, and Family series. Highlights include the debut of the CSO Spotlight Series, an everexpanding look at the work of this season’s CSO Spotlight Artist, Gabriel Kahane; performances of audience favorites like Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Ravel’s Boléro; and more events that showcase the Orchestra’s breadth, from the music of Dolly Parton to Black Panther in Concert. Engaging with more than 15,000 students each year, the Charlotte Symphony nurtures the next generation of musicians and music lovers through its four diverse
youth orchestras, in-school education programs, instrument coaching, and Project Harmony, which offers free afterschool lessons in music and life skills to over 200 students in under-resourced areas. With its new mobile stage, CSO Roadshow, the Symphony extends its reach directly into neighborhoods, bringing live music to communities across the region.
Founded in 1932, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra continues to play a vital cultural role in the region and remains committed to the belief that music, accessible to all, enriches and unites our community.
OUR MISSION
The Charlotte Symphony uplifts, entertains, and educates the diverse communities of CharlotteMecklenburg and beyond through exceptional musical experiences.
OUR VISION
Reaching out through the transformative power of live music, the Charlotte Symphony will be a civic leader, reflecting and uniting our region.
For more information, visit us online at charlottesymphony.org
MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT
Wilborn
PRINCIPAL TRUMPET Alex
CSO Member since September 2018
HOMETOWN: Cookeville, TN
Fun Facts
• Next month, Alex will kick off three Charlotte FC matches, leading the stadium in the club’s traditional National Anthem sing-along.
• By fifth grade, Alex was teaching himself music by listening to band recordings and learning each piece entirely by ear.
• Outside the concert hall, Alex enjoys climbing at Inner Peaks, unwinding with his favorite video games, or enjoying life with his wife, Anne, and their dog, Chonko.
February 20 & 21
BOOTH PLAYHOUSE
FRI & SAT @ 7:30 PM SAT MATINEE @ 2:00 PM
Gather around the Orchestra for a deep dive into the music of Mozart in this intimate, in-the-round concert. Framed by the opening and final movements of Symphony No. 41, the program moves through his early works and iconic musical moments from Don Giovanni and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, offering a rare, up-close perspective on the music and the musicians who bring it to life.
Christopher James Lees, conductor Melinda Whittington, soprano
Program Notes
by Ken Meltzer
Argentum (2017)
Dani Howard
BORN: 1993 in Hong Kong
PREMIERE: September 7, 2017 at Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool, England
Approximate performance time is 7 minutes.
BEHIND THE MUSIC
Born in Hong Kong, British composer Dani Howard was a Rose Williams Scholar at London’s Royal College of Music, where she studied composition with Jonathan Cole, and graduated with first-class honors. Howard has emerged as one of the most gifted composers of her generation. Her works have been commissioned by ensembles and artists throughout the world. Howard was the “Celebrated Composer” of the Bournemouth Symphony for the 2024-25 season, during which 15 of her compositions were performed. Dani Howard has also served as Resident Artist with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.
Argentum (Silver) was the first piece Dani Howard composed for a full-time professional orchestra. Classic FM and the Royal Philharmonic Society commissioned Argentum to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Classic FM. Since its premiere, the energetic, colorful work has received more than 30 performances around the world.
THE COMPOSER SPEAKS
“The piece is all about celebrating 25 years of Classic FM, and I actually included certain quotations from [Handel’s] Zadok the Priest, which was the first piece to ever be broadcast on Classic FM. I really just wanted it to make people feel excited and happy, and to feel like a real celebration.”
–DANI HOWARD
Gabriel Kahane
BORN: July 10, 1981 in Venice Beach, California
2025-26 CSO SPOTLIGHT ARTIST
Pattern of the Rail
Six orchestral songs from Book of Travelers (2019)
PREMIERE: December 7, 2019 in Portland, Oregon
Approximate performance time is 26 minutes.
THE COMPOSER SPEAKS
"The morning after the 2016 presidential election, I packed a suitcase and boarded Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited bound for Chicago. Over the next thirteen days, I talked to dozens of strangers whom I met, primarily, in dining cars aboard the six trains that would carry me some 8,980 miles around the country. The songs on the resulting album, Book of Travelers, were intended as a kind of loose diary of that journey, and as a portrait of America at a time of profound national turbulence. Pattern of the Rail is an act of distillation and expansion: where the original album features ten songs for voice and piano, the orchestral realization herein has just six, organized into three movements with pairs of songs joined by transitional material. It’s my hope that the essential qualities of the album, both its breadth and its intimacy, are more or less preserved in this suite."
– GABRIEL KAHANE, 2019
I. Introduction · Baedeker · Model Trains
Raise a black-heeled sky, Put it up to the moon, Shaking the sand from your mind.
Delay, dead of night, When you reach for the Baedeker, That leather bound book from another time.
Red line for railroad, Black line for river, Carving the country, Sweetbread and liver, Maps that tell secrets, Maps that run backward, Learn to be lost now, Learn to be shattered.
A dream where you don’t feel right, On your knees in an open field, Startled by silence you don’t recognize.
And while light on a thousand lakes Like paths of glass that someone breaks Before the barefoot contortionist makes her grand debut And blood leaks from the frozen moon; You think about the wound, And wonder who will die.
