11.14.23 Crane Symphony Orchestra and Latin Ensemble

Evening Concert Series Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall

2023 – 2024 Season Tuesday. November 14th at 7:30 PM

The Music of Gregoria Karides Suchy A Centennial Celebration Crane Latin Ensemble Peter McCoy, director

Crane Symphony Orchestra Adrian Slywotzky, conductor Dancing Dynasty Ariana’s Tango (2000) Alexia’s Rhumba (2002) Mara’s Cha Cha Cha (2008) Crane Latin Ensemble Brief Pause Three Lovers (1960) Mountain Rascal Wretched Loser Happy Suitor Argument: Mother and Daughter (Diamánto) (1960) Greek Rhapsody (1951) Crane Symphony Orchestra

Gregoria Karides Suchy (1923 – 2018)

Crane Latin Ensemble Saxophone Claire Ames Jonathan Elliott Nora Gehlhoff Kevin Malone Eric Waters Trumpet Casey Asaro Molly Collins Daniel Isak Brian McNamara Frank Pietraniello Trombone Aaron Baldwin Elliott Borden Jon Langton Aidan Sears Rhythm Section Shawn Berman, bass Luke-Coyne Connolly, percussion Joshua Gambee, piano Quinn Kinney, percussion Brianna Lizzo, percussion Gracie Wahl, percussion

Crane Symphony Orchestra 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 John Lithco

Percussion Quinn Kinney Brianna Lizzo Aidan Sherwood* Gracie Wahl Bailey Yerdon Harp Ricky Chui Piano 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 Shawn Berman* Charlie Centeno Melody Cheng Nicholas Dwarika Molly Martellotta Logan Monti Ethan Schatz Andrew Sennoga-Kimuli * = principal

PROGRAM NOTES

Gregoria Karides Suchy (1923-2018) wrote for a variety of media, including electronic. Her compositions, many of which received awards and prizes, have been performed by eminent artists and groups including the New York Contemporary Chamber Ensemble; the International Society of Contemporary Music; Rudolph Ganz, piano; Leonard Sorkin and Gerald Fischbach, violins; also,

the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (American Composers Festival); and the National Association of Composers-USA. “Greg,” as she was known, was born into a Greek immigrant extended family of photographers and musicians. This ethnic influence can be heard in some of her most frequently performed works, Twelve Greek Maxims, Greek Rhapsody, and Three Lovers. Yet she wrote: Although my Greek heritage provided my first musical experiences, and though I feel those ethnic rhythms and modal melodies to be part of my very essence, I have never felt restricted or bound by those musical impulses. Rather, I have always enjoyed setting new compositional parameters for myself, be it an odd combination of instruments or timbres, the pre-determined necessities of a ballet, the enrichment of multimedia, the confines of serialism, or the artistic exploration of the technological frontier. I do not feel as if I have only one style or any preferable genre, and I am still exploring. It is the joy of the challenge and the fulfillment of creating that exhilarate me, and this I wish for all of my students...

As Professor of Composition and Music Technology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she taught for over fifty years, she was a passionate teacher. Her own mentors included J. Thomas Oakes, Anthony Donato, Alexander Tcherepnin, Rudolph Ganz, and Ralph Shapey.

Composition for me is sometimes a flurry, a tumultuous engulfing of ideas.

More often, it is a painstaking process of inspired crafting guided by a dash of dependable intuition. My best efforts have often come in the middle of the night or in the dark hours of the morning when the world was remote and the ideas buried within could speak more clearly to me. Composing is often a lonely process, the initial nakedness of one’s ideas makes retreat seem desirable, but then the musical thoughts are clothed and ready to be set forth into the world. That is an exciting, yet formidable moment. Will others share the beauty I sense? Perhaps it shouldn't matter; I compose neither just for myself nor solely for others, but simply because I must.

Dancing Dynasty (2000-2008) The three pieces that comprise Dancing Dynasty were written as part of Gregoria Karides Suchy’s many contributions to her students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. These dances were a composition donation to the annual Grand Viennese Ball, a spectacular scholarship fundraiser for the Peck School of

the Arts that ran for over thirty years. In between sets of Strauss waltzes played by the UWM orchestra, the UWM Jazz Ensemble would perform, and it was during that time that these pieces were played. These dances, written after she retired, were truly a labor of love, a special expression to a school at which she taught for fifty-three years. Yet, as their titles suggest, they carry messages of another sort of love: that of a grandmother for her granddaughters, and later as as a mother for her daughters (she wrote a fourth dance for her older daughter, “Jessica’s Fox Trot”, that is still in manuscript form).

