Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, February 2024

AT L A N TA SY M P H O N Y O R C H E S T R A

FEBRUARY 2024

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F E B R UA RY

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I N T R O D U C T I O N S In Tune. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Music Director.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ASO Leadership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ASO Musicians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Carlos Simon Interview. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Multi-Year Donor Recognition. . . . . . . 18 N OT E S

O N

T H E

P R O G R A M

Written by Noel Morris

February 1, 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 February 15, 16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 February 22, 24, 25. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 D E PA R T M E N T S ASO Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Henry Sopkin Circle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 ASO Staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

age 14 P Carlos Simon: Curating a Concert with a Powerful Social Conscience A conversation with Phil Kloer

Woodruff Circle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Benefactor Circle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

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2 | encore Our audience is your audience.

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4 | encore ASO | IN TUNE

W

elcome to Symphony Hall and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra! We are delighted you are here and are excited to share great concerts with you this February.

TODD HALL

DEAR FRIENDS:

A major highlight this month (Feb 22-25) is the powerhouse ASO Chorus and ASO performing one of the most dramatic choral/orchestral works, Verdi’s Requiem, with enormous performing forces under the baton of Nathalie Stutzmann. It gives me chills to remember past ASO performances of this work, and hearing Nathalie’s unique take on it will be fascinating.

Another concert this month (Feb 15-16) highlights a theme that runs through the ASO’s history: our relationship to the rich, muti-generational legacy of Black composers who have impacted the city and our Orchestra. This is the topic of an in-depth, thought-provoking article from the November edition of The Bitter Southerner. Written by Jon Ross, “The Classical Jewels of the Black Mecca,” underscores the impact the ASO and these composers have had on classical music in the United States, focusing on composers in the current generation (including Carlos Simon, Joel Thompson and Brian Raphael Nabors) and before when TJ Anderson (1960's) and Alvin Singleton (1980's) served as ASO composers-in-residence.

The impetus for the article was the program curated by composer Carlos Simon, a native Atlantan and Morehouse alum. Simon speaks fondly of his memories of growing up with the ASO, being inspired by Singleton and enjoying singing with the Morehouse Glee Club. Simon’s career has led him to the highest pinnacles of classical music, serving as Composer-in-Residence at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and receiving commissions from major orchestras, opera companies and performers all over the country. But Atlanta remains close to his heart, and his music is inspired by a powerful social consciousness. We are excited to share the program he curated for his hometown which features many local composers and performers.

In addition to our public concerts, we continue our Students at the Symphony concert series, which serves about 15,000 students from around the region. It’s just one of the many services to our community that we’re able to offer thanks to your support of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. We appreciate your support!

With gratitude,

Jennifer Barlament, Executive Director

aso.org | @AtlantaSymphony | facebook.com/AtlantaSymphony

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ASO | NATHALIE STUTZMANN

N

athalie Stutzmann is the Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the second woman in history to lead a major American orchestra. She is also the Principal Guest Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra.

When Nathalie made her spectacular debut at the 2023 Bayreuth Festival leading Wagner’s Tannhäuser, BR Klassik observed having “never experienced such a standing ovation at a pit debut in Bayreuth.” Last season also saw her acclaimed debut at the Metropolitan Opera with productions of both Die Zauberflöte and Don Giovanni that The New York Times declared “the coup of the year.”

During the 23-24 season, she leads the Atlanta Symphony in a West Coast tour and twelve programs spanning some of her favorite core repertoire from Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms and Ravel through to the large symphonic forces of Mahler, Strauss and Tchaikovsky, along with a Bruckner festival marking the composer’s 200th anniversary. With The Philadelphia Orchestra, she returns to New York for her much-anticipated Carnegie Hall debut.

AUDRA MELTON

She was awarded the 2023 Opus Klassik “Concerto Recording of the Year” for her recording of Glière and Mosolov Harp concertos with Xavier de Maistre and WDR Sinfonieorchester.

Gramophone praised her 2022 recording of the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos as “a brilliant collaboration that I urge you to not miss.” Nathalie Stutzmann is an exclusive recording artist for Warner Classics/Erato.

As one of today’s most esteemed contraltos, she has made more than 80 recordings and received the most prestigious awards. Recognized for her significant contribution to the arts, Nathalie was named “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur,” France’s highest honor; and “Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” by the French government.

Congratulations to Nathalie Stutzmann on winning Germany's OPER! AWARDS "Best Conductor 2023"!

8 | encore ASO | LEADERSHIP | 2023/24 Board of Directors OFFICERS Patrick Viguerie

Bert Mills

Susan Antinori

James Rubright

chair

treasurer

vice chair

vice chair

Janine Brown

Angela Evans

Lynn Eden

immediate past chair

secretary

vice chair

DIRECTORS Phyllis Abramson

Carlos del Rio, M.D. FIDSA

Randolph J. Koporc

Doug Reid

Keith Adams

Carrie Kurlander

James Rubright

Juliet M. Allan

Lisa DiFrancesco, M.D.

James H. Landon

William Schultz

Susan Antinori

Sloane Drake

Donna Lee

Charles Sharbaugh

Andrew Bailey

Lynn Eden

Sukai Liu

Fahim Siddiqui

Keith Barnett

Yelena Epova

Kevin Lyman

W. Ross Singletary, II

Jennifer Barlament*

Angela Evans

Deborah Marlowe

John Sparrow

Paul Blackney

Craig Frankel

Shelley McGehee

Elliott Tapp

Zachary Boeding*

Sally Bogle Gable

Arthur Mills IV

Brett Tarver

Janine Brown

Anne Game

Bert Mills

Maria Todorova

Benjamin Q. Brunt

Rod Garcia-Escudero

Molly Minnear

S. Patrick Viguerie

Betsy Camp

Sally Frost George

Hala Moddelmog*

Kathy Waller

S. Wright Caughman, M.D.

Robert Glustrom

Anne Morgan

Chris Webber

Bonnie B. Harris

Terence L. Neal

Richard S. White, Jr.

Lisa Chang

Charles Harrison

Galen Lee Oelkers

Susan Clare

Tad Hutcheson, Jr.

Dr. John Paddock

Kevin E. Woods, M.D., M.P.H.

Russell Currey

Roya Irvani

Margie Painter

Sheila Lee Davies

Joia M. Johnson

Howard D. Palefsky

Erroll Brown Davis, Jr.

Chris Kopecky

Barbara N. Paul

BOARD OF COUNSELORS Neil Berman

John T. Glover

Penelope McPhee

Ray Uttenhove

Rita Bloom

Dona Humphreys

Patricia H. Reid

Chilton Varner

John W. Cooledge, M.D. Aaron J. Johnson, Jr.

Joyce Schwob

Adair M. White

John R. Donnell, Jr.

James F. Kelley

John A Sibley, III

Sue Sigmon Williams

Jere A. Drummond

Patricia Leake

H. Hamilton Smith

Carla Fackler

Karole F. Lloyd

G. Kimbrough Taylor, Jr.

Charles B. Ginden

Meghan H. Magruder

Michael W. Trapp

LIFE DIRECTORS Howell E. Adams, Jr.

C. Merrell Calhoun

Ben F. Johnson, III

Connie Calhoun

Azira G. Hill

John B. White, Jr.

*Ex-Officio Board Member

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10 | encore ASO | 2023/24 Musician Roster Nathalie Stutzmann music director

The Robert Reid Topping Chair

FIRST VIOLIN David Coucheron concertmaster

Jay Christy

acting associate / assistant principal

The Mr. & Mrs. Howard R. Peevy Chair

Dae Hee Ahn

Justin Bruns

Noriko Konno Clift

associate concertmaster

Robert Anemone

The Charles McKenzie Taylor Chair

David Dillard

Vacant

Eun Young Jung

assistant concertmaster

Eleanor Kosek

Jun-Ching Lin

Yaxin Tan

assistant concertmaster

Rachel Ostler

Anastasia Agapova acting assistant

VIOLA

concertmaster

Zhenwei Shi

Kevin Chen Carolyn Toll Hancock The Wells Fargo Chair

John Meisner Christopher Pulgram Juan R. Ramírez Hernández Olga Shpitko Kenn Wagner Lisa Wiedman Yancich Sissi Yuqing Zhang SECTION VIOLIN ‡ Judith Cox Raymond Leung The Carolyn McClatchey Chair

principal

The Frances Cheney Boggs Chair

Isabel Kwon Nathan Mo Brad Ritchie Denielle Wilson BASS Joseph McFadden principal

The Marcia & John Donnell Chair

Gloria Jones Allgood associate principal

Michael Kenady

associate principal

The Jane Little Chair

The Mary & Lawrence Gellerstedt Chair

Michael Kurth

Catherine Lynn

Karl Fenner

Nicholas Scholefield

assistant principal

Daniel Tosky

Marian Kent

FLUTE

Yang-Yoon Kim

Christina Smith

Yiyin Li

principal

Jessica Oudin

The Jill Hertz Chair The Mabel Dorn Reeder Honorary Chair

Madeline Sharp

Robert Cronin

Lachlan McBane

principal

Sou-Chun Su acting / associate principal

Ray Kim

Paul Murphy

SECOND VIOLIN

The Atlanta Symphony Associates Chair

The UPS Foundation Chair

The Lucy R. & Gary Lee Jr. Chair

CELLO

principal

Joel Dallow

The Edus H. & Harriet H. Warren Chair

Sanford Salzinger Vacant

Thomas Carpenter

Vacant The Miriam & John Conant Chair

Daniel Laufer acting / associate principal

associate principal

C. Todd Skitch Gina Hughes PICCOLO Gina Hughes

The Livingston Foundation Chair

OBOE

Karen Freer

Elizabeth Koch Tiscione

acting associate / assistant principal

principal

The George M. & Corrie Hoyt Brown Chair

Players in string sections are listed alphabetically

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William R. Langley associate conductor &

atlanta symphony youth

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Norman Mackenzie director of choruses

The Frannie & Bill Graves Chair

orchestra music director

The Zeist Foundation Chair

Zachary Boeding

HORN

TIMPANI

associate principal

Ryan Little

Mark Yancich

principal

principal

The Betty Sands Fuller Chair

The Walter H. Bunzl Chair

Jonathan Gentry

Jack Bryant

Michael Stubbart

Emily Brebach

Kimberly Gilman

assistant principal

ENGLISH HORN

Bruce Kenney

PERCUSSION

Emily Brebach

TRUMPET

Joseph Petrasek

CLARINET

Vacant

The Kendeda Fund Chair

Samuel Nemec*

Jesse McCandless principal

The Robert Shaw Chair

Ted Gurch* associate principal

Marci Gurnow acting associate principal

Julianna Darby Alcides Rodriguez E-FLAT CLARINET Ted Gurch* BASS CLARINET Alcides Rodriguez BASSOON Vacant principal

The Abraham J. & Phyllis Katz Foundation Chair

Anthony Georgeson acting / associate principal Laura Najarian Juan de Gomar CONTRA-BASSOON Juan de Gomar

principal

The Madeline & Howell Adams Chair

Michael Tiscione acting / associate principal Mark Maliniak acting / associate principal Anthony Limoncelli* William Cooper TROMBONE Vacant principal

The Terence L. Neal Chair, Honoring his dedication & service to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Nathan Zgonc acting / associate principal The Home Depot Veterans Chair

Jason Patrick Robins BASS TROMBONE

principal

The Julie & Arthur Montgomery Chair

Michael Jarrett assistant principal

The William A. Schwartz Chair

Michael Stubbart The Connie & Merrell Calhoun Chair

HARP Elisabeth Remy Johnson principal

The Sally & Carl Gable Chair

KEYBOARD The Hugh & Jessie Hodgson Memorial Chair

Peter Marshall † Sharon Berenson † LIBRARY Joshua Luty principal

Chance Gompart

The Marianna & Solon Patterson Chair

Jordan Milek Johnson

Sara Baguyos

Fellow

TUBA Michael Moore principal

associate principal librarian

GUEST CONDUCTOR Neil and Sue Williams Chair

The Delta Air Lines Chair

Joshua Williams fellow

Zeist Foundation ASO Fellowship Chair ‡ Rotates between sections | * Leave of absence | † Regularly engaged musician

Members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Advisory Council

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Advisory Council is a group of passionate & engaged individuals who act as both ambassadors & resources for the ASO Board & staff. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra extends heartfelt gratitude to the members 2023/24 CHAIRS Jane Morrison advisory council chair

Justin Im internal connections

task force co-chair Robert Lewis, Jr.

internal connections task force co-chair

Frances Root patron experience task force chair

Eleina Raines diversity & community connections task force co-chair

Otis Threatt diversity & community connections task force

Robert Lewis, Jr. Herschel Beazley Eunice Luke Meredith W. Bell Erin Marshall Carol Brantley & David Webster Belinda Massafra Tracey Chu Ed and Linda McGinn Donald & Barbara Erica McVicker Defoe Berthe & Shapour Paul & Susan Dimmick Mobasser Bernadette Drankoski Bert Mobley John & Catherine Dyer Caroline & Phil Moïse Mary Ann Flinn Sue Morgan Bruce Flower Jane Morrison John Fuller Gary Noble Alex Garcias Regina Olchowski Dr. Paul Gilreath Bethani Oppenheimer Tucker Green Chris Owes

Caroline Hofland Justin Im MEMBERS Baxter Jones & Dr. Marshall & Jiong Yan Stephanie Abes Jon Kamenear Krystal Ahn Brian & Ann Kimsey Paul & Melody Aldo Jason & Michelle Kroh Kristi & Aadu Allpere Scott Lampert Evelyn Babey Dr. Fulton Lewis III & Asad & Sakina Bashey Mr. Neal Rhoney co-chair

Ralph Paulk Fay & Ann Pearce Eliza Quigley Eleina Raines Leonard Reed Vicki Riedel Felicia Rives Frances A. Root Tiffany & Rich Rosetti Thomas & Lynne

Saylor Beverly & Milton Shlapak Suzanne Shull Baker Smith Cindy Smith Peter & Kristi Stathopoulos Tom & Ani Steele Kimberly Strong Beth and Edward Sugarman Stephen & Sonia Swartz George & Amy Taylor Bob & Dede Thompson Otis Threatt Jr. Cathy Toren Roxanne Varzi Robert & Amy Vassey Juliana Vincenzino Nanette Wenger Christopher Wilbanks Kiki Wilson Taylor Winn Camille Yow

For more information about becoming an Advisory Council member, please contact Cheri Snyder at cheri.snyder@atlantasymphony.org or 404.733.4904. aso.org | @AtlantaSymphony | facebook.com/AtlantaSymphony

Carlos Simon:

Curating a Concert with a Powerful Social Conscience

A conversation with Phil Kloer

encoreatlanta.com

G

rowing up in Atlanta, Carlos Simon never attended the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

“Tickets were just too expensive for our family,” he recalls.

