Program Book - CSO for Kids: Global Perspectives

Around the world, musicians come together to play string, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments. Together they form an orchestra.

With the members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, we’ll set out on a musical journey to discover orchestral music from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.

Our journey starts in Europe because that’s where the symphony orchestra was invented almost 300 years ago.

At age 30, Ludwig van Beethoven composed Symphony No. 1 to honor Joseph Haydn, who was known as “The Father of the Symphony,” and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. As you listen, notice how the music begins quietly in the violins and then turns playful as the whole orchestra joins in.

Global Perspectives

PERFORMERS

Members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

François López-Ferrer conductor

Kasey Foster guest artist

PROGRAM INCLUDES SELECTIONS FROM

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 1

GRIEG Suite No. 1 from Peer Gynt

BOULANGER D’un matin de printemps

TAKEMITSU Three Film Scores

GRAINGER Shepherd’s Hey

OKPEBHOLO Kutimbua Kivumbi (Stomp the Dust!)

COPLAND Hoe-Down from Rodeo

GINASTERA Variaciones Concertantes

STRAUSS-DESENNE Tritsch-Tratsch/Triqui-Traqui

EUROPE

Our next stop in Europe is in Norway, where composer Edvard Grieg lived. Morning Mood is part of Grieg’s Peer Gynt and was written as incidental music for Henrik Ibsen’s play by the same name. As you listen to the music, close your eyes and imagine a sunrise. Notice how the orchestra plays the same five notes over and over in different ways.

EUROPE

Our last stop in Europe is France. Born into a musical family, composer Lili Boulanger wrote D’un matin de printemps (Of a Spring Morning) in 1917 with her sister, Nadia. In 1913, Lili Boulanger became the first woman to win the Prix de Rome, the most prestigious composition prize of its time. As you listen, think about the mood she was in when she wrote this music.

Now we’re off to Asia and the music of Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu. He taught himself how to compose in a Western style by listening to the music of European composers, but his music still retains certain traditional Japanese elements. This piece is Takemitsu’s version of a German dance, the waltz, for the Japanese film “Face of Another.” What do you feel when listening to this music?

AUSTRALIA AFRICA

ASIA

We’re going to Australia next to hear the music of composer Percy Grainger. When he was a young boy, he was a very famous pianist who liked to play the music of Edvard Grieg. Grainger was inspired by Grieg’s use of Norwegian folk tunes, so he took the English and Australian folk songs he knew and arranged them for orchestra. How do you think you will feel after listening to Shepherd’s Hey?

Grammy-nominated composer Shawn Okpebholo lives right here in Illinois, but his family is originally from Nigeria, in Africa. His Kutimbua Kivumbi (Stomp the Dust!) was inspired by a trip that he took to Kenya, where he studied the music of the Machakos region. The music captures the ceremony of the Akamba people dancing for rain and rising dust as well as an elephant trumpeting. Listen for it!

FUN FACT: Shawn Okpebholo was conductor François López-Ferrer’s first composition teacher at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

G'DaY

kenya

japan

melbourne

HaBaRi

KoN'NiCHiWa

We now make our way to the United States, where the countryside inspired Aaron Copland to create music that celebrates the American West. When composing Hoe-Down from Rodeo, Copland used an Irish American folk-dance tune called “Bonaparte’s Retreat.” As you listen, imagine the sun is setting on a large open field and up on a hill sits a barn; coming from the barn, you hear people dancing to the music of Copland’s Hoe-Down.

ANOTHER FUN FACT: Copland studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, sister of Lili Boulanger. Nadia’s musical diversity inspired Copland to write music in a variety of styles.

Down to South America we go to hear the music of Alberto Ginastera, one of the most important 20th-century classical composers. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ginastera was a musically talented child who studied at Tanglewood with Aaron Copland. His Variaciones Concertantes mixes in elements of traditional Argentinian folk music. Listen for the brass section and tap your feet to the malambo, a dance performed by Argentina’s gauchos (cowboys).

