Texarkana Symphony Orchestra 2024-2025 Season Program Book
TABLE OF
LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
WELCOME TO THE HISTORIC PEROT THEATRE
THE GOLDEN RULES OF THEATRE
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND ENDOWED CHAIR PROGRAM
LETTER FROM DR. ROBIN HICKERSON
LETTER FROM PHILIP MANN
BRAVO AND APPLAUSE
SUPPORTING THE SYMPHONY
TSO PRESENTS: HAPPY CENTENNIAL, PEROT THEATRE!
TSO PRESENTS: BLOCKBUSTER BROADWAY WITH NORM LEWIS
2023/2024 ORCHESTRA ROSTER
TSO PRESENTS: STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE CELEBRITY CONDUCTOR COMPETITION
TSO PRESENTS: CHRISTMAS AT THE PEROT MEMORIALS AND HONORARIUMS
TEXARKANA YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
STUDENT CONCERT “THE ORCHESTRA SWINGS”
CARNEGIE HALL WEILL MUSIC INSTITUTE LINK UP PROGRAM
TSO PRESENTS: A FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC
TSO PRESENTS: PASSIONATE DEVOTION
FOUNDING PATRONS
TSO PRESENTS: LASKAROV AND SAINT-SAËNS
SPECIAL THANKS
SUPPORTING THE SYMPHONY: PATRON DONOR LIST
www.fourstatesliving.com
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
R. ANDREW CLARK
Welcome to the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra’s 19th Season! This beautiful program book is made possible by our ongoing partnership with Four States Living Magazine. This year I am happy to introduce Elizabeth Schwartz, a freelance writer and music historian from Portland, Oregon, as our new program note writer for the season. Whether by supporting TSO’s many sponsors or preparing for each concert by reading the biographies and program notes ahead of time, there is something for everyone to enjoy.
This is a special season for the TSO as the beautiful Perot Theatre, which we call home and are now privileged to manage, celebrates its 100th Anniversary. I believe those who led our community back in 1924 would be proud of the ongoing mission to preserve
this wonderful space, to modernize it when necessary, and, most importantly, to now recognize it as the centerpiece of Texarkana’s downtown renaissance. Maestro Mann has fashioned a brilliant season opening concert to celebrate the Perot Theatre’s milestone by selecting symphonic works which were either written in or are connected to the year 1924. Additionally, this opening concert features a special dedication as it is sponsored, in part, in memory of Victor Hlavinka. Victor was not only a long-time TSO Board member, but he also became a personal friend. Countless times, the Orchestra and I would come to depend on Vic’s immense legal knowledge and wisdom. For more than a decade, Vic was at the heart of every negotiation with conductors, guest artists, and finally in our efforts to become the managers of the Perot Theatre. Vic, you are dearly missed! This season is full of wonderful symphonic music as we welcome violinist, Grace Park; Broadway legend, Norm Lewis; bandoneon player, Julien Labro; as well as our own Kiril Laskarov, violinist, and Tatitana Roitman Mann, pianist, as guest artists. Additionally, we are pleased to present another movie concert in November. Star Wars™ has long been a request of our audience members. We hope you will use it as an opportunity to invite your friends and family to see and hear the orchestra, maybe for the first time!
As I close, I am reminded of one of the books I use in my music appreciation classes, Every Song Ever by New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff. In this wonderful little book, he talks about how listening to music has changed so much over the course of the last 50 years. An important concept for us to think about as an orchestra is the fact that almost all types of music can now be acquired on a device we carry with us each day. Music, in both live performances and broadcast recordings, has been turned upside down! TSO has been blessed, during our almost twenty years, to be able to adjust to these changes by successfully reaching our demographic with a broad definition of symphonic music. For TSO this means that symphonic music represents not only our endeavor to instill a love of classical music in our community, but also a genre encompassing movies, tv, video games, Broadway, sporting events, and even rock bands. Your partnership as ticket buyers and donors to this work is vital. I hope you will be moved to support the TSO by renewing or increasing your past gift, becoming a new supporter, chair sponsor or concert sponsor, or even by voting for your favorite Celebrity Conductor Candidate.
Cheers to Season Nineteen!
R. Andrew Clark Executive Director, Texarkana Symphony Orchestra General Manager, Perot Theatre
PEROT THEATRE
The Perot Theatre opened in downtown Texarkana in 1924 and was hailed as the jewel of the Saenger Theatre chain. Called the most beautiful theatre in the South, it featured silent movies, movie premieres, the nationally broadcast Fifth Annual War Bond Drive with host Orson Welles, and live performances by Annie Oakley, Will Rogers, and John Barrymore. By the mid-20th Century the theatre was owned by the Paramount Corporation and served as the entertainment hub of downtown Texarkana. Due to the growth of the modern movie plex and the population shift to the Northwest, the theatre had been reduced to a B movie house by the 1970s. The theater officially closed in 1977 when the City of Texarkana, Texas, purchased it for $19,000 as part of the Model Cities Program. With the help of Texarkana natives H. Ross Perot and his sister, Bette, the theatre was restored to its current elegance at a cost of $2.4 million and reopened in 1981. The theatre was renamed
the Perot Theatre in honor of Gabriel Ross and Lulu May Perot, lifelong residents of the city and the parents of Ross and Bette.
This year Texarkana celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Saenger/ Perot Theatre and 43 years of outstanding artistic performances! The Perot has become, over the last two-decades, a key to the revitalization of downtown for both sides of Texarkana. Now a regional and national destination for tourism and entertainment, the Theatre is currently in the first phase of a multi-million-dollar renovation effort led by the City of Texarkana, Texas, and the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra. Through a $3 million dollar bond, the City of Texarkana, Texas, has established the Perot Theatre as a significant aspect of the City’s future economic development and success.
Managed by the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra, under a contract with the City of Texarkana, Texas, the Perot Theatre is not only the primary performance venue of Texarkana’s own professional symphony orchestra, but also hosts performances of the Texarkana Community Ballet, and the Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council’s Theatre for Young Audiences Series. The Theatre is proud to have hosted some of the world’s most renowned performers, concerts, and shows including Cary Grant, Anne Murray, Alvin Ailey Dance, the New York City Opera, Warsaw Philharmonic, Marvin Hamlisch, Carol Channing, Harry Belafonte, the Harlem Boys Choir, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Savion Glover, Zuill Bailey, Tony DeSare, the Harlem Quartet, Roy Clark, Ray Charles, the Houston Ballet, Tammy Wynette, Broadway blockbusters, and many more!
The Texarkana Symphony Orchestra is proud to partner with the City of Texarkana, Texas, to manage one of the most beautiful theatres in the United States. For more information about the Perot Theatre, rental inquires, or for a free tour contact the Box Office at 903-792-4992.
PHOTO BY BRIAN JONES
RULES
THEATRE
ATTENDING A LIVE PERFORMANCE IS NOT THE SAME AS GOING TO A MOVIE. PLEASE SHOW COURTESY TO THOSE SEATED NEAR YOU AND ENSURE MAGIC MOMENTS IN OUR THEATRE BY RESPECTING THE FOLLOWING GOLDEN RULES…
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1
PLEASE TURN OFF ALL ELECTRONIC DEVICES.
PLEASE UNWRAP ALL COUGH DROPS AND CANDIES BEFORE THE CONCERT BEGINS.
IF BRINGING CHILDREN, INSTRUCT THEM IN PROPER AUDIENCE BEHAVIOR AND FAMILIARIZE THEM WITH THE PERFORMANCE BEFOREHAND SO THEY KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT.
PLEASE REFRAIN FROM TALKING, HUMMING, SINGING, OR BEATING TIME TO THE MUSIC DURING THE PERFORMANCE.
PLEASE USE MODERATION IN APPLYING PERFUME, COLOGNE, OR SCENTED LOTION, AS MANY PEOPLE ARE HIGHLY ALLERGIC TO PERFUMES.
AVOID KICKING THE BACK OF THE SEAT IN FRONT OF YOU, EVEN IF IT IS DONE IN TIME TO THE MUSIC. PLEASE ALSO PREVENT YOUR CHILDREN FROM DOING THE SAME.
PLAYING GAMES, VIDEOING PERFORMANCES, AND ANY OTHER USES OF YOUR MOBILE DEVICES ARE FORBIDDEN AND INAPPROPRIATE, AND MAY BE ILLEGAL.
FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF EVERYONE IN THE AUDIENCE AND FOR YOUR SAFETY, PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE YOUR SEAT ONCE THE CONCERT BEGINS, AND REMAIN SEATED UNTIL THE THEATRE LIGHTS ARE BROUGHT UP FOR INTERMISSION OR THE CONCLUSION OF THE CONCERT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION OF OTHERS, AND ENJOY THE EVENING!
Welcome to Season 19 of the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra! We are excited to offer an array of exciting events for you to enjoy this season. I am equally excited, as well as honored, to begin my sixth year as President of the TSO board. My involvement with the TSO began when I was asked to be a contestant in the Celebrity Conductor Competition in 2017. I must admit, I knew little about the symphony at that time, but agreed to participate. I had no idea of the impact I was about to experience. By becoming acquainted with Remica Gray and Andrew Clark, I witnessed firsthand the passion and drive they both have for the symphony and quickly developed a passion for it, myself.
I was asked the following season to become a board member, which I also accepted with honor. I was elected President the following year and am very pleased to still hold that position. I strongly believe the symphony, as well as other arts available to us in Texarkana, is a vital asset to our community. My hope is that a growing number of people in our area will come to that realization and that our support will continue to flourish.
We are fortunate to have the renowned Philip Mann as our Music Director and Principal Conductor. With his worldwide reputation of being an “expressively graceful, yet passionate” artist, his range spans from symphonic repertoire, opera, and new music to experimental collaborations. Along with Philip, are the many talented musicians who grace our stage at each performance. Additionally, we have an array of exceptionally talented guest performers in the lineup.
Since assuming management of the beloved Perot Theatre three years ago, we are proud to have offered exciting new experiences, in addition to the TSO performances. We have many more slated for this season, as we continue to make needed improvements to the theatre. We very much appreciate your support this season, as always. We sincerely hope that you find joy in each performance!