More than that, his father, pastor of Galilee Way of the Cross Church in College Park, discouraged any music other than gospel in the Simon home.

So when the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra contacted him a year and a half ago and asked him to curate a special program, Simon felt called to make it one that would reflect both the Black experience in music and his own journey in becoming one of the premier Black classical composers in the United States. A composer in residence at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., where he lives, he is also an associate professor at Georgetown University.

“When they approached me,” he says, “I remembered singing in the Morehouse Glee Club with the ASO with Robert Spano about 2004, singing Porgy and Bess, singing Beethoven’s Ninth. It changed my life.

“I said I’m going to have a piece performed by the Atlanta Symphony someday. But I had no idea how to get there.”

Simon’s family moved from Washington, D.C., to East Point when he was 10. “East Point at the time was not what it is today,” he says.

“Now it’s up and coming, but then it was kind of the hood.”

His father’s church provided a community and was “the center of everything” when he was a boy. But his friends were all clued into the latest hip-hop hits, and he was clueless.

“I’m still playing catch-up,” he says with a chuckle.

Attending Tri-Cities High School in East Point, alma mater of Outkast’s Big Boi and Andre 3000, he flourished in the performing arts, learned piano and composition, and was exposed to the breadth of Black music.

Although he had been limited to a diet of mostly gospel, he discovered, as he frames it now, “A lot of Black music, including jazz, hip hop, and gospel, is birthed out of extreme hardship. Even if it’s positive, it comes out of something that is dark. And that’s one thing I learned: Hip hop had the same DNA as gospel music.”

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16 | encore After earning his PhD at the University of Michigan, Simon taught music at both Spelman and Morehouse Colleges, before moving to Georgetown University in 2019. In 2021, he received the Sphinx Medal of Excellence from the Sphinx Organization His compositions reflect his interest in social justice. Elegy is dedicated to Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and Michael Brown, and Requiem for the Enslaved combines spirituals, hip hop and elements of the Latin Mass to tell the story of slaves once owned by Georgetown University.

The ASO program Simon has assembled reflects his eclecticism, so it includes spirituals, arias from European composers, and ring dance music. “We wanted something where everyday people who don’t normally go to the Atlanta Symphony could have something to take away,” he says.

It was also important for Simon, a Morehouse grad, to honor the importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); the glee clubs of Morehouse and Spelman Colleges are both on tap for the evening.

“I wanted to highlight the role of HBCUs, particularly in classical music. Brian Major and I were at Morehouse at the same time, and we have him singing an aria and a spiritual. Same thing with soprano Kearstin Piper Brown.”

Finally, the evening showcases Simon’s passion for social justice, closing with brea(d)th, his 35-minute composition about the killing of George Floyd, in collaboration with poet/librettist Marc Bamuthi Joseph. The two men spent three years talking to people in Minneapolis who had known Floyd to write the piece.

“We talk about the [killing] in brea(d)th, but it’s more about the future and what we need to do collectively to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and being aware of how much work needs to be done for equity,” he says.

It was commissioned by the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra and premiered there in April 2023. “The greatest compliment we received was from his aunt,” he says. “It was: ‘You listened.’

WE'RE LISTENING “And that was the greatest part, listening to them To learn more about the talking about him and who he was, not what you ASO's work on accessibility, saw on CNN. diversity and inclusion, “Hopefully,” he adds, “it was something George please visit aso.org/dei Floyd would have wanted to hear.” aso.org | @AtlantaSymphony | facebook.com/AtlantaSymphony

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Alexander Malofeev, piano Sunday, March 17

Emanuel Ax, piano Sunday, April 14

18 | encore

Multi-Year Donor Recognition

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is grateful to the following donors who have pledged to continue their Annual Fund support for three years or more. These generous multi-year commitments provide valuable support and stability that allows the ASO to continue creating our music and transforming lives through its power.

A Friend of the Symphony Paul & Melody Aldo The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation Farideh & Al Azadi Foundation Anthony Barbagallo & Kristen Fowks Jack & Helga Beam The Molly Blank Fund of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Patricia & William Buss Ms. Lisa V. Chang Mr. & Mrs. Erroll B. Davis, Jr. Mr. Richard H. Delay & Dr. Francine D. Dykes

Paulette Eastman & Becky Pryor Anderson* Ms. Angela L. Evans Lettie Pate Evans Foundation Bruce W. & Avery C. Flower Mr. & Mrs. Richard Goodsell Abraham J. & Phyllis Katz Foundation The Marcus Foundation, Inc. John & Linda Matthews Sue Morgan Jane Morrison Janice & Tom Munsterman

Ms. Margaret Painter Sally & Pete Parsonson Tiffany & Rich Rosetti June & John Scott In memory of Elizabeth B. Stephens

by Powell, Preston & Sally George & Amy Taylor Carolyn C. Thorsen Ann Marie & John B. White, Jr.°

aso.org | @AtlantaSymphony | facebook.com/AtlantaSymphony

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Season Sponsors

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We are deeply grateful to the following leadership donors whose generous support has made the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's season possible.

22 | feb1/3 Concerts of Thursday, February 1, 2024, at 8:00 PM Saturday, February 3, 2024, at 8:00 PM GEMMA NEW, conductor JOSEPH PETRASEK, percussion THE GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY SINGERS DEANNA JOSEPH, director THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA HODGSON SINGERS

SALINA FISHER (b. 1993) Rainphase (2015)

10 MIN

ADAM SCHOENBERG (b. 1980) Losing Earth: Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra (2019) 24 MIN Joseph Petrasek, percussion INTERMISSION

20 MIN

GUSTAV HOLST (1874-1934) The Planets, Op. 32 (1917) 51 MIN I. Mars, the Bringer of War II. Venus, the Bringer of Peace III. Mercury, the Winged Messenger IV. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity V. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age VI. Uranus, the Magician VII. Neptune, the Mystic The Georgia State University Singers The University of Georgia Hodgson Singers

DANIEL BARA, director

The use of cameras or recording devices during the concert is strictly prohibited. Please be kind to those around you and silence your mobile phone and other hand-held devices.

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notesontheprogram

by Noel Morris Program Annotator

Rainphase

These are the first ASO performances.

Rainphase is scored for three flutes (one doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, three clarinets (one doubling bass clarinet), two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, two harps and strings.

S

alina Fisher is an award-winning New Zealand composer based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. Her highly evocative music often draws on her Japanese heritage, as well as a fascination with the natural world. Her music has been commissioned by ensembles including New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, Marmen Quartet, New Zealand String Quartet, NZTrio; and performed worldwide, including at Lincoln Center, Philharmonie Berlin, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and The Kennedy Center. She won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award for Rainphase (2016) and Tōrino – echoes on pūtōrino improvisations by Rob Thorne (2017), and has received awards from Fulbright, The Arts Foundation, Creative NZ, and CANZ. She is a graduate of Manhattan School of Music, New York, and New Zealand School of Music – Te Kōkī, Victoria University of Wellington, where she was Composer-in-Residence in 2019–2020, and is currently Teaching Fellow in Composition.

From the composer:

F

or quite some time, the beauty and chaos of Wellington rain has inspired me to respond musically. My orchestral work Rainphase draws on characteristics of water as rain: its shape and shapelessness, transparency and density, energy and calm, and its capacity for reflection in both a literal and emotional sense.

Structurally, it flows through various stages of this “phase” in the water cycle: last rays diminishing as grey clouds form; droplets released; a frenzy of water and wind; all collecting in streams. I’m particularly fascinated by the variation in sound and movement of raindrops depending on the material upon which they fall, and the texture created when these countless individual timbres and rhythms happen all at once.

The ending evokes a memorable moment of obscure beauty that I experienced on a still night last winter. Heavy rain had transformed empty streets into blurry mirrors, reflecting warm glows of street and traffic lights.

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24 | encore ​ ainphase was written for the 2015 NZSO National Youth Orchestra R (Composer-in-Residence) and was awarded the 2016 SOUNZ Contemporary Award Losing Earth: Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra In addition to solo percussion, this concerto is scored for three flutes (two doubling piccolo), three oboes (one doubling English horn), three B-flat clarinets (one doubling E-flat clarinet, one doubling bass clarinet), two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets (two doubling piccolo trumpet), three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, piano, celeste, electric bass and strings.

E

mmy Award-winning and GRAMMY®-nominated Adam Schoenberg has twice been named among the Top 10 most performed living composers by orchestras in the United States. With more than 200 orchestral performances worldwide, his works have been performed by such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic at The Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, and Hollywood Bowl among others. His numerous achievements include the Goddard Lieberson Fellowship and Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts & Letters, as well as the MacDowell Fellowship in both 2009 and 2010.

These are the first ASO performances.

Schoenberg’s orchestral debut album “Adam Schoenberg: American Symphony, Finding Rothko & Picture Studies” with Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony was nominated for three GRAMMYs, including Best Contemporary Classical Composition. Enjoying a vast discography, the year 2022 brought two new releases: “The Blakemore Trio Plays Music of Adam Schoenberg” under the Blue Griffin label, and “Migration,” featuring his Symphony No. 2, under the Reference Recordings label.

For film and TV, Schoenberg has composed soundtracks for several productions including Graceland, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival; PBS’s That Far Corner: Frank Lloyd Wright in Los Angeles, which received two Emmy Awards; and ABC’s Nightline theme package. Schoenberg routinely writes music for museums such as Dubai’s Museum of the Future and works on curated sound installations.

Schoenberg received his Doctor of Musical Arts from The Juilliard

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CONCERTS

Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty

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26 | encore School where he studied with John Corigliano, Academy Awardwinning composer for The Red Violin. He is a tenured professor at Occidental College where he teaches composition and film scoring.

From the composer:

O

n August 1, 2018, the New York Times Magazine published “Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change,” by Nathaniel Rich. After reading this haunting article, I could feel myself becoming fearful of our future. Of what was to come. We’ve been aware of global warming for quite some time, but I was suddenly beginning to wonder how this would ultimately affect my children. Would they survive? Would the earth survive?

When I was first commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony to write this piece, I began to think about the history of percussion and how it can be traced back to the beginning of time. It is the most earthy and grounded of instruments, and in many cultures is considered to be the heartbeat of music. With the ability to make rhythm, keep time, and create melody, drums were a way for our ancestors to communicate love and joy, danger and survival.

They have also traditionally been at the center of oral history, with percussionists being the storytellers. Second only to the human voice, this instrument has watched the earth endure all its phases, including the devastation that is now beginning to emerge because of global warming. Losing Earth pays homage to this history.

The piece begins with a march that is meant to represent our mundane day-to-day existence; the experiences that we inevitably take for granted, as we become absorbed in our daily lives. But as the march progresses, disruptions begin to occur. These rhythmic breaks represent the natural occurrences and/or disasters that are affecting our cities and towns on a daily basis. Living in Southern California, we experience about 10,000 earthquakes every year, most of which go completely unnoticed until they reach a certain magnitude. Our endless sunny days seem to now idle somewhere between extreme heat/drought and torrential downpours. And in the past few years we have been plagued by countless brushfires that have devastated many of our coastal communities beyond repair. Only when nature begins alerting us to the problem, are we suddenly forced to stop and finally pay attention.

After the march like section comes to a screeching halt, we enter the second section of the piece, which represents the inevitable loss of our beloved coastline. With our sea levels quickly rising, will the

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majority of this land be under water in a couple of decades? Will the cliffs of Santa Monica suddenly become beachfront property?

I wanted to create a movement that captured what it would be like if Mother Nature reclaimed our beaches, and we all simply faded into the ocean. The vibraphone sets up a slow, oscillating world that is meant to reflect a sense of being underwater. This is a very atmospheric and dreamy section, featuring multiple string divisions and gentle winds and brass.

As the second section comes to an end, a dark texture slowly emerges and helps transition us to the third and final section of the concerto. This represents the imminent call to action that is needed in order to try and save our world. We’ve already lost so much time, but if we have any hope of repairing what exists, then we must take immediate action.

Section three is the “scherzo” of the concerto and is super fast, featuring highly virtuosic mallet writing with simultaneous kick drum, temple blocks, granite blocks, and other wood and metal. The music is both relentless and aggressive. But like all of my music, I strive to create a sense of hope and optimism towards the end.

A somewhat pop-oriented chord progression and groove emerges, and a number of intertwining melodies enter soon after. The sense of promise then slowly fades away, and we momentarily return to the opening of the piece—creating a cyclical timeline that mimics the different stages of our lives and that of our earth.

Losing Earth is written for and dedicated to Jake Nissly. A dear friend, fellow father, and one of the greatest living percussionists in the world.