Amber Nebraska, Pink Minnesota, Mint Green Kansas, Blue North Dakota, Red line for railroad, Black line for river, Carving the country, Sweetbread and liver,
Raise a black-heeled sky, Put it up to the moon, Shaking the sand from your mind.
The man who played with model trains In the furnished basement painted black, How it pleased him every day, The pattern of the rail, The pattern of the tiny track.
One night, he slips and hits his head As he reaches for a sleeper car, And the lights keep blinking red, Now level with his eye, His miniature Place de Gare.
The kids knew something wasn’t right In the morning when he kissed them, Oh, he didn’t say a word, And the model trains keep going ‘round.
Showered, shaved but sullied still, With a fist of pink and blue and red, He will swallow every pill To help him with his fear Of getting from the bath to bed, And the model trains keep going ‘round.
Eyes, cased in rime, A face that’s chapped with tiger’s tears. How his wife will mark the time By learning how to love, He’s been like this for seven years.
Now as a last resort
She drives him to the ward In Redding thirty miles away Through the spidered glass, The head-straps and the gas, She watches as they put him under, And the model trains keep going ‘round.
She drives him home in the family car, Stealing glances at this body, strange, The vacant smile, the clean white scar on the man who disappeared, The man who played with model trains, The man who made her laugh, The man who played with model trains.
II. Baltimore · Friends of Friends of Bill
I got the news on the satellite phone: Jason, come home, Jason, dear I heard it on the forest floor
Six years of back country trails to the lake Machete and snake, machete I learned
To cradle in the Old State Park Roosevelt, ‘33, he had a plan For every young man:
Give him an ax and a seed; Give him a pack and a tree; Teach him to care for himself; Give him fresh air for his health; Send money back to family Back to Baltimore
The tallboy convenience store
The indifferent, the endless war And I know what that is And I know what that is And I don’t need it anymore
But I have to go home
Luke was the son of some well-to-do folk; My family was broke, but we became friends The parking lot, the chewed up field I started in the park just as he was going in A hard eight to ten for selling to kids; My momma worked the county jail
Roosevelt’s Tree Army under the sun, The work would be done while America bled by the greed of the rich, The boys planted trees and found God in the pitch, Stared at the sod in each fist, Why am I telling you this? Is it that I’m nervous to be going back? Back to Baltimore.
The tallboy convenience store
The indifferent, the endless war And I know what that is And I know what that is And I don’t need it anymore
But I have to go home
Luke, I guess, got himself into a fight
Took him to the infirmary later that night, Nothing serious, sure, but next morning he died. Then the satellite phone with the crew, Which meant I didn’t cry.
Taking the train to take time for my thoughts, Pregnant with loss, Preparing for all the things that maybe make you feel… I’ll pay my respects and then I’ll take a walk, The neighborhood block, And then I will leave.
Those neighbor kids, they meant no harm Came home from church to find a three-alarm To my sister’s, she gave us a key Three years, one room, two kids and me
But He would lift my burden— All the power, the comfort In His name Is that so much to ask— To believe and be unashamed?
Stay after church, for friends of friends of Bill I tell the story of my son, his need, the pain to kill How I saved all the money, a box in a drawer How I’d give it to him; knew what it was for
But He would lift my burden— All the power, the comfort In His name Is that so much to ask
To believe and be unashamed?
The visits get harder
He lowers his eyes, and every time They get darker I show him the pictures drawn by his kid.
How do you learn you can smother someone with your love?
Isn’t loving at all in this world hard enough? Those neighbor kids, they meant no harm.
III. What if I Told You · October 1, 1939 · Port of Hamburg
What if I told you that I’m on this train
Because my two grown sons were frightened, Me driving through the night
On a stretch of farmstand highway in Mississippi,
Cause they don’t need a hood or a cross or a tree.
What if I told you that I’m headed to a funeral in Tupelo
On the hundred acre farm purchased by my great grandfather
Who learned to read cause his master’s daughter taught him secretly,
Not knowing what kind of schooling his own children would receive
He taught them never to sign their names on anything,
Cause they don’t need a hood or a cross or a tree.
Would he have believed that his great granddaughter
All the way to the Ivy League?
Would he have believed the millions of dollars
And yet still unsafe on that stretch of farmstand highway.
What if I told you that my eldest son loves a white girl, whom I adore, But who lives in a part of town where black man might be mistaken for…
Cause they don’t need a hood or a cross or a tree. No they don’t need a hood or a cross or a tree.
And if I told you all of that, Maybe you could understand Why I have limited sympathy for your desire To know the suffering, Of the working white man. Monica explained in the dinning car As we hurtled South in the growing dark.
“We are traveling through a flat beautiful landscape,” writes my grandmother, “Ancient forests, tress like bewitched figures, thickets of shrubs,” in nineteen thirty nine. “Farmlands, small wooden houses, blue lakes, green village ponds,” her father arrested, then released.
“Now and then cattle, earth covered with high grasses,” fake passports, “Enchanting places where one would like to stop,” a steamship from Hamburg to Havana.