Mark Van Herpen President, Texarkana Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors
MARK VAN HERPEN
MARK VAN HERPEN
President
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DR. ROBERT S. MCGINNIS, III
Vice President
R. ANDREW CLARK Executive Director
STEVE BENNETT
Youth Symphony
Conductor
DIANA NORWOOD
Personnel Manager
CATHERINE RICKETT
Librarian
PHILIP R. MANN
Music Director
MICAH DORSEY
Graphic Design
REMICA C. GRAY
Volunteer Director of Operations
ROBIN THOMAS Secretary LISA SITTERLEY Treasurer
Lesa Asbille
Jeff Brown
Dr. Matthew Burks
Buddy Deese
Jennifer Doan
Remica C. Gray
Tonja Luker Hays
Dolly Henley
Dr. Robin Hickerson
Don Howren
Dr. Jo Kahler
Dr. Susan Keeney
Lee Ann McCulloch
Lindsey McMillan
Ronald Mills
Judy Morgan
David Orr
David J. Potter
Jeff Prieskorn
Susan Robbins
Robby Robertson
Megan Schroeder
Denis Washington
ORCHESTRA ENDOWED CHAIR PROGRAM
The Texarkana Symphony Orchestra (TSO) announced, in the summer of 2023, its Endowed Orchestra Chair program. By naming an Endowed Chair in honor or memory of yourself, a family member or loved one, or an important person in the life of the community, you contribute to the long-term financial health and artistic growth of the orchestra. Endowing a chair demonstrates gratitude for the role that the TSO plays in your life and, for the musicians, creates an immediate connection from the stage to the audience.
TSO’s first Endowed Chair campaign begin with the goal of $35,000, to endow, for 20 years, the principal keyboard chair in honor of one of the Orchestra’s founders and longtime principal pianist, Mary Scott Smith. Below you will find those that have already contributed to this effort, and we would welcome your gift to help us finish the goal by donating for this chair. Additionally, we have listed below the rates to endow other chairs and information about our existing annual chair sponsorship program.
Contributors to the Mary Scott Smith Endowed Principal Keyboard Chair:
Bobbie Atkinson Foundation
Janella and Dr. Wilson Garrett
Remica and Danny Gray
Information on Endowing or Sponsoring TSO
Musician Chairs: Named Chairs are offered for either a 1-year, 20-year, 50-year, or Permanent period.
Dr. Susan Keeney
Kelley-Morgan Foundation
Patterson-Troike Foundation
Chair Sponsorship Program: The TSO has had an annual chair sponsorship program for several years. Unlike an Endowed Chair, these named chair sponsorships expire at the end of each season. Those who have been longtime annual chair sponsors have the option during the 2024-2025 Season to convert to an Endowed Chair and the Orchestra will provide a discount of $10,000, to either the 20-Year or 50-Year Endowment levels.
Music is love and love is music if you know what I mean
People who believe in music are the happiest people I’ve ever seen
So clap your hands and stomp your feet and shake those tambourines
Lift your voices to the sky and tell me what you see
I believe in music
I believe in love
I believe in music
I believe in love
I-Mac Davis
n the early 70s, Mac Davis recorded I Believe in Music. I have fond memories of singing along to this popular tune during my childhood, although I did not understand the song’s true meaning. Fast forward to the spring of 2023. As I sat in the
Perot Theatre, packed full of elementary-aged students and their teachers, I think I finally got it. These students traveled from all over the city and came together to participate in a program called The Orchestra Moves. The students were from diverse backgrounds and varying musical expertise, yet they felt confident and secure as they danced, sang, played instruments, and stomped to the beat. They were happy. They believed in music, and so did I!
As my love for the symphony grew, I became more involved by purchasing concert tickets, participating in the Celebrity Conductor Contest, and eventually answering the call to serve on the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra Board. Music and the arts have the power to unite us as one community and draw others to our city. We are incredibly fortunate to have dedicated support for the arts in Texarkana, but there is more work to do.
As I wind up a lifetime of work in education and embark on a new journey as President and CEO of the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce, I’d like to encourage all of you to renew your love and belief in music to ensure quality of life for our youth as well as current and future residents of our hometown, Texarkana, USA.
Sincerely,
Robin Hickerson
ear Listeners and Friends,
Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the 19th season of your Texarkana Symphony Orchestra. Titled “Enduring Passion,” our season is designed to excite, inflame, and delight. My programming capitalizes on historic anniversaries and a palpable sense of shared, musical momentum in our historic home. I believe the symphony has hit its stride, with a great community story to tell and a dynamic, upward trajectory. As many of you may have experienced, I am rapt with anticipation, optimism, and a desire to share the details of a season years in the making.
The exquisite Perot Theater, celebrating its Centennial in 2024, receives an opening concert fête inspired by the year and decade of its construction. Premiered in 1924, Respighi’s Pines of Rome, is among the greatest orchestrated spectacles ever conceived, and provides a triumphant introductory note. Our opener is further infused with the Roaring Twenties as we nod to Texarkana’s railroad tradition with Pacific 231 (1924) performed with the original film, and hear gypsy pyrotechnics in Ravel’s Tzigane (1924) with violin virtuoso, and Naumburg Competition Laureate, Grace Park.
Our fall hit parade continues with international star of stage and screen, Norm Lewis, making his Texarkana
debut. Lewis graces some the artforms biggest venues with our nation’s most revered orchestras and will bring his singular style to Broadway and American Songbook favorites. Not to be outdone with one pops hit, the TSO meets popular demand and builds on a new tradition with a grand screening, along with simultaneous full symphony orchestra accompaniment, of the iconic John Williams –George Lucas collaboration, Star Wars, Episode IV A New Hope.
Our beloved Christmas at the Perot returns with an entertaining show featuring numerous talents: soprano Rachel Copeland, TSO Chamber Singers, humor, style, guests like Curtain Call Productions and the Texarkana Youth Symphony Orchestra, another great group of Celebrity Conductor competitors, and all the holiday tunes we crave. We’ll also continue our Carnegie Hall collaboration with our Link Up children’s program, The Orchestra Swings , that reaches students from across our region with an unforgettable chance to fall in love with music.
Two returning favorite soloists rekindle their TSO relationships – pianist Tatiana Roitman Mann performs Michael Daugherty’s eclectic and entertaining Le Tombeau du Liberace , and Concertmaster, Kiril Laskarov, offers Saint- Saëns romantic masterpiece Concerto No. 3. We’ll also heat things up with Tchaikovky’s passionate Serenade which is paired with international bandoneon soloist Julien Labro for several iconic tango works paired with a special world premiere of his concerto, El Fueye del Tiburón (The Bellows of the Shark). Finally, we will close the season in grand fashion with Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances and Texarkana native Clint Needham’s Hands that Built a City.
As you gaze forward in our home surrounded by beautiful sounds, please know that these memories can only be created with the extraordinary commitment and contributions of the whole TSO family, which includes the Perot Theater team. Leading both with vision and aplomb is Andrew Clark, and our great Board of Directors under the spirited leadership of Mark Van Herpen. Also deserving of thanks and recognition is TSO stalwart Remica Gray, Youth Orchestra Director Steve Bennett, our entire production team and musician leadership, and of course, the musicians of our symphony orchestra.
To everyone who has contributed energy, expertise, talents, time and resources in support of this great community success, please have my most sincere thanks. I’m so proud to be a part of our continuing story.
Yours in music,
Philip Mann
MUSIC DIRECTOR
PHILIP MANN
A LETTER FROM THE
PHOTO BY NANCY NOLAN
BRAVO!
SEASON CONCERT SPONSORS
Vasco McCoy, Jr. Foundation | Kelley Morgan Foundation
Lois and Cary Patterson | Cabe Cook Foundation | Emily and Gabe Tarr
Dr. George W. English, III
The Gray and McGinnis Families
In memory of Florence and George Crank
Vicki and Roy Deskin
Fulton Grass Company , Henry and Kathy Struckman
Remica and Danny Gray
Dolly and Paul Henley
Dr. Susan Keeney
Mike and Pete Mankins
Drs. Kathleen and Michael Martin
Barbara and Dr. Paul McCash
Lee Ann and Buddy McCulloch
The Morriss Family
In memory of Martha and Josh Morriss, Jr.
Susan Robbins
TSO Board of Directors
Drs. Jennie and Brian So
Barrie Thomson
STUDENT CONCERTS IN THE PEROT THEATRE
Vicki and Maurice Orr
TEXARKANA YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Vicki and Maurice Orr | Malinda and Randal Walker
Texarkana Music Teachers Association
AR/TX Music Connection | Barbara and Ludwig Stoeckl
SYMPHONY CHAIR SPONSORS
Underwriting a TSO musician for the Season are:
Bobbie A. Atkinson
Diana and Dr. Kirby Bunel
Drs. Valeria and Matthew Burks
C. Louis & Mary C. Cabe Foundation
Dr. George W. English, III
Katherine and George Lease
Deborah and Michael Malek
Tatiana and Philip Mann
Drs. Kathleen and Michael Martin
Barbara and Dr. Paul McCash
Lee Ann and Buddy McCulloch
Katrina and Dr. Robert McGinnis
Deborah and Ron Mills
APPLAUSE!
SPECIAL EVENTS UNDERWRITERS
Kathy and Donnie Powers
In memory of Dr. Jauquita Hargus
Martha and Jeff Prieskorn
Mary Scott and Dr. C. Jack Smith
Barbara and Ray Whitney
Alan and Kathie Woll
Dr. Susan Keeney | Angela and Andrew Clark | DeAnna and Dr. Bret Craytor | Remica and Danny Gray
Cathy and Mark Van Herpen | Dr. Robin and David Hickerson | Sue and Don Howren | Lee Ann and Buddy McCulloch
Lindsey and Dr. Chris McMillan
Mary and Denis Washington | Lynn and Dr. Paul Whitt
Texarkana is a community that has always been passionate about the arts, and the Symphony is honored to help further that legacy by bringing the world of symphonic music to our area. Yet, our capacity to pursue excellence in live performance and educational programs is directly related to the financial support the community provides. It is only through generous gifts from people like you who are passionate about music, education, and their community that we can create this legacy of symphonic music for Texarkana. Please help us set the stage for the present and the future by making an annual fund contribution.