Three Lovers (1960) Three Lovers, originally written for two pianos, consists of a trio of programmatic sketches based on authentic Greek folk songs and dances that have been imbued with a strong contemporary texture. “Mountain Rascal” portrays a virile and mischievous youth aptly characterized via the zeïmbekikos, Τα ούλα σου, a dance in an asymmetrical 9/8 rhythm (2+2+2+3). A slow 3/8 tsamikos proves an appropriate vehicle to represent the lamenting “Wretched Loser”. In contrast, the carefree “Happy Suitor” is well-depicted with a lively 7/8 syrtos, another circle dance. Three Lovers received the first prize award in the composition contest sponsored by the Chicago Musicians Club of Women in 1960 and was premiered by the International Society for Contemporary Music in Chicago in 1961. The subsequent orchestral version received performances by the Milwaukee Symphony during the “Symphony on Campus” concerts, first under the direction of Arthur Weisburg and later, Kenneth Schermerhorn.

Argument (1960) Argument: Mother and Daughter (Diamánto), as scored for two pianos, was written in 1960, and scored for full orchestra almost immediately. Then, perhaps in 1961, she made some revisions to the two-piano version. She also left pencil markings in the orchestral score regarding updating this to match the revised piano version. Sometimes, she listed the title in reverse: “‘Diamánto’ aka Argument: Mother and Daughter.” “Diamánto” is the folk song that formed the basis for this work. In each verse of the song, the mother makes a request of the daughter in the antecedent phrase. The daughter then makes excuses for why she won’t comply. Each request is more important and demanding. In the orchestral version, the mother is represented by the strings and the daughter, by the woodwinds. The brass insert commentary, almost in the fashion of an ancient Greek chorus, or perhaps these interspersions are the mother’s humphs of

frustration. It is interesting, perhaps telling, to note that in the piano revision, the composer extends the piece by ten measures during which the daughter finally acquiesces (“Giving in” is marked in the two-piano score) and the mother emerges triumphant. The orchestral score lacked this conclusion, but the composer left a note to herself to include it. Unfortunately, “life is short and art, long” (Hippocrates); her oldest daughter (whom the composer referred to as “obstreperous,” and who may well have inspired the choice of folk song, as well as the triumphant ending) has now orchestrated these measures and added them to the score. No programs, recordings or reviews have come to light of either the two-piano or the orchestral versions, nor were there any orchestral parts. Thus, this performance is the world premiere of the orchestral version—another wonderful happening on the centenary of her birth.

Greek Rhapsody (1951) Greek Rhapsody (῾Ελληνική Ραψωδία), written in 1951, brings to life Greek folk songs and dances remembered from the composer’s childhood, when, since the age of nine, she played them in the family’s Greek Folk Music Ensemble for countless celebrations. The composer wrote that this piece “is deliberately and unabashedly tonal [and] is the only one of my orchestral pieces which can be so characterized.”

The piece is in three sections. The first, marked as Allegro Vivace, is a vigorous hasapiko (butcher’s dance), a circle dance in a driving duple meter. This is followed by the cadenza-like A Piacere section based on a Klephtic song. The Klephts were Greek nationalists who, refusing to live under Ottoman Turkish rule, lived as brigands in the mountains during the 400 years of occupation and became the warfighting core of a revolutionary army in Greece’s War of Independence (1821-1829). This plaintive unmeasured melody with rich melismatic ornamentation is first introduced by the solo flute and answered by a solo viola.

The conversation continues when a solo clarinet accompanied by soft timpani is answered by the flute and then the viola. The timpani then lead the listener into the final section based on the well-known folk song, Vangelió, the 7/8 time signature subdivided as 3+2+2 is typical of the syrto, also a circle dance. As this final section progresses, the hasapiko melody returns, woven into the melodic fabric. As the piece builds toward its climax, the themes are presented contrapuntally and in modal transformations, and the use of polyrhythms and polytonalities intensifies. The original hasapiko melody is juxtaposed in rhythmic augmentation as the piece accelerates into a frenzied fortissimo ending.

Greek Rhapsody was performed by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra during its five-day “Symphony on Campus” visit in April 1967 with Arthur Weisberg conducting. Among its subsequent performances, it was highlighted in the 2010 Boston Marathon concert of the Metrowest Symphony Orchestra to celebrate the Hellenic origins of the marathon.

One very special observation about the programming this evening. There was another note attached to the orchestral score of Argument where the composer suggested that this piece would make a good pairing with either Three Lovers or Greek Rhapsody. It is a delightful thought that, on the actual date that would have been Gregoria Karides Suchy’s 100th birthday, this wish would come to fruition for the very first time—and doubly so, since all three works are programmed together. Αιὠνἰα σου ἠ μνἠμη, μάνα μου!