“Now a small wooden church, now a village train depot,” six months on an island, “I wish,” then New Orleans, “I wish then a train to Los Angeles, I wish I could describe,” Where she keeps a diary, “I wish which I reach on a different train, “I wish I could describe each place to you,” almost eighty years to the day…
After school they chant her name, She runs home, she prays, But caught because her father couldn’t quite believe
What ought to have been plain to see, 'Til broken glass was at their feet
And now they could not wait, Some clothes and letters in a crate, They left the cat and drive away,
Steamship, wool sky, all seasick, the tide, She held her breath until at last they got across But they weren’t allowed to dock, All because the country didn’t want to let these people through, Ain't that a familiar tune?
I have to sing it back to you, ‘Cause history don’t have a chance, Drowning in the false, fat present tense, And why would you need to know anything, That happened any earlier than late last week?
Lucky one, she got in, Some papers signed by distant kin, And every night she wrote six postcards, Sent back home, and when she read the brief replies,
My grandmother would start to cry,
The careful script it could not hide
The fear in everyone she read beneath the L.A. sun,
Until the letters did not come...
And history, don’t have chance, Drowning in the false, fat present tense, And why would you need to know anything That happened earlier than late last week?
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
BORN: May 7, 1840 in Kamsko-Votkinsk, Russia
DIED: November 6, 1893 in Saint Petersburg, Russia
Symphony No. 5 in E minor Opus 64 (1888)
PREMIERE: November 17, 1888 in St. Petersburg
Approximate performance time is 47 minutes.
BEHIND THE MUSIC
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed his Fifth Symphony in the summer of 1885. During this period, he was also working on a “Fantasy-Overture,” based upon William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Tchaikovsky completed the Symphony on August 26 and put the finishing touches on the Hamlet “Fantasy-Overture” on October 19.
Tchaikovsky conducted the premiere of his Symphony No. 5 in St. Petersburg on November 17, 1888. In many ways, it was a grand triumph for the composer. At the concert, the orchestra saluted Tchaikovsky with a triple fanfare. He also received an honorary membership in the St. Petersburg Society. The audience greeted the new work with a rousing ovation.
The critics were far less enthusiastic. Tchaikovsky, who frequently battled the demons of self-doubt, soon wrote to his patroness, Nadezhda von Meck: “Having played my Symphony twice in Petersburg and once in Prague, I have come to the conclusion that it is a failure…
Yesterday evening I looked through the Fourth Symphony…How much better and superior it is!”
In March of 1889, Tchaikovsky conducted the work in Hamburg, earning the praises of the orchestra musicians, as well as the great German composer, Johannes Brahms. This reception seemed to buoy his spirits. Tchaikovsky informed his nephew, Vladimir Davïdov: “The Fifth Symphony was magnificently played, and I like it far better now, after having held a bad opinion of it for some time.”
While both the Fourth and Sixth (“Pathétique”) Symphonies contain narrative elements, by his own admission, Tchaikovsky insisted that his Fifth Symphony was not programmatic. However, the progression — with its presentation, frequent reappearance, and dramatic metamorphosis of a central theme — certainly seems to hint at some extra-musical significance. Also, among Tchaikovsky’s sketches for the Fifth are words from the composer suggesting the symphony depicted a confrontation with Fate.
If Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 depicts a struggle with Fate, the resolution seems far more positive than that presented in the Fourth and Sixth Symphonies. But such considerations are, in the final analysis, secondary to the glorious music of this gripping and unforgettable symphonic journey.
WHILE YOU LISTEN
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 is in four movements. Each features the work’s central theme, ominously introduced at the outset by the clarinets.
The slow-tempo second movement offers a radiant outpouring of melody, twice interrupted by savage outbursts of the principal "Fate" theme.
The third movement Waltz concludes with a rather insinuating repetition of the theme, capped by six fortissimo chords.
The Finale opens with a slow-tempo introduction, with the theme transformed for the first time to the major key. After a protracted struggle and dramatic pause, the theme, now cast as a triumphal march, brings the Symphony to a rousing close.
THE COMPOSER SPEAKS
In June, 1885, Tchaikovsky wrote to Nadezhda von Meck:
“Now I shall work my hardest. I am exceedingly anxious to prove to myself, as to others, that I am not played out as a composer…Have I told you that I intend to write a symphony? The beginning was difficult, but now inspiration seems to have come. However, we shall see.”
Nadezhda von Meck, Tchaikovsky's longtime patroness and confidante.
Annual Fund
We gratefully acknowledge these generous donors to the Charlotte Symphony Annual Fund. This list reflects gifts received through February 5, 2026.
BENEFACTOR CIRCLE
$100,000+
Anonymous Jacqueline B. Mars Douglas Young
$50,000 – $99,999
The Fox Family Jane & Hugh McColl*
$25,000 – $49,999
Joan & Mick Ankrom
Ruth & Richard Ault
Dr. Milton & Arlene Berkman Philanthropic Fund
Judith & Mark Brodsky
Catherine & Wilton Connor*
Margarita & Nick Clements
Roberta H. Cochran
Jean & Dick Cornwell
Susan Cybulski
Linda & Bill Farthing
Ralph S. Grier
Maria & John Huson
Ginger Kelly
Sally Gregory & Richard Krumdieck
Betty P. & Jeffrey J. Lee
Patrick J. O'Leary
Richard J. Osborne*
Ann Rehkopf
Pat Rodgers
Carolyn Shaw
Susan & John Shimp
Tara & Ken Walker
$15,000 – $24,999
Joye D. Blount & Jessie J. Knight Jr.