ENHANCE YOUR EXPERIENCE:
TSO’s donor benefits are designed to provide you with up-close access to the music and musicians. As your donor level increases, so does your opportunity to meet TSO musicians and guest artists and receive invitations to special events and postconcert receptions.
YOUR SUPPORT IS VITAL…
AND THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO GIVE:
TSO accepts gifts of any size, and there are multiple ways to make an impact. Donate securities, name the TSO as an insurance policy or IRA beneficiary, request a matching gift from your company, or include the Symphony in your will. Donations are accepted yearround, and payment options can be set up yearly, quarterly, or monthly.
PLATINUM: $10,000 OR MORE
GOLD: $5,000-$9,999
SILVER: $2,500-$4,999
BRONZE: $1,000-$2,499
SUSTAINER: $500-$999
ASSOCIATE: $100-$499
FRIEND: UP TO $99
YOUR SUPPORT IS VITAL TO TEXARKANA, EVERY GIFT, NO MATTER THE SIZE…
• SUPPORTS THE SYMPHONY’S VISION FOR TEXARKANA TO BE A CENTER OF MUSICAL EXCELLENCE.
• FOSTERS EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE THROUGH MUSIC FOR AREA CHILDREN AND YOUTH.
• ENRICHES OUR COMMUNITY THROUGH ACCESS TO LIVE SYMPHONIC PERFORMANCES.
• PROVIDES ECONOMIC GROWTH THROUGH EXPANDED CULTURAL RESOURCES.
• DEVELOPS A LEGACY FOR TEXARKANA’S FUTURE.
WANT TO MEET THE MAESTRO AND MUSICIANS UP CLOSE?
Become a Symphony Chair Sponsor at $1,500 per year and be invited to attend an orchestra rehearsal, sit on the stage, and meet TSO musicians and the Maestro up-close.
CONSIDER WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO SPONSOR A CONCERT?
TSO’s annual concert sponsors dramatically impact the orchestra and our community by ensuring the vital need for live symphonic performances in Texarkana. You can become a concert sponsor for as little as $2,500 per year. For more information, call the TSO office at 870-773-3401.
YOUR GENEROSITY IS RECOGNIZED BY:
• LISTING IN THE PROGRAM BOOK
• DISCOUNT ON SEASON TICKET PURCHASES
• INVITATIONS TO TSO EVENTS (ASSOCIATE AND ABOVE)
• COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS (BRONZE AND ABOVE)
• TAX-DEDUCTIBLE GIFTS (MINUS THE VALUE OF ANY COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS USED)
DID YOU KNOW...
Ticket revenue only covers a quarter of the symphony’s operating costs.
your donations to Texarkana Symphony Orchestra 421 Hickory Street Texarkana, Arkansas 71854 CALL the TSO Office at 870-773-3401
The TSO is pleased to accept your credit card donations.
Visit the website at: www.texarkanasymphony.org Click the “Support Us” tab.
MASTERWORKS I
HAPPY CENTENNIAL, PEROT THEATRE!
GRACE PARK
Violin
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2024
PEROT THEATRE | 7:00 P.M.
221 Main Street, Texarkana, Texas
Concert Preview: 6:10 p.m.
CONCERT REPERTOIRE
HONEGGER, Arthur (1892-1955)
Pacific 231 (1924)
TCHAIKOVSKY, Pyotr Ilyich (1840-1893) arr., Alexander Glazunov
Souvenir d’un Lieu Cher, op. 42 (Memory of a Dear Place)
I. Méditation
II. Scherzo
III. Mélodie
RAVEL, Maurice (1875-1937)
Tzigane
GRACE PARK
PRICE, Florence Beatrice (1887-1953)
Andante Moderato
RESPIGHI, Ottorino (1879-1936)
Pines of Rome
I. The Pines of the Villa Borghese
II. Pines near a catacomb
III. The Pines of the Janiculum
IV. The Pines of the Appian Way
INTERMISSION
PHILIP R. MANN Conductor
GRACE PARK
Praised by the San Francisco Chronicle as being “fresh, different and exhilarating” and Strings Magazine as “intensely wrought and burnished “, violinist Grace Park captivates audiences with her artistry, passion and virtuosity. Winner of the Naumburg International Violin Competition, she showcases her artistry as a dynamic soloist and dedicated chamber musician.
Ms. Park has appeared as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Canada at venues such as Walt Disney Hall, The Kennedy Center, The Rudolfinum in Prague, Metropolitan Museum
of Art, Jordan Hall and Rockefeller University. Most recent debuts include recital debut at Carnegie Hall and concerto debuts with Prague Philharmonia, Colorado Symphony and Orchestra NOW at the Bard Festival. She has performed in festivals such as Music @ Menlo, IMS Prussia Cove, Festival Mozaic, Yellowbarn, and Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach where she has performed with many of today’s celebrated artists.
Ms. Park recently recorded her debut album of works of Mozart and Dvorak with Prague Philharmonia and their music director, Emmanuel Villaume, which is set to be released the Spring of 2024.
A devoted and passionate educator, Ms. Park is an alumnus of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect and has taught masterclasses and coached at Conservatorio de Musica de Cartagena, Mannes School of Music, University of North Carolina, Washington and Lee University, North Dakota State University, Skidmore College, among others.
As a native to Los Angeles, California, Ms. Park began violin at the age of 5 where she trained at the Colburn School of Music. She continued her studies at Colburn Conservatory and New England Conservatory for her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. Principal teachers are Donald Weilerstein, Miriam Fried, Sylvia Rosenberg, and Robert Lipsett. She now resides in New York City.
She performs on a 1717 Giuseppe Filius Andrea Guarneri on loan from an anonymous sponsor.
ARTIST BIO
VIOLIN
PROGRAM NOTES MASTERWORKS 1:
HAPPY CENTENNIAL, PEROT THEATRE!
Pacific 231
Arthur Honegger
B: March 10, 1892, Le Havre, France
D: November 27, 1955, Paris
Work composed: 1923
World premiere: Serge Koussevitzky led the Paris Opéra orchestra on May 8, 1924.
Instrumentation: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, bass drum, cymbal, tam tam, tenor drum, and strings
Estimated duration: 7 minutes
“I have always loved locomotives passionately. For me they are living creatures, and I love them as others love women or horses.” – Arthur Honegger
In the decade after WWI, several European composers began exploring their musical fascination with the sounds of the industrial world. Arthur Honegger’s Pacific 231, the first of his three mouvements symphoniques, is the best-known and most performed of these programmatic works. Like many people, Honegger was enamored of trains and train travel; the title Pacific 231 refers to the arrangement of axels on a particular type of steam locomotive commonly used in France.
The music begins with “the quiet turning-over of the machine at rest,” writes Honegger, to “the sense of exertion as it starts up, the increase in speed and then finally the emotion, the sense of passion inspired by a 300-ton train hurtling through the night.” We hear the slow laboring of the engine as it picks up speed, along with the mechanical non-tonal sounds of the giant engine at work. The first recognizable melody does not emerge until halfway through the work; a restless melody in the winds trails off and away, like the steam from the smokestack. It swirls through a mood of mechanistic agitation as the train picks up speed, before it eventually lumbers to a stop.
Critics and audiences alike responded with enthusiasm to Pacific 231. Honegger wryly observed, “So many, many critics
have so minutely described the onrush of my locomotive across the great spaces that it would be inhuman to disabuse them! One of them, confusing Pacific with the Pacific Ocean, even evoked the smells of the open sea. To tell the truth, in Pacific I was on the trail of a very abstract and quite ideal concept, by giving the impression of a mathematical acceleration of rhythm, while the movement itself slowed …”
Souvenir d’un Lieu Cher, Op. 42 (Memoriesof a Dear Place)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (arr. Glazunov)
B: May 7, 1840, Kamsko-Votinsk, Viatka province, Russia
D: November 6, 1893, St. Petersburg
Work composed: Dedicated to “Brailov,” Nadezhda von Meck’s Ukrainian estate. Originally for violin and piano. In 1896, Alexander Glazunov arranged the Souvenir for violin and orchestra.
World premiere: undocumented Instrumentation: solo violin, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, harp, and strings
Estimated duration: 17 minutes
In December 1876, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky began an epistolary relationship with Mrs. Nadezhda von Meck, a wealthy widow and ardent fan of Tchaikovsky’s music. Mme. von Meck offered to become Tchaikovsky’s patron on the condition that they never meet in person, to which the introverted Tchaikovsky agreed.
Although neither of them could have predicted it at the time, Mme. von Meck was to become something of a fairy godmother – or perhaps guardian angel – to Tchaikovsky. Six months after they met, Tchaikovsky encountered Antonina Ivanova Milyukova, a former student obsessed with her one-time professor. She sent Tchaikovsky several impassioned letters, which alarmed the composer; eventually Milyukova threatened to kill herself if Tchaikovsky did not return her affection. This untenable situation, combined with Tchaikovsky’s tortured feelings about his sexual orientation and his desire to silence gossip about it, led to a hasty, ill-advised union. Tchaikovsky fled from Milyukova a month after the wedding. Although they were never legally divorced, the marriage officially ended after three months; Mme. von Meck gave Tchaikovsky 10,000 rubles to bestow on Milyukova as a financial settlement. Tchaikovsky subsequently suffered a nervous breakdown and went to Switzerland to recover.
While he recuperated, Tchaikovsky began work on Méditation, which became the first movement of his Souvenir d’un lieu cher (Memories of a Dear Place). Several months later, Tchaikovsky completed two more movements, Scherzo and Mélodie, while staying at Brailova, Mme. von Meck’s Ukrainian estate. In gratitude, Tchaikovsky dedicated the
Souvenir to “Brailov,” the “dear place” referenced in the title, and gave the original manuscript to Mme. von Meck. “I have left my pieces with Marcel [the estate manager] to give to you,” Tchaikovsky wrote her. “In my opinion, the first of these is the best, but it gave me the most trouble; it is called Méditation and is to be played a tempo Andante. The second is a very brisk scherzo, and the third – Chant sans paroles [song without words]. On giving these pieces to Marcel I experienced an indescribable melancholy, which stayed with me even as I sat down to write this; until I saw the lilacs still in full bloom, the grass still long, and the roses only just starting to blossom!”