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28 | encore First ASO performances: November 13-16, 1975 Robert Shaw, conductor Most recent ASO performances: June 13-14, 2013 Robert Spano, conductor

The Planets, Op. 32 The Planets is scored for offstage female chorus, two piccolos, four flutes, bass flute, three oboes, bass oboe, English horn, three clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons, contrabassoon, six horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tenor tuba, bass tuba, timpani (two players), orchestra bells, chimes, xylophone, tam-tam, side drum, triangle, tambourine, cymbals, suspended cymbal, bass drum, two harps, celesta, organ, and strings.

B

ritish composer Gustav Holst had an appetite for the unusual. When he was in his 20s, his passion for Hindu philosophy inspired him to learn the ancient IndoEuropean language of Sanskrit. In 1913, astrology piqued his interest, and he learned to cast horoscopes.

Holst had been a sickly child. Neuritis in his hands forced him to give up the piano. With the outbreak of war in 1914, he attempted to enlist but was declared physically unfit.

Burdened with poor eyesight and asthma, he channeled his energy into a piece about the planet Mars, the celestial body associated with war. By 1916, he’d written six more “planets,” excluding Earth. Calling these compositions “mood pieces,” he conceived them as character portraits reflecting each planet’s personality traits or astrological qualities. Not to be confused with astronomy, Holst arranged his planets according to the houses of the zodiac rather than their distance from the sun.

In 1918, he accepted a military assignment to go to Greece and organize musical activities for the troops. As a send-off, his friends gathered at Queen’s Hall for a private performance of The Planets conducted by Adrian Boult. The first public performance of the complete Planets took place in 1920.

Mars, the Bringer of War Characterized by aggression and anger, the second-smallest planet takes its name from the Roman God of War. Mars represents primal energy and a desire to dominate. According to Boult, Mars was the composer’s commentary on the “stupidity of war.”

Venus, the Bringer of Peace Due to a runaway greenhouse effect, Venus is the warmest planet, with a surface temperature of around 900 degrees Fahrenheit.

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Named for the Roman goddess of love, Venus radiates love, beauty and harmony.

Mercury, the Winged Messenger Closest to the sun, Mercury speeds through the solar system, making four trips around the sun for every Earth year. Associated with information, Mercury takes its name from the deity who served as the messenger to the gods. In Holst’s score, the orchestra’s nervous energy and virtuosic flights of fancy point to the mercurial nature of Mercury.

Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity A gas giant named for the king of the gods, the largest planet represents optimism, prosperity and generosity. Sometimes called Jove, the planet Jupiter represents a jolly or jovial atmosphere.

Later, Holst combined a theme from this movement with a poem by Sir Cecil Spring Rice to compose the patriotic hymn “I Vow to Thee, My Country.”

Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age The most distant planet visible to the naked eye, the ringed giant was thought outermost by the ancients. Astrologers associate Saturn with limitations, illness, depression and restrictions.

Uranus, the Magician Orbiting the sun on its side, one season on Uranus lasts 21 earth years. Ironically, its astrological profile is associated with change, upheaval, innovation and discovery. Uranus rules outer space and the higher mind.

Neptune, the Mystic Invisible to the naked eye, Neptune remained hidden until a French astronomer used mathematics to explain its gravitational pull on Uranus. Astronomers later confirmed Neptune’s existence with the use of a telescope. Neptune takes 165 Earth years—two human lifetimes—to complete its orbit around the sun and is associated with things unseen—intuition, dreams and the subconscious. Holst adds an off-stage women’s chorus at the end of this movement, amplifying its air of mystery.

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30 | meettheartists GEMMA NEW, CONDUCTOR

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ought after for her insightful interpretations and dynamic presence, New Zealand-born Gemma New is the recipient of the prestigious 2021 Sir George Solti Conducting Award.

The 2023/24 season will mark New’s ninth and final season as Music Director of Canada’s Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, and her second season as Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

In Summer 2023, New made debuts at the BBC Proms with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, and she returned to the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

New regularly appears with top orchestras in North America and Europe, having conducted the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, WDR Sinfonieorchester, BBC Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National d’Ile de France and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

For four seasons, New held the title of Principal Guest Conductor with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. A proponent of new music, New offered programs that featured works by Angélica Negrón and the World Premiere of Katherine Balch’s Cello Concerto.

ROY COX

New served for four seasons as Resident Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, where she was Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. In her final season, she led the 2019/20 season-opening concerts of the St. Louis Symphony and conducted a concert broadcast live with Chris Thile on the nationally syndicated variety show "Live From Here".

A former Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New served previously as Associate Conductor of the New Jersey Symphony.

Committed to new music, New made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2013 on works by John Adams and Andrew Norman. In 2010, she founded the Lunar Ensemble, a nine-member contemporary music ensemble that premiered 30 works over six seasons.

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New holds a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting from the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and she graduated with honors from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand with a Bachelor of Music in violin performance.

More information on Gemma New can be found at www.gemmanew.com. Management for Gemma New: Primo Artists, New York, NY, www.primoartists.com.

JOSEPH PETRASEK, PERCUSSION

J

oseph Petrasek was appointed Principal Percussionist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 2017, and Principal Percussionist of the Colorado Music Festival in 2019. Previously, he served as Associate Principal Percussionist of the Kansas City Symphony for eight seasons, and as a percussion fellow in the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida.

Joseph has appeared as Guest Principal with the San Francisco Symphony, and has also performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Petrasek is also on the percussion faculty at the University of Miami Frost School of Music.

Originally from Southern California, Joseph earned his bachelor's degree at UCLA studying under Mitchell Peters, former Timpanist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He went on to receive a master's degree at Temple University, studying with Philadelphia Orchestra percussionists Alan Abel and Angela Zator-Nelson.

Mr. Petrasek lives in Atlanta with his wife, Jessica, and their daughter, Sophia. He enjoys cooking and learning about wine.

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32 | meettheartists THE GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY SINGERS he international award-winning Georgia State University Singers is the School of Music’s premier vocal ensemble.

Selected by competitive audition, the choir represents the diverse population of Georgia State. In May of 2017, the University Singers won first place in the renowned Marktoberdorf International Chamber Choir Competition during a tour of Austria and Germany. In May of 2013, the University Singers competed in La Florilège Vocal de Tours where they placed second overall in the mixed choir category.

The choir’s first professional recording, Evening Hymn (Gothic Records), is available on iTunes, Amazon and wherever CD’s are sold. The ensemble’s invited performances include appearances before the Georgia Music Educators Association, American Choral Directors Association and at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards.

Members of the GSU University Singers have been featured on The Walking Dead and the ensemble has performed with Andrea Bocelli. Additional tours have taken them throughout much of the United States, including Carnegie Hall on two occasions and six international tours with stops in France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Yugoslavia, Finland, Russian Estonia, Canada and Great Britain.

T

THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA HODGSON SINGERS he international award-winning Hodgson Singers is UGA’s premiere choral ensemble made up of many of the university’s most talented and dedicated singers. Students are eligible for membership in Hodgson Singers only after participating in one of the other UGA choral ensembles for at least one semester and passing a thorough audition process.

In 2014, the UGA Hodgson Singers won the prestigious International Choral Competition Ave Verum in Baden, Austria.

The choir took "Grand Prix Ave Verum," the competition's top prize, out of 10 selected choirs from the US, Italy, Hungary, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Austria, and the Philippines. Judges were from Austria, Finland, Germany, Spain, and the US. The Hodgson Singers is primarily made up of advanced undergraduate and graduate student singers. Because of its more rigorous schedule of rehearsals and performances both on and off-campus throughout the year, this ensemble requires students to make a full-year commitment. The Hodgson Singers perform under the direction of Dr. Daniel Bara.

T

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34 | feb15/16 Concerts of Thursday, February 15, 2024, at 8:00 PM Friday, February 16, 2024, at 8:00 PM CARLOS SIMON, curator JONATHAN RUSH, conductor KEARSTIN PIPER BROWN, soprano BRIAN MAJOR, baritone BAMUTHI, spoken word artist SPELMAN COLLEGE GLEE CLUB DR. KEVIN JOHNSON, director MOREHOUSE COLLEGE GLEE CLUB DR. DAVID MORROW, director

Presented by:

CARLOS SIMON (b. 1986) “Ring Shout” from Four Black American Dances (2023) 5 MIN Traditional arr. Hale Smith Four Negro Spirituals for Soprano and Orchestra 13 MIN Let Us Break Bread Together Jesus, Lay Your Head in The Window This Little Light of Mine Witness Kearstin Piper Brown, soprano GUSTAVE CHARPENTIER (1860–1956) “Depuis le jour” from Louise (1900) Kearstin Piper Brown, soprano Traditional arr. B.E. Boykin Go Down, Moses Spelman College Glee Club RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO (1857–1919) “Si può? Si può?” from Pagliacci Brian Major, baritone

5 MIN

5 MIN

6 MIN

Traditional arr. Moses Hogan There’s a Man Goin' Round Taking Names 3 MIN Brian Major, baritone Spelman College Glee Club Morehouse College Glee Club HOWARD GOODALL (b. 1958) "Lacrymosa" from Eternal Light: A Requiem (2008) 3 MIN Brian Major, baritone Spelman College Glee Club Morehouse College Glee Club

The use of cameras or recording devices during the concert is strictly prohibited. Please be kind to those around you and silence your mobile phone and other hand-held devices.

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notesontheprogram

by Noel Morris Program Annotator

BABATUNDE OLATUNJI (1927-2003) arr. Wendell Whalum Betelehemu Morehouse College Glee Club Traditional arr. Uzee Brown, Jr. We Shall Overcome Spelman College Glee Club Morehouse College Glee Club INTERMISSION

6 MIN

6 MIN

20 MIN

CARLOS SIMON (b. 1986) MARC BAMUTHI JOSEPH (b. 1975) brea(d)th, for Spoken Word, Orchestra and Chorus (2023) 35 MIN Prologue Breath Elegy Bread Breadth (The final three movements are played without pause.)

Marc Bamuthi Joseph, spoken word artist Spelman College Glee Club Morehouse College Glee Club

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TERRANCE RAGLAND

36 | encore Carlos Simon

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PHOTO CREDIT

arlos Simon writes music for a range of instruments; inspirations from gospel, jazz, and Neo-Romanticism permeate his works. He currently serves as composer-inresidence at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. An Atlanta native, Simon graduated from Morehouse College and comes from a long line of preachers who infused family life with the sound of gospel music.

“We could maybe sneak in a little jazz, you know, maybe a little classical . . . That’s what opened my ears . . . the off chance that there was classical music playing on the radio in the car,” he told The Washington Post. “And I was like, ‘What is that sound?’ . . . it’s incredible. And so that led me down the path of discovering . . .

Beethoven and Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky.” Today, he is a multigenre composer who explores social activism through his art.

He writes about this program: When I was asked to curate a concert in partnership with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, my first thought was to include Morehouse and Spelman Colleges. It is impossible to truly quantify the impact of the Historically Black College and University (specifically Morehouse and Spelman) on the nation and the world. Particularly in music, many students (like me) come to the music department with little or no experience in technical training in music, but somehow leave the institution proficient enough to make lasting and iconic imprints on the music industry. My goal was to showcase just a sample of the talent that has been fostered from these two institutions through the performance of Spelman and Morehouse Glee Clubs, graduates Brian Major and Kearstin Piper Brown and through compositions written by alumni. I have curated this program with thinking about Black identity, social justice, anti-racism, perseverance, healing and a call to action for a better tomorrow.

“Ring Shout” from Four Black American Dances

A

note from the composer:

“Dance has always been a part of any culture. Particularly in Black American communities, dance is and has been the fabric of social gatherings. There have been hundreds, perhaps thousands of dances created over the span of American history that have originated from the social climate of American slavery, Reconstruction and Jim Crow.

This piece is an orchestral study of the music that is associated with

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38 | encore the Ring Shout, the Waltz, Tap Dance and the Holy Dance. All of these dances are but a mere representation of the wide range of cultural and social differences within the Black American communities.

“A ring shout is an ecstatic, transcendent religious ritual, first practiced by enslaved Africans in the West Indies and the United States, in which worshipers move in a circle while shuffling and stomping their feet and clapping their hands. To evoke the celebratory nature of this dance, I have asked the percussionist to use a large stick on a wooden floorboard paired with fast moving passages in the strings and woodwinds.”

African American Spirituals

T

he spiritual represents one of the richest and most influential bodies of folk music created in the Americas. Through the first half of the nineteenth century, African people brought with them their musical inspirations. Where drumming in West Africa served as a mode of communication from one village to the next, the American colonies prohibited the drums by law. And so enslaved people sang, clapped their hands, stomped their feet and slapped their bodies, integrating their sophisticated rhythmic language into a (mostly) Christian music (slavers also proscribed African religion).

The songs tend to fall into two categories, sorrow songs and jubilees.

Many, like “Go Down, Moses,” carry a cry for freedom. Call-andresponse became standard, creating a musical dialogue between a soloist and the group. With vocal slides, freeform turns, improvised interjections and highly syncopated rhythms, spirituals proved virtually impossible for early publishers to write down. The legacy lives through the Black church, traditionally Black colleges and early recordings. In the 20th century, advocates such as Marian Anderson, Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle included spirituals in their recitals, bringing the songs into the classical concert hall.

“Depuis le jour” from Louise

L

ouise takes us to the bohemian neighborhood of Montmartre in Paris. Set in 1900, the semi-autobiographical opera broke with convention to portray working-class people living amid a great artistic renaissance. Home to legendary painters, writers, and intellectuals, Montmartre sizzled with cabarets and late-night cafes (think of the Moulin Rouge).

In the opera Louise, Gustave Charpentier’s title character defies her parents (and society) to move in with her lover. Steeped in domestic bliss, Louise sings “Depuis le jour.” Unlike many operatic heroines, she

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doesn’t die in the end but returns to her lover’s arms.