Denise & Peter DeMaio
Robin & Christoph Feddersen
Laurie & Barry Guy
Fran & Greg Hyde
Tanya & Steve Makris
DeDe & Alex McKinnon
Ulrike & Alex Miles
Mica Post Oberkfell & Keith Oberkfell
Debbie & Pat Phillips*
Juliette & Walter Pryor
Cameron & Stuart Sherrill
Melinda & David Snyder
* The CSO recognizes donors of exceptional generosity whose cumulative giving exceeds $1 million with the designation of Music Director Society.
For more information, please contact Mary Nell Johnson at 704.714.5137
Annual Fund Supporters
$10,000 – $14,999
Kristen & Paul Anderson
Katharine & Frank Bragg
Betsy & Alfred Brand
Lynne & Colby Cathey
Jeanie & Tom Cottingham
Peter De Arcangelis
Donna & Alvaro de Molina
Peggy & Richard Dreher
Lisa & Carlos Evans
Drs. Amy & Sidney Fletcher
Eileen Friars & Scott Pyle
Dr. Robert A. Gaines & Toni S. Burke
Caren & Charles Gale
Andrea & Todd Griffith
Susan & Chris Kearney
Robert H. Lee
Leslie & Michael Marsicano
Susan & Loy McKeithen*
Elizabeth & Jay Monge
Robert Norville
Kathy & Paul Reichs
Kelli & Michael Richardson
Rosalind S. Richardson
Sara Garcés Roselli & Dan Roselli
Lindsay & Frank Schall
Glenn Sherrill, Jr. in Honor of Robin Branstrom
Sherry & Thomas Skains
Drs. Jennifer Sullivan & Matthew Sullivan
Ann & Michael Tarwater
Kelly & Neal Taub
Jill & Kevin Walker
Michael Waterford
John Drew Witherington
Lisa & Richard Worf
VIRTUOSO CIRCLE
$5,000 – $9,999
Debbie & Wedge Abels
Carol B. McPhee & Howard P. Adams
The Charlotte Assembly
Dawn Beatty-Batten & Philipp J. Bischoff
Si & Michael Blake
Krisha & Andy Blanchard
Mary & Charles Bowman
Barbara & Twig Branch
Robin & Bill Branstrom
Shirley & Mike Butterworth
Paige & Steve Burgess
Dr. William J. Charles & Dr. Cynthia Nortey
Morgan & Brian Cromwell
Elizabeth & Christopher Daly
Mary & Phil Delk
Mary Anne Dickson
Dorne & Steve Eastwood
Anne O'Byrne & David J.L. Fisk
Joan & Parker Foley
Carol & Ron Follmer
Carrie & Jay Galloway
Sarah & Frank Gentry
Billy L. Gerhart, in memory of Judith Gerhart
Lucia Zapata Griffith & Michael Griffith
Janet M. Haack
Reginald B. Henderson, Esq.
Vivian & Robert Lamb
Anna & Laszlo Littmann
Lina & Enrique Lopez-Ibanez
Stacie McGinn
Susanne & Bill McGuire
Paula & Paul McIntosh
Courtney Reichs Mixon
Emily & Nima Pirzadeh
Judy & Derek Raghavan
Anne Robinson
Nancy & Charlie Robson
Susie & Rick Schnall
Laura A. & Michael J. Schulte
Ylida & Bert Scott
Mr. & Mrs. Harley F. Shuford, Jr.
Parker & Stephen Shuford
Erin & William Sparks
Elizabeth Connor Stewart
Chris & Jim Teat
Nancy & Dick Thigpen
Brienne Tinder
Judith & Gary Toman
Annual Fund Supporters
$5,000 – $9,999 (continued)
Rocky & Curtis Trenkelbach
Daniel Troy in Loving Memory of Kathleen Troy
Molly & Chris Tull
Susan & Paul Vadnais
In Memory of Tess Verbesey
Elizabeth & Stephan Willen
Glenda Colman & Floyd Wisner
Joan H. Zimmerman
Abby & Albert Zue
$3,500 – $4,999
Jan & Bob Busch
Karen Gunther
Christy & Ben Hume
Posey & Mark Mealy
Dick Metzler
Holly & Jason Norvell
Linda & Tony Pace
Suan & Bob Salvin
Teresa & Stuart Singer
Emily & Zach Smith
Dr. Mark R. Swanson
Deborah J. Cox & Bob Szymkiewicz
Karen & Edgar Whitener
$2,500 – $3,499
Harriet B. Barnhardt
Georgia & Bill Belk
Tiffany & Jason Bernd
James Biddlecome in Loving Memory of Bernadette Zirkuli Biddlecome
Lee & Alan Blumenthal
Dr. & Mrs. O. Robert Boehm
Frances & Herbert Browne
Maggie Callen
The Jack H. & Ruth C. Campbell Foundation
Dr. William H. Carson
Drs. Iris Cheng & Daniel Uri
Pauline & Bill Chinnis
Brent Clevenger
Amy & Alfred Dawson
Cheryl DeMaio
Peggy & Charles Dickerson
Elizabeth Betty Eaton
Lucy Quintilliano & Leonard Fumi
Melisa & Frank Galasso
Kara & Timothy Gallagher
Katherine G. Hall
Jennifer & Logan Henderson
Megan & Brendan Hoffman
Leigh & Watts Humphrey
Peggy Hynes
Shirley & Bob Ivey
David S. Jacobson
Christopher James Lees
Meghan & Luis Lluberas
Jim & Kathleen Lynch
Dottie & Jim Martin
Cynthia L. Caldwell & Richard I. McHenry
Dee Dee McKay
Carolyn & Sam McMahon
Debbie Miller & Tim Black
Susan D. Montgomery
Janet & Peter Nixon
Laura & Tom Parrott
Laura Paschall & Brad Glaza
Pamela Pearson & Charles Peach
Dr. Reta R. Phifer
Vincent Philips & Paul Pope
Kathleen D. Prokay
Michelle Richards
Lisa & Robert R. Rollins, Jr.