Tzigane
Maurice Ravel
B: March 7, 1895, Ciboure, Basses-Pyrénées, France
D: December 28, 1937, Paris
Work composed: 1924, for violin and piano. Ravel created the orchestral version two months after the premiere. Written for and dedicated to violinist Jelly d’Arányi, grand-niece of violinist Joseph Joachim.
World premiere: April 26, 1924, with d’Arányi and pianist Henri Gil-Marchex in London. D’Arányi also gave the orchestral premiere on November 30, 1924, in Paris with Gabriel Pierné leading the Colonne Orchestra.
Instrumentation: solo violin, piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, trumpet, triangle, bell on F-sharp, suspended cymbal, celesta, harp, and strings. Estimated duration: 10 minutes
The name Jelly d’Arányi may be unfamiliar today, but in the 1920s, the Hungarian virtuoso violinist was renowned among leading composers, performers, and audiences alike. D’Arányi formed a chamber trio with cellist Pablo Casals, and toured with Béla Bartók in London and Paris performing recitals for violin and piano; d’Arányi also premiered both of Bartók’s violin sonatas, which he wrote for her. English composers Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst likewise wrote and dedicated works to d’Arányi, and she was a close friend of Edward Elgar.
In July 1922, d’Arányi met Maurice Ravel at a private musical gathering, where she performed his newly composed Sonata for Violin and Cello. Ravel was captivated. Biographer Arbie Orenstein described what happened next: “Late in the evening Ravel asked the Hungarian violinist to play some Gypsy melodies. After Mlle. d’Arányi obliged, the composer asked for one more melody, and then another. The Gypsy melodies continued until about 5 a.m., with everyone
exhausted except the violinist and the composer. That evening was to mark the initial gestation of Tzigane.”
Over the next two years, as Ravel worked on other projects, including his orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition , he was also immersing himself in the Hungarian Gypsy melodies d’Arányi had played for him that memorable summer night. Tzigane captures the raw, improvisational quality of the Gypsy (Roma) music of Hungary, particularly in the extended opening cadenza. Totally exposed, the solo violin executes a series of non-Western Magyar scalar passages, alternating with highly expressive interludes, as if the violin is pouring out the soul of its performer.
Ravel, mindful of d’Arányi’s skill, also included plenty of technically demanding tricks, which showcased both her virtuosity and the highly flavored music itself: lightning-fast runs requiring incredible dexterity, harmonics, and doublestops abound throughout.
Andante moderato Florence Price
B: April 9, 1887, Little Rock, AR
D: June 3, 1953, Chicago
Work composed: 1929. Originally written as the second movement of Price’s String Quartet No. 1 in G major World premiere: undocumented
Instrumentation: string orchestra
Estimated duration: 7 minutes
As the first Black female American composer to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra, Florence Price enjoyed considerable renown during her lifetime. Her compositional skill and fame notwithstanding, however, the entrenched institutional racism and sexism of the white male classical music establishment effectively erased Price and her music from general awareness for decades after her death in 1953. More than 50 years later, in 2009, a large collection of scores and unpublished works by Price were discovered in a house in rural Illinois. Since then, many ensembles and individual musicians have begun including Price’s music in concerts, so that audiences can discover her rich, distinctive, and polished body of work for the first time.
The daughter of a musical mother, Price was a prodigy, giving her first recital at age four and publishing her first composition at 11. During her childhood and teens in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price’s mother was the guiding force behind her piano and composition studies. In 1903, at age 16, Price won admittance to New England Conservatory (she had to “pass” as Mexican and listed her hometown as Pueblo, Mexico, to circumvent prevailing racial bias against Blacks), where she double majored in organ performance and piano pedagogy. While at NEC, Price also studied composition
with George Whitefield Chadwick. Chadwick was an early advocate for women as composers, which was highly unusual at the time, and he believed that American composers generally should incorporate the rich traditions of American vernacular sounds into their own music, rather than trying to imitate European styles. Price, already inclined in this direction, was encouraged by Chadwick, and many of her works reflect the expressive, distinctive idioms of what were then referred to as “Negro” traditions: spirituals, ragtime, and folkdance rhythms whose origins trace back to Africa.
The Andante moderato on tonight’s program originated as a movement from Price’s first string quartet. Price’s expressive writing showcases her love and mastery of American musical idioms. The warm simplicity of the melody suggests a hymn or spiritual, or the slow passage of time on a summer afternoon.
I pini di Roma (Pines of Rome)
Ottorino Respighi
B: July 9, 1879, Bologna
D: April 18, 1936, Rome
Work composed: May 1923 - 1924
World premiere: Pines oWf Rome was first performed in Rome at the Teatro Augusteo on December 14, 1924, under the direction of Bernardino Molinari.
When the New York Philharmonic gave the American premiere of Pines of Rome in 1926, with Arturo Toscanini conducting, Ottorino Respighi, referring to himself in the third person, wrote the following program note:
“While in his preceding work, Fountains of Rome, the composer sought to reproduce by means of tone an impression of Nature, in Pines of Rome he uses Nature as a point of departure, in order to recall memories and vision. The centuries-old trees which so characteristically dominate the Roman landscape become witnesses to the principal events in Roman life.”
From the opening bars, the listener is enveloped in the brilliant colors of Respighi’s dazzling orchestrations. Each of the four movements portrays the celebrated pines in different locations at different times of day. Respighi paid specific
attention to orchestral detail in the third movement, The Pines of the Janiculum, where the composer specifies a live recording of a nightingale be played over the music at the conclusion of the movement. This innovative blend of live vs. recorded music predates the concept of musique concrete or “found sound,” which gained popularity in the 1960s and 70s, by forty years.
Respighi includes a description of each of the four movements in the score: “The Pines of Villa Borghese (Allegretto vivace). Children are at play in the pine grove of the Villa Borghese, dancing the Italian equivalent of “Ring Around a Rosy;” they mimic marching soldiers and battles; they chirp with excitement like swallow at evening; and they swarm away. Suddenly the scene changes … Pines Near a Catacomb (Lento) … and we see the shadows of the pines which crown the entrance of a catacomb. From the depths rises a dolorous chant, which spreads solemnly, like a hymn, and then mysteriously dies away. The Pines of the Janiculum (Lento). There is a tremor in the air. The pines of Janiculum Hill are profiled in the full moon. A nightingale sings. The Pines of the Appian Way (Tempo di marcia). Misty dawn on the Appian Way. Solitary pines stand guard over the tragic campagna. The faint unceasing rhythm of the numberless steps. A vision of ancient glories appears to the poet’s fantasy: trumpets blare and a consular army erupts, in the brilliance of the newly risen sun, toward the Sacred Way, mounting to a triumph on the Capitoline Hill.”
STROUSE, Charles and ADAMS, Lee This is Life, from Golden Boy
SHIRE, David, MALTBY, JR., Richard Starting Here, Starting Now, from Starting Here, Starting Now
WILSON, Meredith Ya Got Trouble, from The Music Man
WEBBER, Andrew Music of the Night, from The Phantom of the Opera
SCHÖNBERG, Claude-Michel and BOUBILL, Alain Selections from Les Misérables
BOUBILL, Alain, and SCHÖNBERG, Claude-Michel Stars, from Les Misérables
BOUBILL, Alain, SCHÖNBERG, Claude-Michel, and KRETZMER, Herbert Bring Him Home, from Les Misérables
GERSHWIN, George and Ira I Got Plenty o’Nuttin’, from Porgy and Bess
INTERMISSION
TOWNSHEND, Peter Pinball Wizard, from The Who’s Tommy
MENKEN, Alan, ASHMAN, Howard, and SLATER, Glenn The Little Mermaid The World Above Poor Unfortunate Souls
WEBBER, Andrew Lloyd
Selections from Jesus Christ Superstar
SMALLS, Charlie Home, from The Wiz
SONDHEIM, Stephen Being Alive, from Company
FLAHERTY, Stephen, and AHRENS, Lynn Make Them Hear You, from Ragtime
Norm Lewis appears courtesy of The Katz Company.
Conductor
NORM LEWIS
Emmy, Grammy, Tony, and SAG Award nominee, NORM LEWIS, was recently seen onstage starring in the national tour of the Tony Award-winning production of A Soldier’s Play and in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End Concert of “Love Never Dies.” He starred in Spike Lee’s critically acclaimed, “Da 5 Bloods,” and in the groundbreaking FX series, Pose. Additionally, Mr. Lewis can be seen starring opposite Hilary Swank in the feature “The Good Mother,” Amazon Prime’s newest series, Swarm, and Hulu’s, Up Here. He was also seen as ‘Caiaphas’ in the award-winning NBC television special, “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!,” alongside John Legend, Sara Bareilles, and Alice Cooper.
Mr. Lewis returned to Broadway in the Fall of 2021, starring in Chicken and Biscuits at the Circle In The Square Theatre. He previously appeared in the Broadway revival of Once on This Island and as Sweeney Todd in the Off-Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Barrow Street Theatre, receiving the AUDELCO Award for his performance. In May of 2014, he made history as The Phantom of the Opera’s first African American Phantom on Broadway.
He has been seen on PBS in the Live From Lincoln Center productions of Showboat with Vanessa Williams, Norm Lewis: Who Am I?, New Year’s Eve: A Gershwin Celebration with Diane Reeves, as well as American Voices with Renée Fleming and the PBS Specials First You Dream – The Music of Kander & Ebb and Ella Wishes You A Swingin’ Christmas. He can be seen recurring in the VH1 series, Daytime Divas, also alongside Vanessa Williams. His additional television credits include Women of The Movement, Law & Order, Dr. Death, Mrs. America , Better Things, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Bull, Chicago Med , Gotham , The Blacklist, and Blue Bloods, as well as in his recurring role as Senator Edison Davis on the hit drama Scandal
Mr. Lewis is a proud, founding member of Black Theatre United, an organization which stands together to help protect Black people, Black talent and Black lives
of all shapes and orientations in theatre and communities across the country. He received Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle award nominations for his performance as Porgy in the Broadway production of The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess. Other Broadway credits include Sondheim on Sondheim , The Little Mermaid , Les Misérables, Chicago, Amour, The Wild Party, Side Show, Miss Saigon , and The Who’s Tommy. In London’s West End he has appeared as Javert in Les Misérables and Les Misérables: The 25th Anniversary Concert, which aired on PBS.