Traditional Songs

S

everal works on this program, including the spiritual, come from an oral tradition. They’re passed from one musician to the next, sometimes adapted and modified to the point that different versions exist simultaneously, and no one remembers who first wrote the song.

“There’s a Man Goin' Round Taking Names” exists in an early recording by the folk and blues legend Lead Belly. The ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax catalogued the song in 1938.

“We Shall Overcome” uses lyrics published by gospel pioneer Charles Tindley in 1901, but with a different melody. The tune we associate with “We Shall Overcome” was in circulation long before then. The song became an anthem of the Civil Rights movement and was taught at the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee, the same school that helped prepare Rosa Parks for her historic bus ride.

“Si può? Si può?” from Pagliacci

L

ike Charpentier’s Louise, Ruggero Leoncavallo’s 1892 opera Pagliacci departs from the operatic tradition of telling stories about royals, nobles, and mythological beings. Part of an artistic movement known as verismo, Leoncavallo offers realism—stories about working people with real-world problems. Pagliacci centers around a traveling theater troupe that performs a play-within-a-play. In the Prologue, Tonio confesses the artist’s lot in life: “the artist is a man . . . his inspiration was a true story . . . and he wrote, shedding real tears.”

"Lacrymosa" from Eternal Light: A Requiem

H

oward Goodall grew up around the vaunted choral tradition that permeates English church music. It's easy to see why he'd feel inspired to write the requiem, Eternal Light. But requiems traditionally come from the medieval Roman Catholic funeral rite, expounding on torment, judgment and intercession—notions that didn’t speak to the composer. “[For my requiem] I stripped the Latin text down to a handful of resonant phrases and went in search of poetry, some sacred, some secular, to shed new light on the various requiem concepts: peace, everlasting light, grief, comfort,” he said. His requiem offers solace to the bereaved.

Goodall’s Lacrymosa echoes the Latin, “The day will be one of weeping,” but pivots to a poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye: “Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there.” Instead, “I am a thousand winds that blow. . . . I am the gentle autumn rain.”

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40 | encore Betelehemu

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etelehemu” is a Christmas carol by native Nigerian Babatunde Olatunji, who studied at Morehouse College in the 1950s. He collaborated with Morehouse College Glee Club director Wendell Whalum on “Betelehemu,” which then became a signature tune of the Glee Club. Olatunji went on to graduate school in International Relations at New York University but later became a legend and pioneer in African drumming in the United States. brea(d)th

“

brea(d)th considers American promise and American history by two people who have an extraordinary relationship with American possibility.”

—Marc Bamuthi Joseph In 2022, two friends traveled to Minneapolis to experience the world of George Floyd. They met his aunt and listened to her stories. They lingered in George Floyd Square, where neighbors come and go and got a feel for the locus of protests and pilgrimage—the place where Floyd cried out, “Mama, I'm through.”

The two friends, composer Carlos Simon and librettist Marc Bamuthi Joseph, set out to produce a work about Floyd’s legacy.

“The piece explores a historical timeline that stretches from the pre-colonial to the present condition, and perhaps further into a post-pandemic America,” said Simon. “Who would we be if we used COVID-19 as an opportunity to focus on both public health and public healing? Our entire country has endured a trauma . . . how do we publicly heal?”

According to the composer, brea(d)th isn’t meant to dwell on the “ten minutes where there’s a knee on the neck.” It’s really about “the systematic racism that we experience in America,” he said. The title’s dual meaning alludes to Floyd’s last moments under the knee of a police officer and the breadth of the task shared by all of us to build a better future.

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42 | libretto BREA(D)TH MUSIC BY CARLOS SIMON LIBRETTO BY MARC BAMUTHI JOSEPH

the breath of a winded man whose allies have left to struggle alone

I. PROLOGUE

give us this day the breadth of repair the breadth of the labor the held breath of the witness watching life progress to death

CHORUS Give us this day our daily bread NARRATOR We Pledge co-llegiance To the facts That the United States of America Is racially healing in public So you could understand How some in this nation Wonder, God Could dignity be afforded to All? CHORUS Give us this day our daily bread NARRATOR The breadth of the task The asking for bread The expiring breath The black odor of dread Give us this day Respect for the breadth of the ask With an expiring breath he called for a dead woman several years past Give us this day Respect for the ghosts And the murmurs of a man with a speck of bread Singed like the lord’s prayer singing in his chokeheld throat sitting flat like a scar sustaining like bread a grown man ticking like a trumpeter’s fingers playing valves that only exist in his head the breadth of the loss and the bitter and the lonely

gone homey go on

I too, am a witness…

Shook my head Tried to make some sense This miracle of political bread The manna that is the folklore of American promise And the breadth of our common belief in the premise of justice for all The falling breath of a man who’s heart is failing The rising blood of a people with scotch tape and ancestral will keeping their American Hearts from breaking Breaking the breath Fasting with water and incessant prayer for bread Give us this day The breadth of what’s due What would you kneel for Assume the posture of casual prayer A genuflection while levitating buoyed by the neck of a man you are actively robbing of air Armed robbery of breath Over some bread and the wide genocidal breadth of our country’s racial timeline our country’s daily bread our injurious history written in lightning the animating factors that

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authorize violence give us this day a shot at peace a day when you don’t have to function knowing the night before a young woman was state sanctioned murdered in her sleep lord the breadth of the task give us this day…one more breath… lord solemnly hear the underlying desperation of the ask give us this day our bread enough to feed our ancestors when we pay them respect give us this day the breadth of our american stake restore the debt of stolen breath…

CHORUS Give us this day our daily bread II. BREATH NARRATOR A soul to keep Breathe in relief The night is fruit The moon is sweet Take a piece Swallow the satellite Beyond your reach The night is dream But I’m not asleep Not woke Just awake I breathe in what I see I breathe in the night It smells strangely of fruit to me Breathe in the chemical shift When I walk by the police The smell of all the probabilities played out on all of the screens

Breathe in the scenes Breathe in the night and imagine the time you felt most free…

When In your life Have you felt most free?...

I sing america’s longest notes I sometimes forget to breathe When I do My cultural differences haven’t been tucked into the skirts of the queen I am free to access an infrastructure of hope Breathe in the night The moon is ripe with juice It smells like autonomy Smells like fruit beginning to bruise and rot Breathe in It’s a lot Breathe out Let it go Imagine yourself living Knowing you only have one breath left before your soul let’s go Breathe in mortality It is an inevitability And as such Shouldn’t one’s last breath be made with dignity Breathe in the idea That death is a lie That energy, not a human shell is the actual tell of a life Life is death as a vision as a lived permission Inception of an intuition of what to cosmically expect Life is a just a set of lips to whisper Born to kiss our names back to the wind so our spirit might hear it And vibrate A mitzvah Incarnate And back again

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44 | encore Reciprocal energy Spirit and flesh These words rolling off my tongue The first breath of afterdeath in my lungs After life I just go back to where I came from Breath is drum Breathe in Light and smoke Breath is drum Breathe in the midnight sun where life never sets Breath is drum Ancestors know no death Breath becomes The way Ancestors pay at the gates In heaven breath is bread

What does the night say to you Before you lay your head down Does the night confide it’s prideful truth Before the night falls does the pride fall too Or does the pride of the night rise like a hand in salute

The first breath of afterdeath in my lungs After life I just go back to where I came from Breath is drum Breathe in Light and smoke Breath is drum Breathe in the midnight sun where life never sets Breath is drum Ancestors know no death Breath becomes The way Ancestors pay at the gates In heaven breath is bread

Before it was a constitution It was a hand written note Presented to a native woman As legal tender she held it to the light Squinted twice And laughed at the myopic man who tried to pass a counterfeit bill

III. ELEGY

American pride consumes Like a starving cub hungry for food

Instrumental movement.

IV. BREAD CHORUS What does the night say to you Before you lay your head down Does the night confide it’s prideful truth Before the night falls does the pride fall too Or does the pride of the night rise like a hand in salute

NARRATOR Before it was a corner It was a boundless plain that never considered the square edges of man’s myopia Over time The edges encroached And brought with them Paper and value

before the sun rose that day the corner knew… pride comes before the fall American avarice too

If not Justice for all America Then how do you choose Who wins America Does somebody invariably lose Before the sun rose that day The corner already knew The corner had seen it before The block knows before the news The block knows who America is likely to choose Before the sun rises The night tells America’s truth

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What does the night say to you Before you lay your head down Does the night confide it’s prideful truth Before the night falls does the pride fall too Or does the pride of the night rise like a hand in salute What does the night say to you Before you lay your head down Does the night confide it’s prideful truth Before the night falls does the pride fall too Or does the pride of the night rise like a hand in salute Before the sun rose that day The corner already knew Before the sun rose that day The corner already knew Before there was a cost There was bread Before there was socially determined health We collectively cared for the sick and honored the dead Before there was qualified immunity The laws and loyalty to community provided enough force to protect the peace Before the man Was taken for some bread He had access to memory Of sharecropping in North Carolina Of making music in church Of 13 sisters and brothers Of challenges with sobriety Of a life before the fall Before the fall There was bread Before the sun rose that day The corner was already cursed and blessed

Weight of the body Wait for true equity Wavering feet Equally bruised legs Of course there is before Much has happened to us But we, the people are more Than ill will be done Our kingdom once was and shall come Give us this day Our bread Before the fall Came a duty to keep our ancestors fed What is the equity owed to the people before American bread The people for whom the parchment of American purchase is counterfeit God bless American bread and the hands that have prepared it…

May the bounty be baked into 24 demands Seasoned by 2,000 seasons True to our native land Before the sun rise tomorrow May we feast on the bread that bought us one more day to try to get it right…

CHORUS May we feast on the bread That bought us one more day To try to get it right…

May we feast on the bread That bought us one more day To try to get it right…

May we feast on the bread That bought us one more day To try to get it right…

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46 | encore V. BREADTH CHORUS So much work has been done Who does the work that’s still left?

NARRATOR The breadth of the task…

In 1619, Jamestown, enshrined a color-based American caste It took 244 years before Black people were enshrined a voting place in the franchise 1868 the 14th amendment was ratified Jamestown-citizenship 244 years in between 244 years from 1868 will be the second decade of the NEXT century By the time there is a parity of Black enslavement and Black political agency, NO one in this room will be alive.

And THAT is the breadth of the task To create the EQUAL positive effect Of THAT historical debt The debt of 12 generations of humans who were not permitted to be who they could have been THAT is the breadth of the sin Caste is the infrastructure of our divisions It is our country’s pre-existing condition If a person has high blood pressure, it’s not a surprise if they suffer a heart attack Why are WE surprised by the way law enforcement disregards the dignity of Blacks The breadth of the task Is to make a future that remembers the breath of the stolen To think of joy as an economy To consider its theft with interest

Consider the breadth of a man at the very end of a life He breaks no law that requires the death penalty But that is what he receives Consider at the time of his death There is a viral disease That literally sees no color Sees us for what we actually are As the same As an interconnected species It took a blind organism to make the planet stop And notice The breadth And depth And late spring carelessness by which American law Presides over black death The breadth of a life The breadth of the lives of folks on the block who didn’t have activist intentions And the breadth of the local activists who supported them with intention The breadth of our intention to learn the cost of the debt our intention to earn back what was lost with his breath the breadth of the people who ain’t out here for bread who are healing the city who the city often forgets The breadth of our intention to learn the cost of the debt our intention to earn back what was lost with his breath the breadth of the people who ain’t out here for bread who are healing the city who the city often neglects CHORUS So much work has been done Who does the work that’s still left?

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NARRATOR Do you remember 2020?

Do you remember its breadth Standing on the steps of the Supreme Court after Justice Ginsburg passed, or standing in Black Lives Matter Plaza, near the white house, days after protesters were tear-gassed Do you remember 2020?

Do you remember its breadth I found myself transported to the root of the American experiment.

Beyond anger, or grief, what led so many of us to gather in those moments?

What are the ties that bind us together?

The breadth of common hope that we could be *better* than this... that with clear eyed understanding of our social pathologies, there existed a pervasive doe eyed idealism underneath.

There was a ‘reason’ why we demanded better of our country... because we collectively knew we were ‘capable’ of better...that like a teacher’s most gifted student after failing several critical tests, we collectively knew that we could be more accurately defined by our promise than by our failures.

The promise of what’s possible That’s the breadth of the task To make possible The breadth of the promise…

CHORUS So much work has been done Who does the work that’s still left?

Libretto by Marc Bamuthi Joseph.

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48 | meettheartists JONATHAN TAYLOR RUSH, CONDUCTOR

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onathan Taylor Rush is an accomplished and visionary conductor hailing from Windsor, CT. Rush draws inspiration from the profound emotions evoked by the enthusiastic audiences who gather to experience his performances. Fueled by a deep passion for music, his mission is two-fold: to cure someone's bad day through the power of music and to ignite a passion among younger generations of musicians and creators, who may doubt the possibility of realizing their dreams.

Rooted in his musical upbringing within the church, Rush's approach to conducting is imbued with elements of gospel and soul music. He fearlessly infuses his performances with soul and passion, breathing new life into the classical masterworks.

An ardent advocate for living and underrepresented composers, Rush is committed to programming their music in the concerts he conducts.

Among his many achievements, Rush was named Assistant Conductor, and was later promoted to Associate Conductor with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from 2020 to 2023. At the Baltimore Symphony, he curated the orchestra's inaugural Gospel Fest, a groundbreaking event featuring the legendary gospel artist Karen Clark Sheard. He also served as Artistic Director of the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestras. As Artistic Director, Rush led the ensemble on its first-ever international tour through Europe, showcasing their talents at renowned venues such as Dvořák Hall in Prague.

Rush has made captivating debuts with renowned ensembles, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Sinfonietta, Nairobi Philharmonic, and many more including his opera debut with the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center.