Dr. & Mrs. Mahesh Sardesai
Jane Perry Shoemaker
Peggy & Pope Shuford
Nancy E. Simpson
Patricia & Morris Spearman
Ken Spielfogel & Richard Withem
Maxine & Robert Stein
Dottie Stowe in Loving Memory of Dickson Stowe
Jean M. Summerville
Jenny & Ken Tolson
Sandy & Greg Vlahos
Deborra Wood & Russell Propst
Barbara Yarbrough
PATRON CIRCLE
$1,500 – $2,499
Anonymous
Sharon Baker & Peter Moore
Merilyn & Craig Baldwin
Katie & Morgan Beggs
Barrie & Mark Benson
Donald H. & Barbara K. Bernstein
Sallie & Derick Close
Dr. & Mrs. Mark Couture
Jean E. Davis & Robert Metzger
Dr. Kandi & Gary Deitemeyer
Martin Ericson, Jr.
Angela M. & Michael D. Helms
Anne J. Henderson
Joan Irwin
Martha D. Jones
Helen & Gene Katz
Ginger Kemp
Mary & Michael Lamach
Lucinda Nisbet Lucas
Dr. & Mrs. Randolph Mahnesmith
Anna Marriott
Annual Fund Supporters
Tammy & Steve Matula
Louise & Gary McCrorie
Cricket Weston & David Molinaro
Joan Morgan
Greater Golf Express
Dr. John & Susan Rae
Brendan Reen
Anne & Mark Riechmann
Donald Schmidt
Dr. Stephen P. Schultz & Donna Dutton
Katy & Raleigh Shoemaker
Rebecca & Eric Smith
Linda Spil
Marsha & Robert L. Stickler
Gretchen & Jean-Claude Thill
Tillie S. Tice
Henry Ward
Grant Webb
Pam West
Bryan Wilhelm
Deems Wilson
Kelly Zellars & James H. Trexler
$1,000 – $1,499
Anonymous (4)
Mariam Abdul Hamid & Ferd Davis
Michele & Ross Annable
Larry Anderson
JWD Atchison
Dianne & Brian Bailey
Elsie & William Barnhardt
Ms. Helen Fowler & Mr. Lincoln A. Baxter
Emerson Bell
Shirley W. Benfield
Samuel Blackmon
Sara & Ethan Blumenthal
Marilyn & Herb Bonkovsky
Jodie & Erik Bowen
In Memory of Kyden Justice Brown
Jane & Larry Cain
Jennifer & Daniel Callahan
Amanda & Kevin Chheda
Rebecca & D. Mark Cody
Ann Thomas Colley
Dorothy & Mike Connor
Dr. & Mrs. Charles E. Cook
Dr. Kilian Cooley
Kathleen Goldammer-Copeland & Mark Copeland
Ann F. Copeland
Larry J. Dagenhart
Heather & Gray Dyer
Caroline & Jed Dyson
Judy & Bob Erb
Heather & Thomas Finke
Kate & Trae Fletcher
Karen Geiger
Jenn & Taylor Gherardi
Carol & Joseph Gigler
Audean & Berkley Godehn
William & Patricia Gorelick Family Foundation
Judith Greene
Joyce & Ed Hamilton
Juliet & Brian Hirsch
Linda & Paul Ibsen
Jennie & Don Johnson
Lea & Stuart Johnson
Priscilla & Michael Johnson
Vickie & Eugene Johnson
Dr. Valerie Kinloch & Mr. Thomas A'Hearn
Joan Kirschner
Marilyn Kroll
Holly & Christopher Maurer
Anna & John McCoy
Arrington Mixon
Sue Lin Tan & Rama Narayanan
Eleanor W. Neal
Mr. & Mrs. E. O. Oakley
Caroline Olzinski
Patricia & James Petillo
Catherine Philpott
Dr. William G. Porter
Susanne & Mark Rascio Family
Joan Rasmussen & Morry Alter
Cynthia & Joseph Riedl
Jennifer & Manley Roberts
Rita & Thomas Robinson
Sally Robinson
Linda Rosenfeld & Fred Krosner
Elizabeth & Robert Rostan
Anjan Shah
Sandra Shuster
Birte & Roman Streitberger
Scott Smith
Tamara & Cassiel Smith
Jennifer & Philip Stafford
Alice & Al Sudduth
Ann & Wellford Tabor
Annette & Eric Telljohann
Catherine Thompson
Libby & Vint Tilson
Tim Timson
Sarah S. Tull
Maureen Turner
Emily & Jeff Vaughan
Victoria & Mark Walker
Dr. & Mrs. Bill Chu & Jin Wang
Rebecca Waters
Linda & Craig Weisbruch
Jennie & Ry Winston
Lauren Wooden
Velva W. Woollen
Alanna & Richard Worrell
Sandy & John Yakob
Annual Fund Supporters
$500 – $999
Anonymous (2)
Lynda & Doug Abel
Daphne A. Banks
Cathy & Bob Becker
Natasha A. Bechtler
Dr. John L. Bennett & Mr. Eric T. Johnson
Mrs. Christine Bieri
Black Notes Project & The Sol Kitchen
Jeffrey Boghosian
James Broadstone
Nelle & Ken Brown
Aram Kim Bryan
Mary Lou & Greg Cagle
Nan & Brooks Carey
Janelle & Todd Collins
Thomas E. Collins, Jr.