Off-Broadway Mr. Lewis has performed in Dessa Rose (Drama Desk nomination, AUDELCO Award), Shakespeare in the Park’s The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Drama League nomination), Captains Courageous, and A New Brain . His regional credits include Porgy in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (A.R.T.), Ragtime , Dreamgirls (with Jennifer Holliday), First You Dream , Sweeney Todd , and The Fantasticks.
His additional film credits include Christmas In Tune (starring opposite Reba McEntire), Magnum Opus, Winter’s Tale, Sex and the City 2 , Confidences, and Preaching to the Choir.
Norm’s albums “The Norm Lewis Christmas Album” & “This is The Life” can be found on Amazon.com as well as cdbaby.com.
ARTIST BIO VOCALIST
ARTIST BIO
JOSEPH JOUBERT
Joseph Joubert is a native New Yorker and Grammy nominated musician who’s well known as a pianist, arranger, orchestrator, Broadway conductor, and music director. Mr. Joubert currently is music supervisor, orchestrator and co-arranger for “The Wiz ” revival that’s on Broadway. In addition he’s co-orchestrator of Alan Menken’s “Hercules”. His Broadway orchestration credits include: “Caroline or Change ”, “The Color Purple ”(Drama Desk Nomination), “Disaster ”, “Violet ”(Drama Desk Nomination) and “Leap of Faith ”. He was Musical Director for Berry Gordy’s “Motown The Musical ” and was assistant conductor for “Nice Work If You Can Get It” and “Billy Elliot”. He was guest conductor for Encore’s “Tap Dance Kid ”. He has orchestrated and played for “Respect ” starring Jennifer Hudson as well as conducting the score for Kris Bowers. Mr. Joubert is a sought after music director for Broadway stars and has collaborated with Cynthia Erivo, Deborah Cox, Ken Page, Norm Lewis and recently did a PBS special with Melissa Erico. Mr. Joubert was music supervisor and orchestrator for Classic Stage Company’s “Carmen Jones” starring Anika Noni Rose to rave reviews.
As a record producer and arranger/orchestrator he has worked with Diana Ross, George Benson, Patti LaBelle, Whitney Houston, Cissy Houston, Jennifer Holliday, Dionne Warwick, Luther Vandross, Norm Lewis and Diane Reeves as well as classical singers including Denyce Graves,
Esther Hinds, Harolyn Blackwell, Florence Quivar, Simon Estes, and Kathleen Battle. His orchestrations are used by symphonies across the USA including The New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia orchestras. He is a founding member of MUSE - musicians united for social equity He received a grammy nomination for Best Arrangement Accompanying A Vocal for the Broadway Inspirational Voices! Great Joy”.
Mr. Joubert is at home arranging and performing in any style from classical to pop, gospel to Broadway, spiritual to R & B. He has reinterpreted classic hymns on his solo piano CD Total Praise and most recent solo piano CD A Mighty Fortress Is Our God: The Joubert Experience released by GIA Publications. His published arrangements are performed all over the world. As Musical Director for Judy Collins for five years he performed with the London Symphony and many of the major American orchestras. At the request of the composer Coleridge Taylor Perkinson Mr. Joubert recorded “Grass ” with the Chicago Sinfonietta on Cedille Records.
Born in New York City, the son of a Baptist minister, he began playing the piano at the age of eight and by age sixteen had made his Town Hall debut with full orchestra. He received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Dora Zaslavsky, and won the nationwide piano competition of the National Association of Negro Musicians in 1980.
ORCHESTRA ROSTER
PHILIP MANN
Music Director and Principal Conductor
CONCERTMASTER
Kiril Laskarov
*Dr. George W. English, III
ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER
Algimantas Staskevicius
*Katherine and George Lease
ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTERS
Daniel Santelices
*Deborah and Ron Mills
Diana M.H. Norwood
*Barbara and Ray Whitney
VIOLIN
Principal Second Violin (to be auditioned)
*Tatiana and Philip Mann
Elizabeth Beck
Yasmine Bougacha
Linnaea Brophy
Emilio Castro
Ana Corrales
Albert Delgadillo
Elijah Evans
Andrea Finley
Juan Carlos Flores
Jose Garza
J. Michele Gunn
Ciara Charlesse Hagar
Ming-Wei Hsieh
Yida Hu
Thane Isaac
Ronnamarie Jensen
Anna Larson
Javier Laya
Norman Martinez
Marijn Meijer
Emma Milian
Nicole Paglialonga
Oksana Pavilionis
Jennifer Sherman
Crissanti Garcia Tamez
Leihlani Garcia Tamez
Chloe Trevor
VIOLA
Borys B. Smolaga, Principal
*Martha and Jeff Prieskorn
Anna Bass-Mattingly
J. Michele Gunn
Amanda Hamilton
Danny Jordan
Tatiana Kotcherguina
Thao Pham
Emily Townsend
Jorge Luis Zapata
CELLO
Brett Andrews, Principal
*Deborah and Mike Malek
Marina Diago
Noemie Golubovic
Jason Mooney
Kourtney Newton
Jose Ottonello
Milovan Paz
Jorge A. Rodriguez
Alisha Rufty
BASS
Jarrett Bastow
*Drs. Kathleen and Michael Martin
John Hunter
Justin Kujawski
Jeff Madlock
Sean O’Hara
Lois Robinson
Jose Saavedra Diaz
FLUTE
Gabriel Vega, Acting Principal
Laura Bennett, Second Flute
Kara Compton, Flute 3/Piccolo
Chris Cox
Stephen Clark
OBOE
Theresa Zale Bridges, Principal
*Barbara and Dr. Paul McCash
Leah Forsyth, Second Oboe
Shannon Clardy
Eric Giles
Kristin Perry
CLARINET
Jasper Hensley, Principal
*Kathy and Donnie Powers in memory of Jauquita Hargus
Cheyenne Cruz, Second Clarinet/Bass Clarinet
*Alan and Kathie Woll
Jared Davis
Brian Do
Chastine Hofmeister
BASSOON
Jorge Cruz, Principal
*Drs. Valeria and Matthew Burks
Janelle Ott, Second Bassoon
Sarah Boyd, Contra Bassoon
Neva Abrisz
Jonna Griffith
Michael Jones
HORN
Brent Shires, Acting Principal
*Diana and Dr. Kirby Bunel
Jacqueline Adams
Adam Black
Vivian Yu-hsuan Chang
Kristine Coreil
James Currence
Robin Dauer
Derek Matthesen
Katie McBain
Evan Mino
TRUMPET
Jeremy McBain, Principal
*Katrina and Dr. Robert McGinnis
Buddy Deese, Second Trumpet
Micah Bell
Michael V. Scarlatto
TROMBONE
Mark Windham, Principal
*Lee Ann and Buddy McCulloch
Steve Bennett, Second Trombone
Carlito Chavez
Dr. Jeremy L. Dowden
Nick Losos
BASS TROMBONE
J. Mark Thompson, Principal
Jordan Davenport
TUBA
Ed Owen, Principal Crozet Duplantier
HARP
Juliette Buchanan
Alisa Coffey
Victoria Gonzales
PIANO – MARY SCOTT SMITH ENDOWED CHAIR
Principal (to be auditioned)
*Mary Scott and Dr. C. Jack Smith
Robert Cruz
Jonathon Story
TIMPANI
Derron Bell, Principal
*C. Louis and Mary C. Cabe
Foundation
Ryan Lewis
PERCUSSION
Jacob Garcia, Principal
*Bobbie A. Atkinson
David Cavazos
Daniel Crisp
Jaime Esposito
Aaron Guillory
Ryan Lewis
Erick Saoud
Mark Schubert
Blake Taylor
JAZZ COMBO
Sarah Roberts, Bb Clarinet/ Tenor Saxophone
TBA, Bb Trumpet
Nick Losos, Trombone
Jeff Madlock, Bass (upright)
Blake Taylor, Trap Set
*CHAIR SPONSOR
JOHN WILLIAMS
In a career spanning more than six decades, John Williams has become one of America’s most accomplished and successful composers for film and the concert stage. He remains one of our nation’s most distinguished and contributive musical voices. He has composed the music for more than one hundred films, including all nine Star Wars films, the first three Harry Potter films, Schindler’s List, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Lincoln , Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Superman and the Indiana Jones films. He served as music director of the Boston Pops Orchestra for fourteen seasons and remains their Laureate Conductor. He has composed numerous works for the concert stage including two symphonies and more than a dozen concertos commissioned by some of America’s most prominent orchestras. He has received five Academy Awards and fifty-three Oscar nominations, seven British Academy Awards, twenty-five Grammys, four Golden Globes, and five Emmys. His other honors include the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts, an honorary KBE from Queen Elizabeth II, the Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, Spain’s Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts, and the Gold Medal from the UK’s prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society.
Star Wars Film Concert Series Production Credits
President, Disney Music Group
Ken Bunt
SVP/GM, Disney Concerts
Chip McLean
Supervising Technical Director
Alex Levy – Epilogue Media
Film Preparation
Ramiro Belgardt
Business Affairs, Lucasfilm
Rhonda Hjort
Chris Holm
For Booking Inquires: Emily. Yoon@TeamWass.com
Music Preparation
Mark Graham
Matthew Voogt
JoAnn Kane Music Service
Disney Music Library
Operations, Disney Concerts
Brannon Fells
Royd Haston
Marketing & Publicity
Lisa Linares
Lillian Matulic
VP, Disney Concerts
Gina Lorscheider
Business Affairs, Disney Concerts
Darryl Franklin
Leigh Zeichick
Neiloofar Sajedi
Elena Contreras
Addison Granillo
Narine Minasian
Christy Swintek
Svetlana Tzaneva
Business Affairs,
Warner-Chappell
Scott McDowell
Tonight’s program is a presentation of the complete film Star Wars: A New Hope with a live performance of the film’s entire score, including music played by the orchestra during the end credits. Out of respect for the musicians and your fellow audience members, please remain seated until the conclusion of the credits.