His academic accomplishments include a Bachelor of Music Education degree from The Ohio State University and a Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. Jonathan’s Mentors and teachers of conducting are Joseph Young, Mei-Ann Chen, and Marin Alsop.

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BAMUTHI, SPOKEN WORD

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AMUTHI (Marc Bamuthi Joseph) is a 2017 TED Global Fellow, an inaugural recipient of the Guggenheim Social Practice initiative, and an honoree of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship.

Bamuthi’s opera libretto, We Shall Not Be Moved, was named one of 2017’s “Best Classical Music Performances” by The New York Times.

His opera, Watch Night, was inspired by the forgiveness exhibited by the congregation of Emanuel AME church in Charleston, and premiered at The Perelman Center in New York His evening length work created in collaboration with composer Daniel Bernard Roumain, “The Just and The Blind,” was commissioned

by Carnegie Hall and premiered to a sold-out house at Carnegie in March 2019.

While engaging in a deeply fulfilling and successful artistic career, Bamuthi also proudly serves as Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. He is in high demand for his creative approach to organizational design, brand development, and community mediation.

His TED talk on linking sport to freedom design among immigrant youth has been viewed more than 1 million times, and is a testament to his capacity to distill complex systems into accessible and poetic presentations. Bamuthi's community development philosophy, called "The Creative Ecosystem", has been implemented in dozens of cities across the United States and is the subject of several critical writings, including one of the seminal essays in “Cultural Transformations: Youth and Pedagogies of Possibility,” published by Harvard Education Press.

Bamuthi is the founding Program Director of the exemplary non-profit Youth Speaks, and is a co-founder of Life is Living, a national series of one-day festivals that activate under-resourced parks and affirm peaceful urban life.

His essays have been published in Harvard Education Press; he has lectured at more than 200 colleges, and has carried adjunct professorships at Stanford and Lehigh, among others. A proud alumnus of Morehouse College, Bamuthi received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the California College of Arts.

Bamuthi is represented by Sozo Artists, Inc., Info@sozomedia.com, (917) 791-3680, www.sozoartists.com.

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50 | meettheartists KEARSTIN PIPER BROWN, SOPRANO

K PHOTO CREDIT

earstin Piper Brown has become one of the most sought-after lyric sopranos and will debut with the Metropolitan Opera this coming season. Last year she made her debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in the world premiere of The Walkers, and sang in Moravec’s The Shining, first with Opera Parallèle in San Francisco and subsequently with Atlanta Opera.

In 2022, she resumed performances in the lead role in Intimate Apparel with Lincoln Center Theater (as part of the joint Metropolitan Opera’s New Works Program), for which she won several awards, including the World Theater Award for “Outstanding Debut Performance in an Off-Broadway Production.” Intimate Apparel is featured on PBS' Great Performances series.

Other career highlights include performances with New Orleans Opera, Santa Fe Opera, San Francisco Opera, Edinburgh Festival, Utah Festival Opera, Dayton Opera, Virginia Opera, the Belarusian Philharmonic Orchestra Minsk, Cape Town Opera, the Royal Festival Hall London, and the Israeli Opera.

On the concert stage, Brown has had resounding successes with repertoire often dedicated to the music of Black composers. Most recently, she performed with the Rochester Philharmonic, the Dallas Symphony, the National Philharmonic as well as with Steven Blier’s New York Festival of Song, the Berkshire Opera Festival, the Skaneateles Music Festival, and the Cecilia Chorus of New York at Carnegie Hall.

Ms. Brown holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Literature from Northwestern University School of Music.

BRIAN MAJOR, BARITONE

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harismatic baritone Brian Major continues to be praised by critics for his “velvety voice’ and “commanding stage presence.”

Last season, Major performed in Verdi’s Falstaff with Maryland Lyric Opera and joined the roster of The Metropolitan Opera where he made his house debut as Baron Douphol in La traviata.

He also returned to the Columbus Symphony to sing Schaunard in La bohème, joined Opera Carolina for a performance of Aida, sang the title role of Don Giovanni with the Schenectady Symphony Orchestra, and performed at Carnegie Hall as a soloist in Mozart’s

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Mass in C, K. 220 and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music.

Past season credits include performances with Opera Columbus, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Columbus, Sarasota Opera, Madison Opera, Toledo Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, Opera Carolina, Opera Saratoga, Opera in the Heights, Opera Company of Middlebury, and in Montpellier, France where he performed an all-French Opera concert with Maestro Michel Plasson.

An accomplished recitalist and concert artist, Mr. Major has been the baritone soloist in performances with the Siena Chamber Orchestra in Italy, Sun Valley Opera in Idaho, Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, and the Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra.

Major has won numerous awards and honors including awards from the Opera Ebony Vocal Competition, Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition, Opera at San Nicola Vocal Competition, Harlem Opera Theater’s Vocal Competition, and at the Atlanta Music Club Vocal Competition.

Major holds degrees from Morehouse College, Boston University, and Michigan State University.

MOREHOUSE COLLEGE GLEE CLUB

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ounded in 1911, the Morehouse College Glee Club is the premier singing organization of Morehouse College, traveling all over the country and the world, demonstrating excellence not only in choral performance but also in discipline, dedication, and brotherhood. The current director, David E. Morrow, '80, assumed directorship of the Glee Club in 1987.

The current members come from all over the United States and even from other countries around the world. While some are music majors, members are in all academic divisions at the college. Even though some members take Glee Club as a course for credit, all members still sing as a labor of love and enjoy being ambassadors for Morehouse College.

In 1993, the Glee Club, as part of the Morehouse-Spelman Chorus, sang at Atlanta’s Symphony Hall, with soprano Jessye Norman, in a concert celebrating the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. They also performed the National Anthem with Natalie Cole for Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994.

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52 | meettheartists The organization participated with Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, and Trisha Yearwood in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games held in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2008, the Glee Club was featured inSpike Lee’s movie, Miracle at St. Anna.

The Glee Club celebrated its Centennial in 2011 by performing commemorative concerts in Atlanta and New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, for events leading to the dedication of the King Monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Glee Club has performed concerts with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

DAVID MORROW, DIRECTOR

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avid Morrow is a native of Rochester, New York. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College in 1980 and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music in 1995.

Dr. Morrow has been a member of the Music faculty at Morehouse College since 1981 and Director of the Glee Club since 1987. Dr. Morrow’s conducting honors include: 1991 Kennedy Center Honors as part of the tribute to Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Conductor Laureate, Robert Shaw; celebrating the 1994 Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday at Atlanta Symphony Hall with soprano Jessye Norman; the National Anthem for Super Bowl XXVIII with Natalie Cole and the combined choruses of the Atlanta University Center; the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1996 Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games, and many more.

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54 | feb22/24/25 GIUSEPPE VERDI (1813–1901) Messa da Requiem (1874) 84 MIN I. Requiem II. Dies irae Saturday, February 24, III. Offertorium 2024, at 8:00 PM IV. Sanctus Sunday, February 25, 2024, V. Agnus Dei at 3:00 PM VI. Lux aeterna VII. Libera me Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, soprano NATHALIE STUTZMANN, Ekaterina Gubanova, mezzo-soprano conductor Issachah Savage, tenor MASABANE CECILIA Ilia Kazakov, bass RANGWANASHA, The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus soprano Concerts of Thursday, February 22, 2024, at 8:00 PM

EKATERINA GUBANOVA, mezzo-soprano

This concert is performed without intermission.

ISSACHAH SAVAGE, tenor ILIA KAZAKOV, bass THE ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CHORUS NORMAN MACKENZIE, Director of Choruses

This weekend’s concerts are dedicated to ANN MARIE & JOHN B. WHITE, JR. in honor of their extraordinary support of the 2022/23 Annual Fund.

Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha’s appearance with the Atlanta Symphony

Thursday’s concert is dedicated to

Orchestra is made possible by the

the loving memory of BECKY PRYOR

JEAN BRUMLEY GUEST ARTIST FUND,

ANDERSON on behalf of

established through a generous gift from

PAULETTE EASTMAN.

the Zeist Foundation.

This weekend’s concerts were made possible in part by a grant from the Barney M. Franklin and Hugh W. Burke Charitable Fund.

The use of cameras or recording devices during the concert is strictly prohibited. Please be kind to those around you and silence your mobile phone and other hand-held devices.

notesontheprogram

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by Noel Morris Program Annotator

The Messa da Requiem is scored for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass solo, mixed chorus, piccolo, three flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, four bassoons, four horns, four trumpets (and four offstage trumpets), three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, and strings.

O

First ASO performance: March 30, 1954 Henry Sopkin, conductor Most recent ASO performance: November 16-18, 2017 Donald Runnicles, conductor

n the eve of the first performance, the prestigious conductor, pianist and composer Hans von Bülow eyed a preview copy of Verdi’s Requiem and decided to skip the event. He publicly scoffed at “Verdi’s latest opera in ecclesiastical costume,” which caused clucking and consternation across the music world. Giuseppe Verdi, who was no stranger to the caterwauling and interference from lesser talents, conducted the Requiem in a church service on May 22, 1874, and saw the beginning of an avid following.

Nevertheless, Bülow was right about one thing: the Verdi Requiem is something other than church music.

CLASSIC FM

Like the Mozart Requiem, Verdi’s is a setting of the Latin Mass for the Dead, an ancient text that formed the framework of the Roman Catholic Funeral Rite. Right out of the gate, however, he defied a papal decree. At that time, the Church prohibited women from singing in the sanctuary. Verdi wrote substantial vocal parts for women and staged his requiem mass at San Marco, Milan. According to a newspaper article, the Church bent the rules, allowing women to sing in “a full black dress with the head covered by an ample mourning veil.” It fell upon one Monsignor Calvi to celebrate the Mass around the massive sections of Verdi’s piece. Although applause was not permitted, it’s hard to imagine the intensely dramatic music doing anything but upstaging the priest.

The story of Verdi’s Requiem began on November 13, 1868, with the death of Rossini. Verdi wrote: “A great name has disappeared from the world! His was . . . the most popular reputation of our time, and it was a glory of Italy! When the other one who still lives is no more, what will we have left?” The other one was author Alessandro Manzoni, who, together with Rossini, represented the pillars of national pride to Verdi.

Verdi was an ardent patriot. He launched an Italians-only tribute to honor his fallen hero, enlisting “no foreign hand” in creating a musical memorial. As his plan went into action, he joined a dozen “distinguished Italian composers” who contributed a movement to a Messa per Rossini to be performed in Rossini’s hometown of Bologna.

Verdi wrote the finale, “Libera me.”

56 | encore As the first anniversary of Rossini’s death drew near, 13 manuscripts arrived in Bologna. Unfortunately, the stench of local politics came as well, dooming the performance. It wasn’t until 1970 that the American musicologist David Rosen discovered those manuscripts; the first performance of the Messa per Rossini took place in 1988.

Alessandro Manzoni, Verdi’s other hero, fell in 1873—literally— he hit his head on the steps of his church. He died of complications. Verdi recovered the manuscript to his “Libera me,” took out pen and paper, and started to compose.

WIKIPEDIA

Manzoni had written a landmark novel, The Betrothed, which captivated Verdi from age 16. Beyond the literary legacy, however, Manzoni had done something for Italy that was truly remarkable. Well into the 19th century, Italy had been a fractious patchwork of duchies, republics, kingdoms, principalities and areas occupied by foreign powers; many different dialects were in use. As the Italian peninsula merged into what became a unified kingdom in 1861, Alessandro Manzoni helped codify a shared national language.

It is a “need of the heart,” Verdi declared, “that impels me to honor . . . this Great Man, whom I so admired as a writer, and venerated as a man, model of virtue and patriotism.” Thus, Verdi set out to write a requiem for the first anniversary of Manzoni’s death.

Depending on whom you ask, Verdi’s religious outlook ranged from “a very doubtful believer,” as his wife put it, to anti-clerical to agnostic.

Some even assert he was atheistic. And yet the impetus to honor Manzoni with the grandest and most solemn of religious works came entirely from Verdi. Eschewing anti-clerical elements in the local government, he chose San Marco, Milan, and ensured his text was compatible with its liturgy. (In the week that followed the memorial Mass, he also conducted three performances at La Scala—without the veils.)

The question of Verdi’s religious convictions has prompted people to wonder if a non-believer could write such a powerful, sacred piece.

Putting aside the futility of guessing the nature of his faith, the answer lies in the essence of his genius: he could take a veritable zoo of personalities and divine Truth. He is one of the all-time greatest storytellers, and the Bible is nothing if not a vast collection of stories.

Catholicism dominated Verdi’s world and runs through his operas.

In Otello, when the saintly Desdemona is about to be murdered, she sings a spellbinding prayer for the sinner and the innocent alike. In Don

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Carlos, Verdi pits the faithful against the Spanish Inquisition. God is there in the operas, like a character who is just off stage.

Interestingly, Don Carlos makes a cameo appearance in the Requiem—a fact that the composer took to the grave. Written for Paris in 1867, Don Carlos was originally too long. Opera-goers couldn’t see the end and make the last train to the suburbs, so Verdi made cuts. And everyone thought he'd destroyed the excised parts until the 1970s when a British opera director rifled through the Paris Opera archives and discovered the original orchestral parts. Amid the excised sections, he found himself looking at the music that became the Requiem's “Lacrymosa.”

Of course, the Latin Mass for the Dead fueled Verdi’s imagination.

His operas are nothing if not a showcase for characters in extreme situations—what could be more extreme than a soul dangling above the fires of hell?

In his “Manzoni Requiem,” Verdi’s principal character is a person facing God after having lived a less-than-perfect life. The God of Verdi’s Requiem is a terrifying god reflected in the cataclysmic “Dies irae” (Day of Wrath) and the chilling and histrionic plea of the sinner: “Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death on that awful day.” Even the “Lux aeterna,” in which the soloists sing “Let light perpetual shine upon them,” gives over to darkness: Verdi uses a dirge that every Italian would have recognized as the “banda” (a wind band that accompanied funeral processions). He uses the same effect in La traviata as Violetta breathes her last.