Jack Cook
Dedee & Irv Cygler
In Loving Memory of Ruth Jernigan
Gaither & Robert Deaton
Dr. Roy E. DeMeo, Jr. & Ms. Linda A. Evanko
Margaret & George Dewey
Diane & Doug Doak
Dr. Kathleen A. Doman
C. Thomas Fennimore & Gail H. Fennimore
Lucinda & Harvey Gantt
Dr. John & Eileen Gardella
Dr. & Mrs. Richard Gellar
Stacy & Pete Gherardi
Cyndy & Larry Goodgame
Linda & Dan Gordon
Cynthia Greenlee
Gloria Gunst
Johanne & Patrick Hawk
Dr. & Mrs. Michael D. Heafner
Maria Felisa San Andres & Stefan Heinzelmann
Ms. Yvonne DeBeauville & Mr. Roger Hill
Susan Keeble
John J. Kelly, Jr.
Mary & Steven Kesselman
Constance C. & George W. Knight
Linda & Norman Kramer
Maria Kurtz
Jonathan Lamb
Barbara & Jerome Levin
Dr. Elissa & Joshua Levine
John J. Locke
Katherine & Mark Love
Dr. & Mrs. William W. MacDonald
Allison Malter
Rosemarie Marshall & Lee Wilkins
Paula Goolkasian & Francis Martin
Wendy & Ed Matthews
Jill Maxwell
Rob Roy McGregor
Constance & Kiran Mehta
Amanda & Matthew Molbert
Sally Staub Moore
Kimbrel & Tripp Morris
Fran & Gary Morrison
Jennifer & Michael Neurohr
Mary Newsom
Dr. & Mrs. Paul Nitsch
Nancy Olah & Bill Pace
Ynez Olshausen
Gwen Peterson & Tom Hodge
Lisa & Tom Phillips
Janet & Rick Pfeiffer
Barbara M. Pooley
Moira Quinn
Sabine & Haywood Rankin
Emily & Brian Reinicker
Joan & Albert Rodgers
Margaret Rogers & John R. Willis
Betty & Bill Seifert
Michael Silverman
Dr. & Mrs. Henry L. Smith II
Scott Smith
Julia J. Souther
Mary & Bill Staton
Kathryn Stewart, MD, MPH
Susan & Jet Taylor
Molly & Chris Tull
Melanie & James Twyne
Aishwarya & Krishna Varanasi
Kathleen & Henry Ward
Debi Wayne
Signature Web Design
Lyman Welton
Peter White
Karen & Charles Wolff
Judith Wood
The Charlotte Symphony wishes to thank the following companies for matching their employee gifts in support of our Annual Fund Campaign:
Advocate Aurora Health
Albemarle Foundation
Ameriprise
Atrio Health Plans
Bank of America
Corning
Deloitte
Duke Energy
Elasticsearch
EY
Harris Foundation
Honeywell
Johnson Controls
JPMorgan Chase
Lincoln Financial Foundation
Microsoft
Premier Health
TIAA
Truist
Wells Fargo
The Encore Society
The Encore Society includes individuals who have made provisions for the CSO in their estate plans. We are honored to recognize their support:
Anonymous (3)
Geraldine I. Anderson†
Michele & Ross Annable
Richard & Ruth Ault
Baldwin Family Trust
Barnhardt Thomas Trust
Lincoln A. Baxter & Helen M. Fowler
Annette Bedford†
Larry & Joyce Bennett†
Dr. Milton & Arlene Berkman
Donald H. & Barbara K. Bernstein
Mark & Louise Bernstein†
Rosemary Blanchard†
Twig & Barbara Branch
Saul Brenner
Mike & Joan Brown†
Mrs. Joan & George Bruns†
Jan & Bob Busch
Dr. Helen G. Cappleman, Ph.D.†
Jim Cochran† & Robin Cochran
Catherine & Wilton Connor
Charles & Peggy Dickerson
Martin Ericson, Jr.