THE TEXARKANA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRESENTS THE FOURTEENTH ANNUAL
CELEBRITY CONDUCTOR
COMPETITION
SOME QUICK FACTS ABOUT THE COMPETITION:
The primary purpose of the Competition is to bring awareness of the TSO and its mission to a broad crosssection of the Texarkana area and to raise important financial support.
Four community leaders compete for the honor of conducting the orchestra for one selection at the TSO Christmas at the Perot concert on Sunday afternoon, December 15, 2024, at 4:00 p.m.
Anyone may vote to support their favorite candidate and support the TSO in the process. Each vote is $20, and you can vote for as many candidates as you wish, and as many times as your pocketbook allows!
Each competitor has been given the freedom to solicit votes in any manner they choose, so long as it is not illegal, immoral, or unethical!
Conducting Competitors will each receive their own baton, a conducting class from Maestro Philip Mann, and an opportunity to conduct the orchestra at the dress rehearsal. Beyond that, none of the competitors will know who has won until Santa brings them all on stage at the Christmas Concert.
Votes can be cast through PayPal on the Symphony Facebook page, at texarkanasymphony.org or by visiting the Celebrity Conductor table at TSO’s fall 2024 Concerts.
Dr. Ross Alexander was appointed as the fifth President of Texas A&M University-Texarkana in August 2023. Previously, he served for six years as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of North Alabama (UNA). Prior to UNA, he held numerous leadership positions at Indiana University East (IUE), including Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Before IUE, he was a faculty member and administrator at the University of North Georgia for many years. Dr. Alexander is an award-winning teacher, adviser, and scholar who maintains an active research agenda in the areas of American national government, online education, and organizational leadership. Dr. Alexander enjoys reading history, physical fitness, and advocating for A&M-Texarkana in the community and across the region.
Dr. Alexander is a former college football player who earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in Political Science and History from Beloit College in 1996. He earned his M.P.A. from Arizona State University in 1998 and his Ph.D. in Political Science from Northern Illinois University in 2002. He also holds a certificate in Management and Leadership in Education from Harvard University.
Ross is the proud husband to Lilia Alexander, a native of Bulgaria who came to the United States on a tennis scholarship. Together they have three children, Victoria, Madelaine, and Ross Jr.
Ashley Taylor Cooper, daughter of Jeff Taylor and the late Kathy Taylor, has proudly called Texarkana home for all 47 years of her life. From an early age, Ashley developed a passion for horses, competing in numerous rodeo queen contests from the age of 5 to 21. Alongside her equestrian pursuits, she honed her musical talents, taking private piano lessons and mastering pieces like “Fur Elise.”
Ashley has dedicated herself to her community, serving for eight years in the Texarkana Junior League, where she is now a sustainer. A versatile professional, she spent seven years as a hair stylist before transitioning to education, teaching first grade at Liberty Eylau Primary for five years. For the past decade, she has excelled in network marketing, and in the last four years, she has made her mark as a realtor with Coldwell Banker Elite, becoming the #1 REALTOR® in the Texarkana MLS on the buy side in 2023.
In her personal life, Ashley is a devoted dog mom to her min pin Goldie and two chihuahuas, Lulu and Midge. An avid tennis player, she captains her local 3.5 team. She enjoys spending time with her boyfriend, family, reading, and traveling. A memorable moment in her life was singing in a public speaking class, where she humorously discovered she couldn’t carry a tune!
From an early age, Amy Halt has had a love for music from listening to her record player to singing in church. She moved to Texarkana from Illinois in the summer of 2020 with her husband Dave and son Liam. Her daughter, Sarah, and son–in-law, Nick, live in Kalamazoo which she likes to frequent, especially in the summer. Amy teaches at the Texarkana Arkansas School District Magnet School, Harmony Academy of Music and Arts. Formerly, she served on the Illinois Symphony Orchestra Educational Committee bringing musicians into school classrooms, and currently coordinates for TASD with Texarkana Symphony Orchestra and Carnegie Hall’s Link Up program. She loves how the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra has inspired her students. After students attended The Orchestra Rocks with the TSO, her Razorback Beats Enrichment Group begged to perform “O Fortuna” by Carl Orff for their Spring Concert. Students worked with Mrs. Halt to add instruments while working with Mrs. Ferrell on their Latin skills. The TSO motivated her students to share their own love of music with their family and friends. Amy is a National Board-Certified Music Teacher with her Master’s in Teaching and Learning from Illinois State University. She loves hiking, reading, traveling, and misses her Irish Band. She is a proud supporter of the TSO and Texarkana.
Introducing Ben King—Texarkana’s own attorney by day, aspiring conductor by night! Ben is an attorney at Ross & Shoalmire PLLC, where he spends his days crafting legal strategies and estate plans while occasionally dreaming of wielding a baton conducting the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra.
Ben’s musical journey began in the hallowed halls of Pittsburg Elementary School, where he bravely joined the choir possessing no singing abilities and an unmatched talent for clearing rooms with his singing. Fortunately, he had enough rhythm to shift his talents to the drums, and he kept the beat as a percussionist beginning in middle school through his time at Pittsburg High School. Ben’s musical journey continued at Texas A&M University, where he proudly marched as a member of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band.
Ben’s deep-seated love for music and support for the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra have made him an enthusiastic participant in this year’s Celebrity Conductor competition. He’s eager to contribute to the TSO’s mission and hopes to fulfill his dream to lead the Orchestra with the same energy he once brought to the drum section at Pittsburg High School and Texas A&M, and all while not worrying about having any off-key notes of his own.
Join Ben in making this year’s Celebrity Conductor competition a great success, as he combines his love for music with a bit of friendly competition. With your support, he can hit the right notes on the fundraising front and his dream will become a reality—no singing required!
Dr. Ross Alexander
Ben King
Amy Halt
Ashley Taylor Cooper
POPS III
CHRISTMAS PEROT AT THE
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2024
PEROT THEATRE | 4:00 P.M.
221 Main Street, Texarkana, Texas
PHILIP R. MANN
featuring RACHEL COPELAND, soprano with The Texarkana Symphony Chamber Singers, Scott Thornhill, conductor
Texarkana Youth Symphony Orchestra, Steve Bennett, conductor
The Community Ballet of Texarkana
Sugar Plum Fairy
Lauren Friday Russian
Reagan Goodman
Tyler Hodge Arabian
Kaleigh Bolton
Kylee Eaves
Jillian Turner
Pleasant Grove High School
Curtain Call Productions, Lisa Newton and Tiffany Beck
Caurie Beck
Owen Braza
Morgan Breaux
Lyla Breto
Rhoda Clements
Addison Fry
Alexia Gipson
Kaylee Hunt
Sawyer Julien
Trae Raymond
Rylie Romero
Abigail Thrash
Emma Sharp
Kaylynn Sharp
Jared Thrash
Sophee Wyatt
FRY, Gary A Merry Olde Christmas
WILSEN, Meredith arr., Mark Hayes
NILES, John Jacob arr., Gary Fry I Wonder as I
COPELAND
PROKOFIEV, Sergie
Troika, from Lieutenant Kijé
VERDI, Giuseppe
Ave Maria, piena di grazia, from Otello, Act IV
RACHEL COPELAND
CUSTER, Calvin
Hanukkah Festival Overture
TCHAIKOVSKY, Pyotr Ilyich Suite from Nutcracker, opus 71a
INTERMISSION
CELEBRITY CONDUCTOR
RICHMAN, Lucas
Variations from A Christmas Wish
Adolphe
COPELAND O’NEILL, Paul arr., Bob Phillips Wizards in Winter (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
RUTTER, John
Very Best Time of Year
FINNEGIN, John
Rachel E. Copeland continues to receive acclaim as a “revelation with her coloratura soprano leaping easily to impossible heights!” She is a sought after artist combining her crystalline voice with her compelling and energetic stage presence. Ms. Copeland recently debuted at Avery Fisher Hall as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass to rave reviews as well as performances with the Brussels Chamber Orchestra in a concert of arias and duets. Other career highlights include the Contessa in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with Cleveland Opera Theater, Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen with San Diego Opera, Micäela in Peter Brook’s Le tragédie de Carmen with Indianapolis Opera, and Woglinde in Wagner’s Das Rheingold and First Nymph in Dvorak’s Rusalka with North Carolina Opera. She returned to Apollo’s Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra in 2013 to great acclaim as the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, including a national broadcast and her debut at Severance Hall, the prestigious home to the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. Other considerable performances include Ms. Copeland’s appearances as Zdenka in Strauss’s Arabella, Musetta and Mimì in La bohème, Lauretta in Puccini’s beloved Gianni Schicchi, Lucia in Donizett’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Juliette in Gounod’s Romèo et Juliette, Adele in J. Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, and Papagena in The Magic Flute. Internationally, Ms. Copeland has performed the roles of Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Adina in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. Upcoming engagements include a world premiere workshop with Cleveland Opera Theatre, a world premiere with Penn State Opera Theater, and a role and company debut of Agueda in Mayo, Bisperas ng Liwanag in Naga City and Manila, Philippines.
In addition to the operatic stage, Ms. Copeland has been praised for her “elegant and smooth tone” in oratorio and symphonic works. As a frequent performer with the Helena Symphony (MT), Ms. Copeland has most recently sung the role of Eve in Hadyn’s The Creation and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Other notable engagements were with Apollo’s Fire for Handel’s Messiah, The Choral Society of Durham (NC) as the soprano soloist in Barber’s Prayers of Kierkegaard, and the soprano soloist in Hadyn’s Lord Nelson’s Mass and Missa belle tempori.