Believer or non-believer, Verdi used the language of the Mass as his guide. And he delivered the music accordingly: his Requiem is explosive, passionate, and exquisitely unsettling.

Hans von Bülow, the musician who had written the scathing assessment of the piece in 1874, heard the Verdi Requiem 18 years later. By his own account, he experienced its power through a concert given by a mediocre ensemble. And he sat in the pew and wept.

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58 | meettheartists MASABANE CECILIA RANGWANASHA, SOPRANO

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ising star Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha was the winner of the Song Prize at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition 2021 and is an alumna of the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Last season, Masabane Cecilia sang the title role in Iphigenie en Tauride at Theater Bern. She also returned to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in Turandot conducted by Antonio Pappano.

In concert, Masabane Cecilia performed Mendelssohn’s Lobegesang at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Mahler’s Das klagende lied at Theater Bern, and Elgar’s The Apostles with the Hallé Orchestra.

She made her US debut with the Washington Symphony Orchestra for Barber’s Knoxville – The Summer of 1915 followed by another performance with the Cincinnati Symphony. She will also give solo recitals at Wigmore Hall and Opéra National de Bordeaux.

Previous performances at Theater Bern have included roles in Don Carlos and Idomeneo. Recent concert highlights include performances with BBC Symphony at the First Night of the BBC Proms, the Orchestra Age of Enlightenment, the Hallé Orchestra, and performing as part of Classic FM Live at the Royal Albert Hall.

Masabane completed her PGDip at the University of Cape Town, and then went on to study Vocal Performance at Tshwane University of Technology. Masabane was the winner of the Audience Prize and two special prizes in the 2019 Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition.

EKATERINA GUBANOVA, MEZZO-SOPRANO

PHOTO CREDIT

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katerina Gubanova has been established as one of the leading mezzos of our days. Born in Moscow, she first studied piano before being trained as an opera singer at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and at the Royal Opera House in London.

Since then, she has regularly appeared at major opera houses and festivals worldwide, such as the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Bavarian State Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Berlin State Opera, the Lyric Opera Chicago, the Teatro Real Madrid, the Bolshoi

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Theatre, the Mariinsky Theatre, the Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona, as well as the Bayreuth festival.

Brangäne from Tristan und Isolde is one the most important roles in her repertoire, which she sang in Paris, Baden-Baden, Rotterdam, New York, Berlin, Tokyo, Salzburg, St. Petersburg, Munich, Buenos Aires and at the Vienna State Opera. Besides Brangäne, she also became renowned for her interpretation of Fricka in Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, which she performed at the Berlin State Opera, Teatro alla Scala and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.

Ekaterina Gubanova is also a sought-after concert singer and regularly performs with renowned orchestras and conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, and Kent Nagano. She has sung Verdi’s Messa da Requiem under the baton of Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Valery Gergiev, and Riccardo Chailly, among others.

ISSACHAH SAVAGE, TENOR

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he profile of American tenor Issachah Savage was dramatically raised when he swept the boards at Seattle’s International Wagner Competition in 2014, taking First Prize, Audience Prize and Orchestra Favorite awards. Formerly a member of San Francisco’s prestigious Merola Opera Program, Issachah performed a varied repertoire.

Operatic milestones of Savage’s recent seasons include his debuts at Seattle Opera, Metropolitan Opera, and Los Angeles Opera, and Houston Grand Opera.

During the 2018/19 season, Savage made three major European debuts to great acclaim: at Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, Opéra National de Bordeaux and the Salzburg Festival.

In semi-staged opera performances, Savage has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Aida, the Opera Orchestra of New York in Massenet’s La Navarraise, the National Philharmonic in the title role of Wagner’s Rienzi and with the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra in Il trovatore. At both the Aspen Music Festival under Robert Spano and at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Savage again received critical acclaim as Verdi’s Radames.

A much in-demand concert soloist, Savage has performed under

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60 | meettheartists Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and New York’s David Geffen Hall. Savage sang the world premieres of Wynton Marsalis’s All Rise under the late Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic.

In recent seasons he has performed with the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

ILIA KAZAKOV, BASS

I

lia Kazakov is a member of the ensemble at the Wiener Staatsoper, where he performs roles such as Gremin in Eugene Onegin, Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Varlaam in Boris Godunov, Doktor Grenvil in La Traviata, Bossmin in Die Entführung ins Zauberreich, Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos, King of Egypt in Aida, Zuniga in Carmen, Pistola in Falstaff, Lord Gualtiero Valton in I Puritani, Schließer in Tosca, Sergeant in Manon Lescaut, and Quinault in Ariadna Lecouvreur.

In the Summer 2023 Kazakov performed Zuniga in Carmen at the St. Margarethen Oper im Steinbruch.

His next engagements include debuts with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Kirill Petrenko and at the Salzburg Festival.

Born in 1992, Ilia Kazakov has a degree in choir conducting and vocals. In 2019 Ilia became the Winner and Special Prize Winner of the Galina Vishnevskaya VII International Singing Competition.

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62 | meettheartists ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CHORUS

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he Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus, founded in 1970 by former Music Director, Robert Shaw, is an all-volunteer, auditioned ensemble that performs on a regular basis with the Orchestra and is featured on many of its recordings. Led by Director of Choruses, Norman Mackenzie, the chorus is known for its precision and expressive singing quality. Its recordings have garnered 14 Grammy® Awards (nine for Best Choral Performance; four for Best Classical Recording and one for Best Opera Recording). In addition, the Chorus has been involved in the creation and shaping of numerous world-premiere commissioned works.

NORMAN MACKENZIE, DIRECTOR OF CHORUSES

N JD SCOTT

orman Mackenzie’s abilities as musical collaborator, conductor and concert organist have brought him international recognition. As Director of Chorus for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) since 2000, he was chosen to help carry forward the creative vision of legendary founding conductor Robert Shaw.

During his tenure, the Chorus has made numerous tours and garnered several Grammy® awards, including Best Classical Album and Best Choral Performance.

At the ASO, he prepares the Choruses for all concerts and recordings, works closely with Nathalie Stutzmann on the commissioning and realization of new choral-orchestral works and conducts holiday concerts. In his 14-year association with Mr. Shaw, he was keyboardist for the ASO, principal accompanist for the ASO Choruses and ultimately assistant choral conductor. In addition, he was musical assistant and accompanist for the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers, the Robert Shaw Institute Summer Choral Festivals in France and the United States and the famed Shaw/Carnegie Hall Choral Workshops.

He prepared the ASO Chorus for its acclaimed 2003 debut and successive 2008 and 2009 performances in Berlin with the Berlin Philharmonic, in Britten’s War Requiem, Berlioz’s Grande Messe des Morts and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, respectively, conducted

by ASO Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles.

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ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CHORUS Norman Mackenzie

Hannah Davis

Peter Marshall

director of choruses

choral and artistic manager

accompanist

The Frannie & Bill Graves Chair

SOPRANO 1 Ellen Abney Khadijah Davis Liz Dean* Laura Foster Michelle Griffin* Erin Harris Erin Jones* Arietha Lockhart** Mindy Margolis* Joneen Padgett* Rachel Paul Susan Ray Samaria Rodriguez Emily Salmond Kristian Samuel Lydia Sharp Susie Shepardson Chelsea Toledo Brianne Turgeon** Deanna Walton Michelle Yancich Wanda Yang Temko** SOPRANO 2 Debbie Ashton Sloan Atwood** Jessica Barber Tierney Breedlove Barbara Brown Maggie Carpenter Martha Craft Gina Deaton Erika Elliott Mary Goodwin Heidi Hayward Amanda Hoffman Megan Littlepage Melissa Mack Lindsay Patten Murray Tramaine Quarterman Kate Roberts Marianna Schuck Anne-Marie Spalinger** Emily Tallant Cheryl Thrash** Donna Weeks**

ALTO 1 June Abbott** Pamela Amy-Cupp Deborah Boland** Emily Campbell Patricia DinkinsMatthews** Angel Dotson-Hall Katherine Fisher Beth Freeman* Savanna Hagerty Unita Harris Beverly Hueter* Janet Johnson** Susan Jones Kathleen KellyGeorge* Virginia Little** Staria Lovelady* Alina Luke Frances McDowellBeadle** Sara McKlin Linda Morgan** Katherine Murray** Natalie Pierce Kathleen Poe Ross Noelle Ross Rachel Schiffer Camilla Springfield** Nancy York* ALTO 2 Nancy Adams** Angelica BlackmanKeim Elizabeth Borland Emily Boyer Marcia Chandler* Carol Comstock Meaghan Curry Cynthia Goeltz DeBold** Michèle Diament* Joia Johnson Sally Kann* Nicole Khoury** Katherine MacKenzie Lynda Martin* Lalla McGee Tiffany Peoples

Laura Rappold* Duhi Schnieder Sharon Simons* Cheryl Vanture* Kiki Wilson** Diane Woodard** TENOR 1 Christian Bigliani David Blalock** LaRue Bowman John Brandt** Jack Caldwell** Daniel Cameron** Daniel Compton Clifford Edge** Steven Farrow** Leif Gilbert-Hansen* James Jarrell* Joseph Henry Monti David Moore Christopher Patton* Mark Warden** TENOR 2 Sutton Bacon* Matthew Borkowski Steve Brailsford Charles Cottingham# Phillip Crumbly** Steven Dykes David Ellis Joseph Few** Sean Fletcher Thomas Foust John Harr John Ingham Keith Jeffords** David Kinrade Tyler Lane Michael Parker Timothy Parrott Marshall Peterson** Matthew Sellers Thomas Slusher Scott Stephens** BASS 1 Dock Anderson Noah Boonin Sean Butler

Russell Cason** Jeremy Christensen Joshua Clark Trey Clegg* Rick Cobb Michael Cranford Thomas Elston Jon Gunnemann** Jason Hamlet Noah Horton Nick Jones# Alp Koksal Sims Kuester Jameson Linville Peter MacKenzie Jason Maynard Jackson McCarthy Joss Nichols Hal Richards Thomas Stow John Terry Edgie Wallace* BASS 2 Jacob Blevins William Borland John Carter Joel Craft** Paul Fletcher Timothy Gunter** Thomas Hanrahan David Hansen** Philip Jones Jason Manley Michael Nedvidek Joel Rose John Ruff** Jonathan Smith* George Sustman Benjamin Temko** David Webster** Gregory Whitmire** Keith Wyatt** * 20+ years of service ** 30+ years of service # Charter member (1970)

64 | encore ASO | SUPPORT

T

he Atlanta Symphony Orchestra continues to prosper thanks to the support of our generous patrons. The list below recognizes the donors who have made contributions since June 1, 2022. Their extraordinary generosity provides the foundation for this worldclass institution. $1,000,000+

A Friend of the Symphony∞

$100,000+ A Friend of the Symphony 1180 Peachtree The Molly Blank Fund of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation∞

Abraham J. & Phyllis Katz Foundation∞ Charles Loridans Foundation, Inc. Amy W. Norman Charitable Foundation The Zeist Foundation, Inc.

The Coca-Cola Company Sheila Lee Davies & Jon Davies

Emerald Gate Charitable Trust Lettie Pate Evans Foundation∞ Barney M. Franklin & Hugh W. Burke Charitable Fund Georgia Power Company The Halle Foundation The Home Depot Foundation Invesco QQQ

$75,000+ Alston & Bird LLP The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation∞

The Antinori Foundation The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Cadence Bank Foundation

Chick-fil-A Norfolk Southern PNC

$50,000+ Accenture LLP BlackRock City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs Ms. Lynn Eden

Emory Woodruff Health Sciences Center Ms. Angela L. Evans∞

Georgia Council for the Arts Graphic Packaging KPMG Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP Slumgullion Charitable Fund Truist Ann Marie & John B. White, Jr.°∞

$35,000+ Mr. & Mrs. Paul J. Blackney Cox Enterprises, Inc. Sally* & Larry Davis The Roy & Janet Dorsey Foundation $25,000+ Farideh & Al Azadi Foundation∞ Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Bailey Jennifer Barlament & Kenneth Potsic Janine Brown & Alex J. Simmons, Jr. Connie & Merrell Calhoun John W. Cooledge The Jim Cox, Jr. Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Erroll B. Davis, Jr.∞

Four Seasons John D. Fuller The Gable Foundation

Delta Air Lines

Mary & Jim Rubright Fulton County Arts & Culture Patrick & Susie Viguerie Anne Morgan & Jim Kelley National Endowment for the Arts Sally & Pete Parsonson∞ Patty & Doug Reid

Paulette Eastman & Becky Pryor Anderson*∞ Eversheds Sutherland Ms. Marina Fahim° Dick & Anne Game° Jeannette Guarner, MD & Carlos del Rio, MD Sally & Walter George The Graves Foundation Bonnie & Jay Harris League of American Orchestras Cari K. Dawson & John M. Sparrow Donna Lee & Howard Ehni Mr. Richard H. Delay & The Livingston Foundation, Inc. Dr. Francine D. Dykes∞ The Marcus Foundation, Inc.∞ Massey Charitable Trust

John & Linda Matthews∞ Norfolk Southern Northside Hospital John R. Paddock, Ph.D. & Karen M. Schwartz, Ph.D. Victoria & Howard Palefsky Porsche Cars North America, Inc. Publix Super Markets Charities, Inc. Bill & Rachel Schultz° June & John Scott∞ Troutman Pepper Kathy Waller & Kenneth Goggins Mr.* & Mrs. Edus H. Warren, Jr.