Linda & Bill Farthing
David J.L. Fisk & Anne P. O’Byrne
Sylvia T. Forsythe†
Dorris H. Goodyear†
Peter & Ann† Guild
William G. & Marguerite K. Huey Fund
Dr. Nish Jamgotch, Jr.†
Betty & Stanley Livingstone†
Lucille F. & Edwin L. Jones
Endowment for the Arts
Polly & Don Kellam†
Jim Martin
Paula & Paul McIntosh
Nellie McCrory†
M. Marie Mitchell†
Cricket Weston & David Molinaro
Joan & Richard Morgan
Francis A. Mueller†
Don C. Niehus
Eva Nove
Richard J. Osborne
Gwen Peterson & Tom Hodge
Gilbert Pirovano†
James Y. Preston†
Mrs. Clayton (Dusty) Pritchett
Ann & Fritz† Rehkopf
Elizabeth Waring Reinhard
Nancy W. Rutledge
Mike Rutledge
Harriet Seabrook
Mr. & Mrs. William Seifert
Morris & Patricia Spearman
Bob & Maxine Stein
Dr. Ben C. Taylor III
Mr. & Mrs. Hans Teich†
Cordelia G. & Dr. Chandler† Thompson
Tim Timson
Jenny & Ken Tolson
Ms. Deborra Wood & Mr. Russell Propst
For more information, please contact Shayne Doty at 704.714.5104.
Comprehensive Campaign
We gratefully acknowledge these generous donors to the Charlotte Symphony Comprehensive Campaign. This list reflects gifts received through August 1, 2025.
$10,000,000+
Bank of America · The C.D. Spangler Foundation
$5,000,000 - $9,999,999
John S. & James L. Knight Foundation
$2,000,000 - $4,999,999
The Leon Levine Foundation · Jane & Hugh McColl
$1,000,000 - $1,999,999
Michele & Ross Annable · Atrium Health · Howard C. & Margaret G. Bissell Foundation Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. · EY · Contributions Associated with Falfurrias Capital Partners
Lynn & Brian Good · Julie & Howard Levine · Susan & Loy McKeithen · Novant Health
$500,000 - $999,999
Anonymous · Arlene & Milton Berkman · Robin & Bill Branstrom · Deloitte
Mary & Mike Lamach · Rich Osborne · Debbie & Pat Phillips · Pat Rodgers · M.A. Rogers
Robert Haywood Morrison Foundation · Trane Technologies · Truist Financial Corporation
$250,000 - $499,999
Cathy Bessant · The Dickson Foundation · The Gambrell Foundation
The Gorelick Family Foundation · Moore & Van Allen PLLC · Janet Preyer Nelson The Trexler Foundation · Ed Weisiger, Jr. & Betsy Fleming
$100,000 - $249,000
Anonymous · Jeannette & Francisco Alvarado · Joan & Mick Ankrom
Ruth & Richard Ault · NCFI/Barnhardt Foundation · Catherine & Wilton Connor
Robin Cochran · Denise & Peter DeMaio · The Dowd Foundation · Linda & Bill Farthing
Fran & Greg Hyde · Dr. Richard Krumdieck & Mrs. Sally Gregory · Elizabeth & Jay Monge
Patricia & Thruston Morton · Steelfab, Inc. · Linda & Craig Weisbruch
Andromeda & John Williams
Comprehensive Campaign
$50,000 - $99,999
Amy & Robert Brinkley · Crescent Communities · The Fox Family · Eileen Friars & Scott Pyle
Mariam & Robert Hayes Charitable Trust · Ulrike & Alex Miles · Dr. Ruth G. Shaw
Chris & Jim Teat · Rita & Bill Vandiver · Lisa & Richard Worf
$10,000 - $49,999
Anonymous Wedge & Debbie Abels · Mary Lou & Jim Babb · Tiffany & Jason Bernd
Frank Bragg · Shirley & Mike Butterworth · Joye Blount & Jesse Knight, Jr.
The Cato Corporation · Margarita & Nick Clements · Mary Delk
Caroline & Ben Dellinger III · Lisa & Carlos Evans · David Fisk & Anne O’Byrne
Averill, Johanna, & Lauren Harkey · Carol & Bill Lorenz · Leslie & Michael Marsicano
Virginia & Chan Martin · DeDe & Alex McKinnon · Posey & Mark Mealy ·
Wanda & Steve Phifer · Ridgely & John Phillips · Dale & Larry Polsky
Judy & Derek Raghavan · Shannon & Eric Reichard · Sara & Daniel Roselli · Lori & Eric Sklut
Emily & Zach Smith · Melinda & David Snyder · Dr. John A. Thompson, Jr. & Dr. Lee Rocamora
Jill & Kevin Walker · Jim Worrell
$5,000 - $9,999
Brian S. Cromwell · Toni Burke & Bob Gaines · Sarah & Frank Gentry · Carol & Joseph Gigler
Lucinda Nisbet Lucas · Dee Dee & William Maxwell · Melissa & Dennis McCrory
Cyndee Patterson · Betty & William Seifert · Peggy & Pope Shuford · Nancy E. Simpson
Drs. Jennifer & Matthew Sullivan · Mary Claire & Dan Wall · Martha Ann & Craig Wardlaw
Corporate Partners
We are grateful for the following outstanding corporate funders: For more information, please contact Tara Spil at 704.714.5138.