Dr. Copeland was previously on the faculty of East Carolina University School of Music where she served as the Associate
Director (2016 – 2018), the Coordinator of Graduate Studies (2014 – 2018), and a member of the Voice Faculty (2011 – 2018). In both academic years 2017 – 18 and 2014 -2015, Dr. Copleand was nominated for the Robert Wright Alumni Excellence in Teaching Award at East Carolina University. Many of Dr. Copeland’s students have received awards, scholarships, assistantships, and are featured in principle roles at the undergraduate and graduate level at prestigious music schools like Boston Conservatory, Indiana University, Florida State University, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the University of North Texas.
Dr. Copeland is frequently sought after as a master class technician both nationally and abroad and has been on the faculty of the Cornish American Song Institute in Falmouth, England since 2016. During the summers of 2011 and 2012, Dr. Copeland was a faculty member of Musica nelle Marche in Urbania, Italy. Administratively, Dr. Copeland serves at General Manager for the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival and has previously served in the positions of Program Director and Operations Manager for Oberlin in Italy in Arezzo, Italy. Dr. Copeland holds the Doctor of Music degree in Vocal Performance with a minor in Music History from Indiana University; the Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from Baylor University; and the Bachelor of Music Education degree in Choral Conducting from Baylor University. Dr. Copeland began an appointment at Pennsylvania State University School of Music as a member of the Voice Department in 2018.
RACHEL E. COPELAND
ARTIST BIO SOPRANO
Steinway Piano
made possible by Dr. and Mrs. Charles
Hollingsworth
and Family.
& Memorials Honorariums
Memorials and Honorariums given to TSO in the last year as of September 1, 2024.
GIFTS IN HONOR
Andrew Clark
Sue Sanderson Garden Club
Robin Thomas Mary Scott & Dr. C. Jack Smith
GIFTS IN MEMORY
Jean Alston
Janis Robbins
Jane Rochelle
Lucille Cook
Cadence Bank Trust Department
Angela and Andrew Clark
Remica and Danny Gray
Deborah and Ron Mills
Vicki and Maurice Orr
Cathy and Mark Van Herpen
Yvonne Clements
Remica and Danny Gray
Drs. Dub and Rebecca Bowden Narramore
Victor Hlavinka
Angela and Andrew Clark
Remica and Danny Gray
Sherry and Buddy Hawkins
Camille and Rob McGinnis
Deborah and Ron Mills
Texarkana Law Wives
TSO Board of Directors
Judge Edward Miller
Remica and Danny Gray
Dr. Susan Keeney
Judge John and Gloria Miller
TSO Board of Directors
Walker Ogden
Lindsey and Dr. Chris McMillan
Dr. & Mrs. Gene McMillan and Family
Betty Rateliff
Eddie E. Robbins
Dr. Tom and Jean Alston
TEXARKANA YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
CONDUCTOR
STEVE M. BENNETT
Mr. Bennett received his Music Education degree from Harding University and continued his education at the University of Central Arkansas where he received his master’s degree in instrumental conducting. While completing his undergraduate and graduate degrees, he was a member of the Harding and UCA concert bands and orchestras, the Conway Civic Orchestra, and was the music director of the University of Central Arkansas summer musical. After his first year at UCA, Mr. Bennett was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student Award from his professors.
He began his teaching career in the fall of 1995 in Montgomery, Alabama, where he helped start a band program at Alabama Christian Academy. During his five years there, the band competed in many events throughout the school year and received numerous awards at local and state levels. He and his family moved to Texarkana during the summer of 2000 to take on his current position with the Texarkana Independent School District.
His teaching duties since moving to Texarkana include assistant band director at Pine Street Middle School, Texas Middle School, Texas High School, Red Lick Middle School, and the orchestra director at both Texas Middle and High Schools. Mr. Bennett’s teaching duties outside of TISD include both Texarkana College and the University of Arkansas Hope/ Texarkana.
As a performer and conductor, Mr. Bennett has been a member of the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra as a trombonist when it premiered in 2006 and the director of the Texarkana Youth Symphony Orchestra since its second season in 2008.
PLAY! COME OUT &
MISSION OF THE TYSO:
THE MISSION OF THE TEXARKANA YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA IS TO FOSTER A LOVE OF MUSIC AND BUILD FRIENDSHIPS THROUGH EXCELLENCE IN ORCHESTRAL EDUCATION AND PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCES.
CHRISTMAS AT THE PEROT, SIDE BY SIDE
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2024, 4:00PM PEROT THEATRE 221 MAIN STREET, TEXARKANA, TX
SPRING CONCERT
SUNDAY, MAY 4, 2025, 4:00PM SULLIVAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER JOHN THOMAS THEATRE 3941 SUMMERHILL RD, TEXARKANA, TX
ABOUT THE YOUTH ORCHESTRA:
The Texarkana Youth Symphony Orchestra (TYSO) auditions are open to all qualified middle and high school students (ages 10-19) who are prepared to make a commitment to the Youth Orchestra’s rigorous rehearsal and concert schedule. Exceptions for younger ages will occur only with the approval of the student’s private lesson instructor and at the discretion of the TYSO conductor. Auditions are held each fall and spring.
For participation in TYSO, students must successfully pass an audition each year. Students must also be a member of his/her school instrumental program, if provided.
Tuition for participation in TYSO is $125 per year and shall be paid in full by the first rehearsal. Financial aid is available in the form of scholarships for those who demonstrate need as verified by the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Standards.
The orchestra rehearses every Monday evening from 6:00-7:30PM.
JANUARY 30, 2025 9:30 AM **
| PEROT THEATRE
This is a program of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute
In collaboration with Carnegie Hall, the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra is participating in Link Up “The Orchestra Swings,” a music education program provided by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute. The students participating in Link Up attend a culminating concert on January 30, 2025, at the Perot Theatre where they sing, move, and play recorder or the violin with the orchestra from their seats!
The Texarkana Symphony Orchestra is one of 120 national and international orchestras chosen for this program. Carnegie Hall supports TSO’s existing education programs and strengthens their partnerships with local schools. Link Up orchestras pair with students in grades 3-5 to explore orchestral repertoire and fundamental musical skills, including creative work and composition, through a hands-on music curriculum. This partnership also provides a high quality, year-long curriculum that teachers can implement, along with classroom materials, online video and audio resources, and the professional development and support necessary to make the program an engaging experience for students. Schools participating in the Link Up program will have priority seating in January. However, additional schools may attend in the traditional concert setting as well, observing those in the Link Up program, enjoying a live orchestra performance, and considering participation in Link Up in the years to come .
Thomas Cabaniss “Come to Play ”
George Gershwin “I Got Rhythm”
Florence Price “Juba” from Symphony No. 1
Duke Ellington “Duke’s Place ” REPERTOIRE FOR THIS CONCERT INCLUDES:
John Clayton “Recorder Mae and the Giant Swing Machine ”
Wynton Marsalis “Midwestern Moods” from Swing Symphony
Duke Ellington “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”
Traditional “When the Saints Go Marching In”
**TSO’s annual student concerts are for local school systems and homeschool groups. Any unused seats will be available to the public after January 6, 2025. For more information on these concerts please contact: Remica Gray, director of operations/education committee chair, at 870-773-3401.
MASTERWORKS II
A FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2025
PEROT THEATRE | 7:00 P.M.
221 Main Street, Texarkana, Texas
Concert Preview: 6:10 p.m.
CONCERT REPERTOIRE
MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791)
Symphony No. 35, in D Major, K. 385, “Haffner”
I. Allegro con Spirito
II. Andante
III. Menuetto
IV. Presto
DAUGHERTY, Michael (b.1954)
Le tombeau de Liberace
I. Rhinestone kickstep
II. How do I love thee?
III. Sequin Music (piano only)
IV. Candelabra Rhumba
TATIANA ROITMAN MANN
INTERMISSION
STRAUSS, Richard (1864-1949)
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, TrV 228c, op. 60
I. Ouverture (Overture)
II. Menuett (Minuet)
III.Der Fechtmeister (The Fencing Master)
IV. Auftritt und Tanz der Schneider (Entry and Dance of the Tailors)
V. Menuett des Lully (Lully’s Minuet)
VI. Courante
VII. Auftritt des Cléonte (Entry of Cléonte; after Lully)
VIII. Vorspiel (Prelude to Act II)
IX. Das Diner (The Dinner)
TATIANA R. MANN Piano
PHILIP R. MANN Conductor
Performances of pianist Tatiana Roitman Mann have been recognized by the BBC as “formidable…both accurate and with rarely seen joy.”
Tatiana has appeared as a soloist and recitalist across North America and Europe; radio broadcasts include H.VillaLobos’ Mystic Sextet, on NPR’s Performance Today, and B. Bartok’s Contrasts on New York’s classical music station, WQXR, G. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue on Little Rock’s KLRE. Mann’s recording of the original, big band version of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was released on Naxos in the album Jazz Nocturne – American Concertos of the Jazz Age.
Most recently, Tatiana can be heard on the album Finding Home, released in 2022 on Sony Classical Korea, performing chamber music by S. Prokofiev, A. Copland, and A. Kernis. The recording can be purchased on Apple Music and on Amazon.
As a performer of contemporary works, she premiered Speak No Evil by E. McKinley at the American Composer’s Forum, and performed For Don by M. Babbitt, with the composer in attendance, in celebration of his 90th birthday at Tanglewood’s Contemporary Music Festival. As the recipient of Peggy Rockefeller Memorial Fellowship at Tanglewood, she worked with James Levine, Dawn Upshaw, Yo-Yo Ma, Charles Rosen and Claude Frank.
Engagement highlights include Petrushka with San Diego Symphony, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy in Sydney, Australia, as well as performances in the US of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #4, op.58, Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto #4, op.44, Mozart’s Piano Concerto #23, K488 and DeFalla’s Evenings in the Gardens of Spain under the batons of M/Os Imre Pallo, Philip Mann, Jahja Ling and Beverly Everett, among others.
Tatiana Roitman Mann holds graduate degrees from Manhattan School of Music, the Royal Academy of Music in London, and a D.M.A. in Piano Performance from University of Minnesota. Her principal teachers include Mr. John Melnyk, Prof. Tatiana Sarkissova, Prof. Alexander Braginsky, and Dr. Marc Silverman.