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$17,500+ Mr. Keith Adams & Ms. Kerry Heyward° Affairs to Remember John & Juliet Allan Aspire Media Benjamin Q. Brunt Ms. Elizabeth W. Camp Wright & Alison Caughman Ms. Lisa V. Chang∞ Choate Bridges Foundation Florencia & Rodrigo Garcia Escudero Mr. & Mrs. Charles B. Harrison Ms. Joia M. Johnson Mr. & Mrs. Randolph J. Koporc The Ray M. & Mary Elizabeth Lee Foundation, Inc. Mr. Kevin and Dr. Jennifer Lyman Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Mills IV Moore Colson, CPAs & Bert & Carmen Mills Terence L. & Jeanne Perrine Neal° Lynn & Galen Oelkers Ms. Margaret Painter∞ Martha M. Pentecost Joyce & Henry Schwob Mr. Fahim Siddiqui & Ms. Shazia Fahim Ross & Sally Singletary Carolyn C. Thorsen∞ The Mark & Evelyn Trammell Foundation Universal Music Group-Task Force for Meaningful Change John & Ray Uttenhove Mrs. Sue S. Williams $15,000+ Phyllis Abramson, Ph. D. Madeline* & Howell E. Adams, Jr. Aadu & Kristi Allpere° Aprio Mr. Keith Barnett Mr. David Boatwright Mr. & Mrs. Benjamin Clare° Russell Currey & Amy Durrell Lisa DiFrancesco, MD & Darlene Nicosia

Eleanor & Charles Edmondson Ms. Yelena Epova Fifth Third Bank Craig Frankel & Jana Eplan Georgia-Pacific Mr. Max M. Gilstrap Pam & Robert Glustrom The Scott Hudgens Family Foundation Roya & Bahman Irvani Jamestown Properties James H. Landon Mr. Sukai Liu & Dr. Ginger J. Chen Ms. Deborah A. Marlowe & Dr. Clint Lawrence John F. & Marilyn M. McMullan Ms. Molly Minnear New Music, USA Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Paul Mr. Edward Potter & Ms. Regina Olchowski° Ms. Cathleen Quigley Charlie & Donna Sharbaugh Beverly & Milton Shlapak Mr. John A. Sibley, III Dr. Steven & Lynne Steindel° Elliott & Elaine Tapp° Ms. Brett A. Tarver Judith & Mark K. Taylor Dr. & Dr. Ravi Thadhani Carol & Ramon Tomé Family Fund Mr. & Mrs. Benny Varzi Adair & Dick White Drs. Kevin & Kalinda Woods $10,000+ A Friend of the Symphony (2) AAA Parking Paul & Melody Aldo∞ Mr. & Mrs. Calvin R. Allen Julie & Jim* Balloun Mr. & Mrs. Gerald R. Benjamin Kelley O. & Neil H. Berman Rita & Herschel Bloom Bloomberg Philanthropies The Boston Consulting Group The Breman Foundation, Inc. Lisa & Russ Butner Mr. & Mrs. Thomas C. Chubb III

| 65

Mr. & Mrs. Chris Collier Colliers International Costco Wholesale Corporation Peter & Vivian de Kok Donald & Barbara Defoe° Marcia & John Donnell Mr. & Mrs. John C. Dyer Eversheds Sutherland Dr. & Mrs. Leroy Fass In Memory of Betty Sands Fuller The Robert Hall Gunn, Jr., Fund Google Hamilton Capital Partners, LLC The Hertz Family Foundation, Inc. Clay & Jane Jackson Ann A. & Ben F. Johnson III° James Kieffer Stephen & Carolyn Knight La Fête du Rosé Dr. & Mrs. Scott I. Lampert The Sartain Lanier Family Foundation Pat & Nolan Leake Dr. Fulton D. Lewis III & S. Neal Rhoney Meghan & Clarke Magruder Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Caroline & Phil Moïse Moore, Colson & Company, P.C. Gretchen Nagy & Allan Sandlin ∞ Leadership Council We salute these extraordinary donors who have signed pledge commitments to continue their support for three years or more.

For information about giving to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Annual Fund, please contact William Keene at 404.733.4839 or william.keene@ atlantasymphony.org.

°We are grateful to these donors for taking the extra time to acquire matching gifts from their employers. *Deceased

66 | encore ASO | SUPPORT (cont.)

Mr. Kenneth M. Neighbors Lisa & Joe Bankoff Dede & Bob Thompson Dr. & Mrs. Ellis L. Malone & Ms. Valdoreas May Mr. & Mrs. Peter Toren Asad Bashey Ms. Erin M. Marshall Margaret H. Petersen Trapp Family Herschel Beazley Mr. & Mrs. Christopher D. Martin David F. & Maxine A.* Rock Meredith Bell Burton Trimble Belinda & Gino Massafra Thomas & Lynne Saylor Chilton & Morgan* Varner Mr. John Blatz Dr. & Mrs. Douglas Mattox Amy & Robert Vassey The Simmons Foundation Dr. & Mrs. Jerome B. Blumenthal The Fred & Sue McGehee Alan & Marcia Watt Tom & Ani Steele Family Charitable Fund Mrs. Sidney W. Boozer John & Yee-Wan Stevens Mr. Nathan Watt Ed & Linda McGinn° Carol Brantley & Mr. & Mrs. Ruthie Watts Edward W. Stroetz, Jr. David Webster Ms. Erica McVicker Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Welch Stephen & Sonia Swartz Margo Brinton & Mr. Bert Mobley Dr. Nanette K. Wenger Mr. G. Kimbrough Taylor & Eldon Park Mr. Cesar Moreno & WhoBody Inc. Mr. Greg Heathcock Jacqueline A. & Ms. Triska Drake Suzanne B. Wilner Joseph E. Brown, Jr. Sue Morgan∞ George & Amy Taylor∞ Mr. & Mrs. M. Beattie Wood CBH International, Inc Mr. Paul E. Viera & Jane Morrison∞ Ms. Gail O’Neill* John Champion & Music Matters $3,500+ Dr. & Mrs. James O. Wells, Jr. Penelope Malone Mr. Thomas Nightingale A Friend of the Symphony(2) Mr. & Mrs. Miles R. Cook Kiki Wilson Ms. Bethani Oppenheimer Drs. Jay & Martin William & Patricia Cook Ms. Amy H. Page Beard-Coles $7,500+ Carol Comstock & Mr. & Mrs. Ms. Johanna Brookner Jim Davis Jack & Helga Beam∞ Edmund F. Pearce, Jr.° Mr. & Mrs. Dennis M. Chorba Janet & John Costello Judith D. Bullock The Hellen Plummer Liz & Charlie Cohn° Dillon Production Services Charitable Foundation, Inc. Karen & Rod Bunn Ned Cone & Nadeen Green Mr. & Mrs. Paul H. Dimmick Dr. & Mrs. John P. Pooler Patricia & William Buss∞ Jean & Jerry Cooper Xavier Duralde & Mark Coan & Family John H. Rains Mr. Ramsey Fahs Mary Barrett Davis Broadcasting Inc. Leonard Reed Mr. & Mrs. Louis Gump Dieter Elsner & Ms. Diane Durgin Mr. & Mrs. Joel F. Reeves Deedee & Marc* Hamburger Othene Munson Sally W. Hawkins Cammie & John Rice Barbara M. Hund Robert S. Elster Foundation Vicki & Joe Riedel Grace Taylor Ihrig° Cameron Jackson° Dr. & Mrs. Carl D. Fackler Ann & Brian Kimsey Ms. Felicia Rives Mr. W. F. & Ellen & Howard Feinsand Jason & Michelle Kroh Betsy & Lee Robinson Dr. Janice Johnston Mr. & Mrs. William A. Flinn Mr. Robert M. Lewis, Jr. Ms. Frances A. Root Wolfgang* & Mariana Laufer ∞ Bruce W. & Avery C. Flower Mr. & Ms. Joseph A. Elvira & Jay Mannelly Ari & Fara Levine° Mr. David L. Forbes Roseborough Berthe & Shapour Deborah & William Liss° Marty & John Gillin° Mobasser Tiffany & Rich Rosetti∞ Martha & Reynolds Dr. Paul Gilreath John T. Ruff Mrs. Kay Adams* & McClatchey Mary* & Charles Ginden Mr. Ralph Paulk° Dr. & Mrs. Rein Saral In Memory of Mr. & Mrs. Richard Goodsell∞ Katherine Scott Perkins & Will Dr. Frank S. Pittman III Melanie & Tucker Green Hamilton & Mason Smith Mallie Sharafat Ms. Kathy Powell Martha Reaves Head Ms. Juliana T. Vincenzino Suzanne Shull Mrs. Susan H. Reinach Azira G. Hill Drs. Jonne & Paul Walter Gerald & Nancy Silverboard S.A. Robinson Tad & Janin Hutcheson Mr. David J. Worley & Baker & Debby Smith Mr. David Roemer Ms. Bernadette Drankoski Mr. Justin Im & Ms. Cynthia Smith Donna Schwartz Dr. Nakyoung Nam Camille W. Yow Dr. K. Douglas Smith Ms. Martha Solano Aaron & Joyce Johnson Mr. & Mrs. Mrs. Dale L. Thompson $5,000+ Mr. & Mrs. Baxter Jones Peter Stathopoulos Mr. & Mrs. Art Waldrop A Friend of the Symphony (3) Mr. Jonathan Kamenear In memory of Mr. & Mrs. Rhys T. Wilson Dr. & Mrs. Marshall Abes Paul* & Rosthema Kastin Elizabeth B. Stephens by Ms. Sonia Witkowski ∞ Powell, Preston & Sally Azalea City Chapter of Links Mr. Charles R. Kowal Beth & Edward Sugarman Dr. Evelyn R. Babey Ms. Eunice Luke

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Mr. & Mrs. Robert G. Edge $2,000+ Diana Einterz A Friend of the Symphony(2) Erica Endicott & Chris Heisel 2492 Fund Mr. & Mrs. Taylor Fairman Mr. & Dr. Paul Akbar Mr. & Mrs. Paul G. Farnham Mr. James L. Anderson Mr. & Mrs. Massoud Fatemi Ms. Debra Atkins & Ms. Mary Ann Wayne Dr. Karen A. Foster The Atlanta Music Club Annie Frazer & Jen Horvath Anthony Barbagallo & ∞ Kristen Fowks Ms. Elizabeth C. French Ms. Susan Bass & Gaby Family Foundation Mr. Tom Bradford Mr. & Mrs. Sebastien Galtier Dr. Laura Beaty Raj & Jyoti Gandhi Bell Family Foundation Family Foundation for Hope Inc Mr. & Mrs. C. Ben Garren Dr. & Mrs. Joel E. Berenson Sandra & John Glover Susan & Jack Bertram Mrs. Janet D. Goldstein Catherine Binns & Mr. Robert Golomb Jim Honkisz* Mr. & Mrs. Daniel P. Griffin Leon & Joy Borchers Richard & Debbie Griffiths Andrew & Elissa Bower° Mr. & Mrs. Ms. Jane F. Boynton George Gunderson Martha S. Brewer Phil & Lisa Hartley Harriet Evans Brock Mr. & Mrs. Steve Hauser° Dr. Aubrey Bush & Mr. & Mrs. Charles Hawk Dr. Carol Bush Mr. & Mrs. John Hellriegel Mr. & Mrs. Walter K. Canipe Ms. Elizabeth Hendrick Betty Fuller Case Ms. Ann Herrera & Julie & Jerry Chautin Ms. Mary M. Goodwin Mr. James Cobb Mr. Kenneth & Coenen-Johnson Ms. Colleen Hey Foundation Sarah & Harvey Hill, Jr.° Susan S. Cofer Laurie House Hopkins & Malcolm & Ann Cole John D. Hopkins Ralph & Rita Connell James & Bridget Horgan° Matt & Kate Cook Ms. & Mr. Carli Huband Mrs. Nancy Cooke Richard & Linda Hubert Mary Carole Cooney & Dona & Bill Humphreys Henry R. Bauer, Jr. International Women’s Ms. Elizabeth Wiggs Cooper Forum & Mr. Larry Cooper Mr. and Dr. Joey Ivansco R. Carter & Marjorie A. Nancy & John Janet Crittenden Foundation Ms. Rebecca Jarvis Mr. & Mrs. Paul M. Cushing Mrs. Gail Johnson Dr. & Mrs. F. Thomas Daly, Jr. Cecile M. Jones Mr. & Mrs. Kyle Dasher Lana M. Jordan Priscilla Davis William L. & Sally S. Jorden Delta Community Teresa M. Joyce, Ph.D Credit Union Mona & Gilbert Kelly° Mr. David S. Dimling Mr. Lewis King Mr. & Mrs. Graham Dorian Mr. & Mrs. Theodore J. Gregory & Debra Durden Lavallee, Sr.

| 67

Lillian Balentine Law The Alex & Betty Smith Donor-Advised Mr. & Mrs. Chris Le Endowment Fund Van & Elizabeth Lear Anne-Marie Sparrow Mr. & Mrs. J. David Lifsey Peggy & Jerry Stapleton Jun-Ching Lin & James & Shari Steinberg Helen Porter Richard M. Stormont* Azy Lotfi & Max Lotfi Dr. & Mrs. Dr. Marcus Marr John P. Straetmans Mrs. Sam Massell Kay R Summers In Memory of Tegna Foundation Pam McAllister Mr. & Mrs. James McClatchey Ms. Linda F. Terry Dr. Brenda G. Turner Birgit & David McQueen Wayne & Lee Harper Vason Anna & Hays Mershon Vogel Family Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Dr. James L. Waits Thomas B. Mimms, Jr. Mr. Charles D. Wattles & Ms. Mrs. Pat Mitchell & Rosemary C. Willey Mr. Scott Seydel Hala and Steve Moddelmog David & Martha West Russell F. Winch & Mr. Charles Morn Ms. Helen Motamen and Mr. Mark B. Elberfeld Deepak Shenoy Zaban Foundation, Inc. Janice & Tom Munsterman∞ Herbert* & Grace Zwerner Melanie & Allan Nelkin Agnes V. Nelson Patron Leadership Mr. Denis Ng & Ms. Mary (PAL) Committee Jane Panzeri We give special Gary R. Noble, MD & thanks to this Joanne Heckman dedicated group of Donald S. Orr & Atlanta Symphony Marcia K. Knight Orchestra donorMr. & Mrs. volunteers for their Solon P. Patterson commitment to each Mr. & Mrs. year’s annual support Jonathan K. Peterson initiatives: Piedmont National Family Linda Matthews Foundation chair Ponce de Leon Music Store Kristi Allpere Mr. & Ms. Douglas R. Powell Helga Beam Ms. Patricia U. Rich Bill Buss Sharon & David Schachter° Pat Buss Drs. Bess Schoen & Andrew Kristen Fowks Muir Deedee Hamburger Drs. Lawrence & Judy Hellriegel Rachel Schonberger Nancy Janet Mr. David C. Shih Belinda Massafra Nick & Annie Shreiber Sally Parsonson Helga Hazelrig Siegel June Scott Diana Silverman Milt Shlapak Jeanne S. & S. Jonne Walter James Simpson The Society, Inc Marcia Watt

68 | encore Barbara & John Henigbaum Jill* & Jennings* Hertz Mr. Albert L. Hibbard Richard E. Hodges H E N RY S O P K I N C I R C L E Mr.* & Mrs. Charles K. Holmes, Jr. Named for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Mr.* & Mrs.* Fred A. Hoyt, Jr. founding Music Director, the HENRY SOPKIN Jim* & Barbara Hund CIRCLE celebrates cherished individuals and Clayton F. Jackson families who have made a planned gift to the Mary B. James Nancy Janet Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. These special Mr. Calvert Johnson & donors preserve the Orchestra’s foundation Mr. Kenneth Dutter and ensure success for future generations.