We are grateful for the following outstanding foundation and government funders:
Robert Haywood Morrison Foundation
Dowd Foundation, Inc.
The Trexler Foundation
The Dickson Foundation Cole Foundation
Maurer Family Foundation
Triad Foundation
Barnhardt/Thomas Trust
The George W. & Ruth R. Baxter Foundation
The Blumenthal Foundation
The Charlotte Assembly
Minor Foundation, Inc
Music Performance Trust Fund
The Mary Norris Preyer Fund
For more information, please contact Tara Spil at 704.714.5138.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
2025-26 OFFICERS
Richard Krumdieck, Chair
Ulrike Miles, Vice Chair
Melinda Snyder, Vice Chair & Secretary
Denise DeMaio, Treasurer
David Fisk, President & CEO
Kwamé Ryan, Music Director
2025-26
DIRECTORS
Krisha Blanchard
Joye D. Blount
Mike Butterworth
Nick Clements
Sidney Fletcher
Craig Froelich
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Linda McFarland Farthing, Chair
Francisco & Jeannette Alvarado
Paul Anderson
Ruth & Richard Ault
Rachel Gogal Badillo
Arlene & Milton Berkman
Mary & Charles Bowman
Frank Bragg
Robin & Bill Branstrom
Paige & Steve Burgess
Dr. William Charles & Dr. Cynthia Nortey
Derick & Sallie Close
Robin Cochran
Catherine & Wilton Connor
Jeanie & T. Thomas Cottingham III
Brian Cromwell
Susan Cybulski
Marcia & Jason Daily
Alessandra & Pasquale De Martino
Alvaro & Donna de Molina
Peggy & Richard Dreher
Lisa Hudson Evans
Bill Farthing
Karen Fox
Eileen Friars & Scott Pyle
Ralph S. Grier
Laurie Guy
Janet Haack
Reginald B. Henderson, Esq.
Mark & Whitney Jerrell
Jeff Lee
Dee & Joe Marley
Carrie Galloway
Lucia Zapata Griffith
Fran Hyde
Byron Johns*
Valerie Kinloch
Stephen Makris
Juliette Pryor
Manley Roberts*
Sara Garces Roselli
Lindsay Schall
Ylida Scott
Cameron Sherrill
Matthew Spanjers
Jennifer Sullivan
Brienne Tinder*
Andrea Mumm Trammell*
Ken Walker *ex-officio
Gov. James G. Martin
Jane & Hugh McColl
Stacie McGinn
Susan & Loy McKeithen
Alex & DeDe McKinnon
Elizabeth & Jay Monge
Janet Preyer Nelson
Mica Oberkfell
Patrick J. O’Leary
Richard Osborne
Debbie & G. Patrick Phillips
Derek & Judy Raghavan
Paul Reichs
Nancy & Charles Robson
Patricia A. Rodgers
M.A. Rogers
Frank Schall
Laura & Mike Schulte
Carolyn Shaw
Emily Smith
Will Sparks
Elizabeth Connor Stewart
Bob & Marsha Stickler
Kelly & Neal Taub
Adam Taylor
Chris & Jim Teat
Kevin & Jill Walker
Elizabeth & Steve Willen
Braxton Winston
Richard Worf
Joan Zimmerman
Albert Zue
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
EXECUTIVE
David J. L. Fisk
President & CEO
Samantha Hackett
Manager of Executive Administration & Board Relations
ARTISTIC OPERATIONS
Scott Freck
Vice President for Artistic Operations & General Manager
Erin Eady
Director of Orchestra Personnel
Laura Lindsay
Director of Orchestra Operations
Claudia Schmitz
Director of Artistic Planning
Bart Dunn
Principal Music Librarian
Ana Faithe Allen
Operations Coordinator
John Jarrell
Stage Manager
Byron Johns
Senior Stage Technician
Ross Jarrell
Stage Technician
DEVELOPMENT
Shayne Doty
Vice President of Development
Richard Riedl
Associate Vice President of Development
Mary Nell Johnson
Senior Director of Individual Giving
Tara Spil
Director of Corporate & Institutional Giving
Tammy Matula
Director of Development Services
Josh Bottoms
Manager of Corporate & Institutional Giving
Jennifer Gherardi
Manager of Development Services & Events
HUMAN RESOURCES
Maribeth Baker
Human Resources Counselor
FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION
Christian Drake
Vice President of Finance & Administration
Amy Hine
HR Coordinator & Office Administrator
Kensloe Norrington
Staff Accountant
Chazin & Company, Financial Services
LEARNING & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Aram Kim Bryan
Vice President of Community Relations & Learning
Dylan Lloyd
Senior Manager of Youth Orchestras
Mark Rockwood
Senior Manager of Youth Education
Michaela Sciacca
Senior Manager of Youth Programs
Gavin Fulker
Education Programs Assistant
Bria Alexander Community Engagement Assistant
MA RKETING & AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
Frank Impelluso
Vice President of Marketing & Audience Development
Deirdre Roddin
Director of Institutional Marketing & Communications
Nicole Glaza
Senior Manager of Digital Marketing
Laura Thomas
Senior Manager of Marketing & Audience Development
Chad Calvert
Visual Communications Manager
Meghan Cole
Patron Experience Manager
Garrett Whiffen
Ticketing Manager