Paul Desenne, a Venezuelan cellist and composer, used a compositional style that fuses elements from Latin American and European music. In his piece, Tritsch-Tratsch/Triqui-Traqui, Desenne took Johann Strauss’ famous Tritsch-Tratsch Polka and gave it a Caribbean twist. Have fun as you listen to this joyous piece. Did it make you want to move in your seat?

SOUTH AMERICA

Music is both a local and universal language. It smiles, cries, laughs and speaks to who we are as individuals and as people. Sights and sounds from across the globe influence artists to produce works of art that reflect the feelings inspired by these places. It doesn’t matter where music started or where it finishes; we are all music, and music is us.

Hola

venezuela

Meet the Conductor

Francois Lopez-Ferrer

Spanish-American conductor

François López-Ferrer currently serves as resident conductor of the Académie of the Opéra de Paris. He stepped in for Louis Langrée with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in January 2022 for the U.S. premiere of Mark Simpson’s Violin Concerto with Nicola Benedetti to great critical acclaim. He holds a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne and a bachelor’s in composition from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

He grew up in Cincinnati while his father, Jesús López Cobos, was music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Meet the guest artist

Kasey Foster

Kasey Foster is a performer, producer, director, choreographer and puppeteer. She is an ensemble member and artistic lead at Lookingglass Theatre and the events manager for Actors Gymnasium. She sings with Babelon 5, Grood, Nasty Buoy, Old Timey and This Must Be the Band, appearing in venues throughout the city and the United States. She has created and directed more than 50 original works in Chicago and most recently appeared in Mesmerized at Chicago Children’s Theatre.

violins

Robert Chen Concertmaster

The Louis C. Sudler Chair, endowed

by an anonymous benefactor

Stephanie Jeong Associate Concertmaster

The Cathy and Bill Osborn Chair

David Taylor Assistant Concertmaster*

The Ling Z. and Michael C. Markovitz Chair

Yuan-Qing Yu Assistant Concertmaster‡

So Young Bae

Cornelius Chiu

Gina DiBello

Kozue Funakoshi

Russell Hershow

Qing Hou

Matous Michal

Simon Michal

Blair Milton

Sando Shia

Susan Synnestvedt

Rong-Yan Tang

Baird Dodge Principal

Danny Yehun Jin Assistant Principal

Lei Hou

Ni Mei

Hermine Gagné

Rachel Goldstein

Mihaela Ionescu

Sylvia Kim Kilcullen

Melanie Kupchynsky

Wendy Koons Meir

Joyce Noh

Nancy Park

Ronald Satkiewicz

Florence Schwartz

violas

Catherine Brubaker

Youming Chen

Sunghee Choi

Wei-Ting Kuo

Danny Lai

Weijing Michal

Diane Mues

Lawrence Neuman

Max Raimi

cellos

John Sharp Principal

The Eloise W. Martin Chair

Kenneth Olsen Assistant Principal

The Adele Gidwitz Chair

Karen Basrak

The Joseph A. and Cecile

Renaud Gorno Chair

Loren Brown

Richard Hirschl

Daniel Katz

Katinka Kleijn

David Sanders

Brant Taylor

basses

Alexander Hanna Principal

The David and Mary Winton

Green Principal Bass Chair

Daniel Carson

Ian Hallas

Alexander Horton

Robert Kassinger

Mark Kraemer

Stephen Lester

Bradley Opland

Andrew Sommer

harp

Lynne Turner

flutes

Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson Principal

The Erika and Dietrich M.