Joia M. Johnson deForest F. Jurkiewicz* Herb* & Hazel Karp Anne Morgan & Jim Kelley A Friend of the Bob Kinsey Symphony (22) Janie Cowan James W.* & Mary Ellen* Madeline* & Howell E. Mr. & Mrs. William R. Cummickel Kitchell Adams, Jr. Bob* & Verdery* Cunningham Paul Kniepkamp, Jr. Mr.* & Mrs.* John E. Aderhold Mr. Richard H. Delay & Vivian & Peter de Kok Paul & Melody Aldo Dr. Francine D. Dykes Miss Florence Kopleff* Mr. & Mrs. Ronald R. Antinori John R. Donnell Mr. Robert Lamy Dr. & Mrs. William Bauer Dixon W. Driggs* James H. Landon Helga Beam Pamela Johnson Drummond Ouida Hayes Lanier Mr. Charles D. Belcher* Mrs. Kathryn E. Duggleby Lucy Russell Lee* & Neil H. Berman Catherine Warren Dukehart* Gary Lee, Jr. Susan & Jack Bertram Ms. Diane Durgin Ione & John Lee Mr.* & Mrs.* Karl A. Bevins Arnold & Sylvia Eaves Mr. Larry M. LeMaster The Estate of Donald S. & Mr. & Mrs. Robert G. Edge Mr.* & Mrs.* William C. Lester Joyce Bickers Geoffrey G. Eichholz* Liz & Jay* Levine Ms. Page Bishop* Elizabeth Etoll Robert M. Lewis, Jr. Mr.* & Mrs.* Sol Blaine Mr. Doyle Faler Carroll & Ruth Liller John Blatz Brien P. Faucett Ms. Joanne Lincoln* Rita & Herschel Bloom Dr. Emile T. Fisher* Jane Little* The Estate of Mrs. Moniqua N Fladger Mrs. J. Erskine Love, Jr.* Gilbert H. Boggs, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Bruce W. Flower Nell Galt & Will D. Magruder W. Moses Bond A. D. Frazier, Jr. K Maier Mr.* & Mrs. Robert C. Boozer Nola Frink* John W. Markham* Elinor A. Breman* Betty* & Drew* Fuller Mrs. Ann B. Martin Carol J. Brown Sally & Carl Gable Linda & John Matthews James C. Buggs* William & Carolyn Gaik Mr. Michael A. McDowell, Jr. Mr. & Mrs.* Richard H. Burgin Dr. John W. Gamwell* Dr. Michael S. McGarry Hugh W. Burke* Mr.* & Mrs.* L.L. Gellerstedt, Jr. Richard & Shirley McGinnis Mr. & Mrs. William Buss Ruth Gershon & Sandy Cohn John & Clodagh Miller Wilber W. Caldwell Micheline & Bob Gerson Ms. Vera Milner Mr. & Mrs. C. Merrell Calhoun Max Gilstrap Mrs. Gene Morse* Cynthia & Donald Carson Mr. & Mrs. John T. Glover Ms. Janice Murphy* Mrs. Jane Celler* Mrs. David Goldwasser Mr. & Mrs. Bertil D. Nordin Lenore Cicchese* Robert Hall Gunn, Jr. Fund Mrs. Amy W. Norman* Margie & Pierce Cline Billie & Sig Guthman Galen Oelkers Dr. & Mrs. Grady S. Betty G.* & Joseph* F. Haas Roger B. Orloff Clinkscales, Jr. James & Virginia Hale Barbara D. Orloff Suzanne W. Cole Sullivan Ms. Alice Ann Hamilton Dr. Bernard* & Sandra Palay Robert Boston Colgin Dr. Charles H. Hamilton* Sally & Pete Parsonson Mrs. Mary Frances Sally & Paul* Hawkins James L. Paulk Evans Comstock* John* & Martha Head Ralph & Kay* Paulk Miriam* & John A.* Conant Ms. Jeannie Hearn* Dan R. Payne Dr. John W. Cooledge

Bill Perkins Mrs. Lela May Perry* Mr.* & Mrs. Rezin E. Pidgeon, Jr. Janet M. Pierce* Reverend Neal P. Ponder, Jr. Dr. John B. Pugh William L.* & Lucia Fairlie* Pulgram Ms. Judy L. Reed* Carl J. Reith* Mr. Philip A. Rhodes Vicki J. & Joe A. Riedel Helen & John Rieser Dr. Shirley E. Rivers* David F. & Maxine A.* Rock Glen Rogerson* Tiffany & Richard Rosetti Mr.* & Mrs.* Martin H. Sauser Bob & Mary Martha Scarr Mr. Paul S. Scharff & Ms. Polly G. Fraser Dr. Barbara S. Schlefman Bill & Rachel Schultz Mrs. Joan C. Schweitzer June & John Scott Edward G. Scruggs* Dr. & Mrs. George P. Sessions Mr. W. G. Shaefer, Jr. Charles H. Siegel* Mr. & Mrs. H. Hamilton Smith Mrs. Lessie B. Smithgall* Ms. Margo Sommers Elliott Sopkin Elizabeth Morgan Spiegel Mr. Daniel D. Stanley Gail & Loren Starr Peter James Stelling* Ms. Barbara Stewart Beth & Edward Sugarman C. Mack* & Mary Rose* Taylor Isabel Thomson* Jennings Thompson IV Margaret* & Randolph* Thrower Kenneth & Kathleen Tice Mr. H. Burton Trimble, Jr. Mr. Steven R. Tunnell Mr. & Mrs. John B. Uttenhove Mary E. Van Valkenburgh Mrs. Anise C. Wallace Mr. Robert Wardle, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. John B. White, Jr. Adair & Dick White Mr. Hubert H. Whitlow, Jr.* Sue & Neil* Williams Mrs. Frank L. Wilson, Jr. Mrs. Elin M. Winn Ms. Joni Winston George & Camille Wright Mr.* & Mrs.* Charles R. Yates

*Deceased

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| 69

ASO | STAFF EXECUTIVE

Kelly Edwards

Erin Jones

Jennifer Barlament

director of operations

director of sales &

FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION

executive director

Carrie Marcantonio

audience development

director of orchestra

Jesse Pace

Susan Ambo

Alvinetta Cooksey executive &

personnel

senior manager of

finance assistant

Joshua Luty

Dautri Erwin

principal librarian

executive assistant

Emily Fritz-Endres executive management fellow

ARTISTIC Gaetan Le Divelec vice president, artistic planning

Hannah Davis choral and artistic manager

RaSheed Lemon aso artist liaison

Ebner Sobalvarro artistic administrator

EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Sarah Grant senior director of

Jake Van Valkenburg

manager

Leah Branstetter director of digital content

Meredith Chapple marketing coordinator

Adam Fenton director of

marketing manager, live

manager, live

marketing manager

Emily Liao Master vice president & general manager

Paul Barrett senior production stage manager

Sara Baguyos associate principal librarian

Richard Carvlin stage manager

guest services coordinator

Anna Caldwell guest services associate

ATLANTA SYMPHONY HALL LIVE

Caitlin Buckers

Elena Gagon

OPERATIONS

Milo McGehee

Michelle Hannaford

director of marketing, live

Mia Jones-Walker

operations & asyo

sales coordinator

Will Strawn

program manager

manager of

ticket associate

Nicole Panunti vice president, atlanta

multimedia technology

creative services

Elizabeth Graiser

vice president of finance

Delle Beganie content & production

Ryan Walks

& community engagement

Kimberly Hielsberg

Ashley Mirakian vice president, marketing & communications

Lisa Eng

coordinator of education

experience

Dennis Quinlan Brandi Hoyos manager, business insights director of diversity, & analytics equity & inclusion Robin Smith April Satterfield patron services & season controller

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

education

talent development

ticketing & patron

executive vice president

& cfo

Camille McClain director of marketing

& communications Whitney Hendrix creative services manager, aso

symphony hall live

associate director of events & hospitality

Christine Lawrence associate director of guest services

Jessi Lestelle event manager

Dan Nesspor

ticketing manager, atlanta symphony hall live

Liza Palmer event manager

Brandi Reed staff accountant

DEVELOPMENT Grace Sipusic vice president of development

Cheri Snyder senior director of development

William Keene director of annual giving

James Paulk senior annual giving officer

Renee Contreras director of foundation and corporate relations

Esther Kim

development associate, major gifts

Dana Parness manager of individual giving & prospect research

Sharveace Cameron senior development

Bob Scarr archivist & research

associate

coordinator

manager of development

Madisyn Willis

operations

marketing manager

SALES & REVENUE MANAGEMENT Russell Wheeler vice president, sales & revenue management

Nancy James front of house supervisor

Sarah Wilson

Renee Corriveau

donor stewardship & events coordinator

70 | encore ASO | CORPORATE & GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

Major support is provided by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

Major funding is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.

This program is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

C15 | encore

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| 71

THE WOODRUFF CIRCLE arts and education work of the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and High opportunities for enhanced access to the work.

$1,000,000+

* *

* *

A Friend of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra $QRQ\PRXV (OL]DEHWK $UPVWURQJ $URXQG WKH 7DEOH )RXQGDWLRQ 'RXJODV - +HUW] )DPLO\ )RXQGDWLRQ 7KH ,POD\ )RXQGDWLRQ 3DWW\ 'RXJ 5HLG

*

$500,000+ A Friend of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra The Antinori Foundation Bank of America* Chick-fil-A Foundation | Rhonda & Dan Cathy

Emerald Gate Charitable Trust* The Home Depot Foundation Sarah & Jim Kennedy 6X]\ :LOQHU

$250,000+ Accenture AT&T Foundation Farideh & Al Azadi Foundation The Molly Blank Fund The Halle Foundation Invesco QQQ Novelis, Inc. 7KH 5LFKŖV )RXQGDWLRQ

The Shubert Foundation Truist Trusteed Foundations: Walter H. DQG 0DUMRU\ 0 5LFK 0HPRULDO )XQG DQG 7UXLVW 7UXVWHHG )RXQGDWLRQV 7KH *UHHQH 6DZWHOO )RXQGDWLRQ 836 :HVW5RFN

72 | encore THE BENEFACTOR CIRCLE Benefactor Circle members have contributed more than $100,000 annually to support the arts and education work of the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and High opportunities for enhanced access to the work.

$100,000+ 1180 Peachtree A Friend of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra ACT Foundation Alston & Bird $QRQ\PRXV Atlantic Station The Helen Gurley Brown Foundation Cadence Bank &LW\ RI $WODQWD 0D\RU V 2IILFH RI &XOWXUDO $IIDLUV The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta Cousins Foundation $QQ -HII &UDPHU Sheila Lee Davies & Jon Davies 5HDGH .DWLH )DKV %DUQH\ 0 )UDQNOLQ +XJK : %XUNH &KDULWDEOH )XQG )XOWRQ &RXQW\ %RDUG RI &RPPLVVLRQHUV *HRUJLD &RXQFLO IRU WKH $UWV *HRUJLD 3DFLıF (VWDWH RI %XUWRQ 0 *ROG *RRJOH *UDSKLF 3DFNDJLQJ ,QWHUQDWLRQDO ,QF

-RKQ + :LOKHOPLQD ' +DUODQG &KDULWDEOH )RXQGDWLRQ Mr. & Mrs. Hilton H. Howell, Jr. Jocelyn J. Hunter* Jones Day Foundation & Employees Kaiser Permanente Abraham J. & Phyllis Katz Foundation King & Spalding, Partners & Employees The Sartain Lanier Family Foundation* Charles Loridans Foundation, Inc. Lululemon The Marcus Foundation, Inc. The Sara Giles Moore Foundation National Endowment for the Arts Amy W. Norman Charitable Foundation Northside Hospital Bob & Margaret Reiser* Southern Company Gas Carol & Ramon Tomé Family Fund Warner Bros. Discovery Kelly & Rod Westmoreland Ann Marie & John B. White, Jr. wish Foundation

*A portion or entirety designated to Capital and/or Endowment FRPPLWPHQWV

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