Evening Concert Series
Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall
2023 – 2024 Season
Tuesday, October 3rd at 7:30 PM
Crane Symphony Orchestra
Adrian Slywotzky, conductor
Festive Overture (1944) William Grant Still (1895 – 1978)
Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber (1943)
Allegro
Turandot, Scherzo
Andantino
Marsch
Paul Hindemith (1895 – 1963)
Flute
Sabrina Clubine
Caleigh Dutton
Elsie Munsterteiger
Julie Williams
Oboe
Annelise Herschbein
Christopher Mavrogian
Molly Murphy
Clarinet
Nick Alvarez
Libby Sheldon
Bass Clarinet
Jovany Rivers
Bassoon
Liam Hill
Kerri Rauschelbach
Horn
Ryan Eckl
Tyler Kraft
Michael P. Shipps
Mary Schlanger
Trumpet
Jacob Rushlow
Dillon Niles*
Rebecca Wertenberger
Trombone
Victor Mainetti
Jeremy Ong
Aaron Baldwin
Tuba
Analiese Meidenbauer
PERSONNEL
Percussion
Hailey Gomez
Quinn Kinney
Brianna Lizzo
Aidan Sherwood*
Gracie Wahl
Bailey Yerdon
Harp
Ricky Chui
Celesta
John Oswald
Violin 1
RJ Ahern-Stetson
Madison Ballou
Stephen Borgia
Kaitlyn Caragiulo
John DiSpaltro
Holly Goddard
Paolina Iori*
Carlos Martinez
Maia Regan
Aidan Sperduti
Michael Wong
Violin 2
Hannah Carlson
Gwendolyn Caro
Shannon Darby
Noelle Gottfried
Jess Jaworski
Chris Lee*
Olivia Minarich
Emma Oliveri
Natalie Pontikes
Amanda Quintanilla
Alyssa Spina
Morgan Stolz
Viola
Ricky Chui
Lola Gehman*
Kenny Gonzalez
Victoria Lorenzi
Ella Roth
Finn Sanders
Tyler Schiavone
Brendan Travers
Kiersten Wazny
Cello
Olivia Brigham
Emily Buliung
Olivia Charleston
Maggie King
Serenity Laird
Emma Norris*
Lauren Pacholec
Miranda Paulino
Mirabel Sasiela
Hannah Tufano
Maya Rose Waletzky
Bass
Matthew Barron
Shawn Berman*
Charlie Centeno
Melody Cheng
Nicholas Dwarika
Molly Martelotta
Logan Monti
Ethan Schatz
Andrew Sennoga-Kimuli
* = principal
PROGRAM NOTES
William Grant Still
Symphonic Metamorphosis (1943) Paul Hindemith
William Grant Still and Paul Hindemith were born six months and an ocean apart in 1895 Still in Woodville, Mississippi; Hindemith in Hanau, Germany. For two men whose careers and compositional styles would unfold so differently, their biographies include some striking parallels. Both began their musical training in childhood, with violin lessons. In their mid-twenties, both encountered and embraced jazz: Still worked directly with such luminaries as W.C. Handy, Fletcher Henderson, Paul Whiteman, Artie Shaw, and Sophie Tucker; meanwhile, across theAtlantic, Hindemith was experimenting with incorporating jazz influences into classical forms, most explicitly in his Suite 1922 (whose movement titles include “Shimmy” and “Ragtime”).
Both composers benefited from artistic collaborations with their wives. VernaArvey, who married Still, was a pianist and a writer. Starting in 1939 (the year of their marriage), she wrote the libretti to Still’s operatic works. Hindemith’s wife Gertrud was a cellist, pianist, singer, and actress. The Hindemiths put on house music concerts together; the music they played included pieces by Weber for piano four-hands that would provide the themes for Symphonic Metamorphosis.
The pieces on this evening’s program appeared within a year of each other, in 1943-44. By the 1940s, Still was recognized as the preeminent BlackAmerican composer of symphonic music. He was the first BlackAmerican to conduct a major symphony orchestra in the U.S.; the first to have an opera produced by a major company; and the first to have an opera nationally televised. By this time, Hindemith was in the U.S. as well. His music had been declared “degenerate” and eventually had been banned by the Nazis. After two years in Switzerland, the Hindemiths moved to the U.S. in 1940.
Still’s Festive Overture is a characteristically evocative and colorful piece each episode is a world unto itself, appearing with cinematic clarity. Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis, as its title suggests, is a complete transformation of the source material. The themes come from Weber’s incidental music for the play Turandot (based on the same story that had inspired Puccini’s earlier opera), as well as the piano duos that Paul and Gertrud played together. In many ways this piece is really a “concerto for orchestra” in particular, the Scherzo features the sections of the orchestra in turn, showing off the unique characteristics, colors, and abilities of each instrument family.