Gross Principal Flute Chair

Yevgeny Faniuk Assistant Principal

Emma Gerstein

Jennifer Gunn

piccolo

Jennifer Gunn

The Dora and John Aalbregtse

Piccolo Chair

oboes

William Welter Principal

The Nancy and Larry Fuller

Principal Oboe Chair

Lora Schaefer

Scott Hostetler

english horn

Scott Hostetler

clarinets

Stephen Williamson Principal

John Bruce Yeh Assistant Principal

Gregory Smith

e-flat clarinet

John Bruce Yeh

bassoons

Keith Buncke Principal

William Buchman Assistant Principal

Miles Maner

horns

Mark Almond Principal

James Smelser

David Griffin

Oto Carrillo

Susanna Gaunt

Daniel Gingrich

trumpets

Esteban Batallán Principal

The Adolph Herseth Principal Trumpet Chair, endowed by an anonymous benefactor

Mark Ridenour Assistant Principal

John Hagstrom

The Bleck Family Chair

Tage Larsen

The Pritzker Military Museum & Library Chair

trombones

Jay Friedman Principal

The Lisa and Paul Wiggin

Principal Trombone Chair

Michael Mulcahy

Charles Vernon

bass trombone

Charles Vernon

tuba

Gene Pokorny Principal

The Arnold Jacobs Principal Tuba Chair, endowed by Christine Querfeld

timpani

David Herbert Principal

The Clinton Family Fund Chair

Vadim Karpinos Assistant Principal

percussion

Cynthia Yeh Principal

Patricia Dash

Vadim Karpinos

James Ross

librarians

Justin Vibbard Principal

Carole Keller

Mark Swanson

cso fellows

Gabriela Lara Violin

Jesús Linárez Violin

Olivia Reyes Bass

orchestra personnel

John Deverman Director

Anne MacQuarrie Manager, CSO Auditions and Orchestra Personnel

stage technicians

Christopher Lewis Stage Manager

Blair Carlson

Paul Christopher

Ryan Hartge

Peter Landry

Joshua Mondie

Todd Snick

* Assistant concertmasters are listed by seniority. ‡ On sabbatical § On leave

The CSO’s music director position is endowed in perpetuity by a generous gift from the Zell Family Foundation. The Paul Hindemith Principal Viola, Gilchrist Foundation, and Louise H. Benton Wagner chairs currently are unoccupied.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra string sections utilize revolving seating. Players behind the first desk (first two desks in the violins) change seats systematically every two weeks and are listed alphabetically. Section percussionists also are listed alphabetically.

INSTRUMENTS OF THE ORCHESTRA

THE STRING FAMILY includes violin, viola, cello, bass and harp. These instruments are made of wood and strings and are played by vibrating the strings using a bow, or plucking or striking the strings with the fingers.

THE WOODWIND FAMILY includes flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and saxophone. These instruments all have the same basic shape: a long tube with a mouthpiece at one end. The flute is played by blowing across a mouthpiece to create a vibration. Oboe, clarinet, bassoon and saxophone are all played by blowing air into a single or double reed attached to the mouthpiece, creating a vibration that results in sound.

THE BRASS FAMILY includes horn, trumpet, trombone, euphonium and tuba. Brass instruments make a sound when the players vibrate their lips inside a mouthpiece, which is fitted into the instrument. The players can change pitch on a trumpet, horn or tuba by pressing on valves. Trombone players change pitch by moving the slide back and forth.

THE PERCUSSION FAMILY includes snare drum, bass drum, gong, triangle, xylophone, timpani and piano, among many others. Percussion instruments are struck, scraped or shaken.

Support for Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association programming for children and families is provided by Abbott Fund, Archer Daniels Midland Company, John D. and Leslie Henner Burns, John Hart and Carol Prins, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Kinder Morgan, PNC, Courtney Shea, Megan and Steve Shebik, Michael and Linda Simon, the Walter and Caroline Sueske Charitable Trust and an anonymous family foundation.

Youth Education Program Sponsor

Kidsbook© is a publication of the Negaunee Music Institute. For more information, call 312-294-3410 or email institute@cso.org.

Content for Kidsbook was created by Katy Clusen with graphic design by Shawn Sheehy.

Violin

Flute

Trombone

Timpani

Snare Drum

Xylophone

Cymbal

Bassoon

Saxophone

Tuba Horn

Viola Cello

Piano

Bass Harp