TATIANA R. MANN
ARTIST BIO PIANO
PROGRAM NOTES MASTERWORKS I1:
A FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC
Symphony No. 35 in D major, “Haffner” K. 385
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
B: January 27, 1756,Salzburg, Austria
D: December 5, 1791, Vienna
Work composed: 1782
World premiere: Mozart conducted the premiere at one of his subscription concerts in Vienna on March 23, 1783. Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings
Estimated duration: 17 minutes
During the summer of 1782, 26-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was juggling several projects at once. The previous year, he had left his hometown and his unappreciative employer, the Archbishop of Salzburg, to settle in Vienna. Mozart’s opera The Abduction from the Seraglio had premiered on July 16, 1782; just after the opera began its run, Mozart started making an arrangement of the opera’s music for wind ensemble – “otherwise someone will beat me to it and get the profits,” as he explained in a letter to his father Leopold. Mozart was also preparing for his upcoming marriage to Constanze Weber, his landlady’s daughter. In the midst of all this activity, Leopold wrote Mozart requesting some celebratory music for the occasion of the ennoblement of Sigmund Haffner, a Salzburg friend whom Mozart had known since childhood. “I am up to my eyes in work,” Mozart replied. “And now you ask me to write a new symphony too! … Well, I must just spend the night over it, for that is the only way; and for you, dearest father, I’ll make the sacrifice. You may rely on having something from me by every post. I shall work as fast as possible and, as far as haste permits, I shall write something good.” Mozart sent the Haffner symphony to Leopold in Salzburg in early August 1782.
In 1783, Mozart asked Leopold to return the Haffner score, so Mozart could perform it on one of his Viennese subscription concerts. Afterwards, Mozart wrote to Leopold, “The theatre could not have been more crowded and … every box was full. But what pleased me most of all was that His Majesty the Emperor was present and, goodness! – how delighted he was and how he applauded me!”
The music begins with a full-bodied rhythmic unison theme that leaps up an octave, punctuated by delicate grace notes in the strings and unexpected pauses. This unusual theme dominates the entire first movement. Mozart broke with the convention of his time in this movement by omitting a contrasting second theme. The Andante and Menuetto display the aristocratic grace of Mozart’s style and simultaneously pay tribute the newly established nobility of Haffner. We can imagine the guests at Haffner’s celebration dancing to the lively Menuetto, which contrasts a hearty booming phrase played by the full orchestra, including trumpets and timpani, with a gentle response by the strings alone.
For the Presto, Mozart borrowed a tune from his opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio. In the score, Mozart indicates this movement should “go as fast as possible,” and its lively energy echoes the words of the original tune, “Ha! What triumph will be mine now!” as sung by Osmin, the gatekeeper of the seraglio (harem). Mozart may have intended the selection of this music as an homage to Haffner, who “triumphed” in his quest for nobility, or perhaps Mozart intended it as a snub to his former employer, the Archbishop of Salzburg.
Multiple Grammy Award-winning composer Michael Daugherty has been praised by The Times (London) as “a
master icon maker” with a “maverick imagination, fearless structural sense, and meticulous ear.” His orchestral music, recorded by Naxos, has received six Grammy Awards, including Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2011 for Deus ex Machina for Piano and Orchestra, and in 2017 for Tales of Hemingway for Cello and Orchestra.
Daugherty’s music combines the eclectic influences of jazz pianist/composer Gil Evans and classical avant-garde composer György Ligeti with the hyperbolic, Technicolor qualities of American pop culture. Among Daugherty’s compositions are homages to Superman comics, Elvis Presley, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and Liberace.
Liberace held a particular fascination for Daugherty, who writes, “The pianist and entertainer known as Liberace is one of the most intriguing American icons for crossing over, in more ways than one. Dressed in spectacular furs and rhinestone costumes, Wladziu Valentino Liberace (1919-1993) was famous for performing polkas, Broadway tunes, and arrangements of the classical piano repertoire accompanied by a Las Vegas showband. In my tribute to Liberace, I do not treat popular music as a foreign intrusion into the abstract idiom of contemporary classical composition. Starting from the vernacular idiom, I have composed Le Tombeau de Liberace as a meditation on the American sublime:
a lexicon of forbidden music. The first movement, ‘Rhinestone Kickstep,’ conveys the feeling of strutting down the glittering cement streets of Las Vegas in boogie-woogie rhythms. The second movement, ‘How Do I Love Thee?,’ comes from the well-known sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, frequently recited by Liberace during his performances. In ‘Sequin Music,’ the arpeggiated piano riffs are based on a sequence of musical notes which I noticed on the wall of Liberace’s famous piano-shaped swimming pool. The effect of the cadenza is dodecaphonic [using all 12 tones]: after all, Liberace’s Los Angeles mansion was not so far from [Arnold] Schoenberg’s neighborhood. The composition concludes with ‘Candelabra Rhumba,’ a pianistic tour de force that recreates the excitement of a Vegas showband, keeping the candles on Liberace’s candelabra lit.”
Suite from Le bourgeois gentilhomme , Op. 60
Richard Strauss
B: June 11, 1864, Munich
D: September 8, 1949, GarmischPartenkirchen, Germany
Work composed: 1912; revised in 1916, 1917, and 1920 World premiere: The first version premiered on October 12, 1912, in Stuttgart. The orchestral suite heard in tonight’s
performance was first conducted by Strauss on January 31, 1920, in Vienna.
Instrumentation: solo male actor, 2 flutes (both doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (1 doubling English horn), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons (1 doubling contrabassoon), 2 horns, trumpet, trombone, timpani, bass drum, cymbal, glockenspiel, snare drum, tambourine, triangle, keyboard, harp, and strings
Estimated duration: 60 minutes
Richard Strauss’ collaboration with librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal yielded several successes, most notably Der Rosenkavalier. But one hit does not guarantee another, as the two men discovered when they tried (and failed) to produce a new version of Le bourgeois gentilhomme. This comedy, by 17th-century French playwright and actor Molière, centers on the hapless Monsieur Jourdain, an ordinary man who unexpectedly comes into wealth. Despite his attempts to acquire all the trappings and mannerisms of a gentleman, Jourdain’s basically Philistine nature remains. Le bourgeois gentilhomme was a huge hit at its premiere on October 14, 1670 (Molière played the title role himself), with incidental music by French Baroque composer Jean-Baptiste Lully.
Strauss and Hofmannsthal tried no less than three times to mount a theatrical version of Le bourgeois gentilhomme. The first attempt, in 1912, featured the play (with incidental music by Strauss) as a prelude to their opera Ariadne auf Naxos. Not surprisingly, the combination of a satirical play about the
nouveau-riche followed by a wholly serious (and lengthy) opera proved unworkable, for both artistic and logistical reasons. Four years later, Strauss and Hofmannsthal tried to combine the two works again in a different format, replacing Molière’s play with a new prologue that featured characters from Ariadne
Dissatisfied with this version, Hofmannsthal persuaded Strauss to rework the 1912 play into a musical comedy. The drama was refashioned into three acts, removing all references to Ariadne. Strauss added to his 1912 incidental music. Unfortunately, this version, too, was unsuccessful. Finally, in 1920, Strauss created an orchestral suite from his original incidental music. This purely musical version premiered to enthusiastic audiences in Vienna, and was subsequently used to stage several ballet productions.
Le bourgeois gentilhomme brims with humor, wit, and references to other musical works. The Arrival and Dance of the Tailors, Lully’s Minuet and the Courante pay homage to Lully and French Baroque style. In the final movement, The Dinner, Strauss pokes fun by quoting from Wagner’s “Rhine” music during the fish course, while the mutton is accompanied by a self-quote from the sheep music in Don Quixote and the fowl is served up with bird music from Der Rosenkavalier and a fleeting reference to Verdi’s “La donna è mobile.” The final scene, in which the kitchen boy leads the guests in a dance, concludes with, of course, a Strauss waltz.
Heralded as “the next accordion star” by Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune, Julien Labro has established himself as one of the foremost accordion and bandoneón players in both the classical and jazz genres. Deemed to be “a triple threat: brilliant technician, poetic melodist and cunning arranger,” his artistry, virtuosity, and creativity as a musician, composer and arranger have earned him international acclaim and continue to astonish audiences worldwide.
French-born Labro was influenced early on by traditional folk music and the melodic, lyrical quality of the French chanson. Upon discovering the music of jazz legends, he quickly became inspired by the originality, freedom, creativity, and the endless possibilities in their musical language. After graduating from the Marseille Conservatory of Music, Labro began winning international awards including the Coupe Mondiale, the Castelfidardo Competitions, and many others. In 1998, Labro moved to the United States, where he further pursued his musical dream. Equipped with advanced degrees in classical music, jazz studies, and composition, Labro draws from his diverse academic background and eclectic musical influences as he searches for new themes and untried concepts, transforming and developing his creative ideas into new projects.
Labro has collaborated with numerous symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles, often playing the dual roles of solo artist as well as composer/arranger. These include the conductorless Boston-based chamber orchestra, A Far Cry, Spektral Quartet, Arneis Quartet, Ensemble Vivant of Toronto, and Curtis On Tour from the Curtis Institute of Music faculty of Philadelphia. He has been a guest soloist with numerous symphonies such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St Luke’s, New World Symphony, the Hartford Symphony, the Arkansas Symphony, the Grand Rapids Symphony, the Cape Cod Symphony, the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra, the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra and many more.
Julien’s musical journey has taken him all across North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. His classical collaborations include A Far Cry, Spektral
Quartet, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St Luke’s, New World Symphony, the Qatar Philharmonic, The Paul Taylor Dance Company and the New York City Ballet. Julien has written for numerous ensembles, from quartets to full symphony orchestras. He has premiered works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Du Yun, Bryce Dessner, Angélica Negrón, Clarice Assad, Ethan Iverson, and Avner Dorman. Julien has collaborated with Cassandra Wilson, Maria Schneider, Anat Cohen, João Donato, Marcel Khalife, Paquito D’Rivera, Pablo Ziegler, Uri Caine, Miguel Zenón, James Carter, John Clayton, guitarists Larry Coryell, Tommy Emmanuel, and John and Bucky Pizzarelli. After a busy summer touring the US performing at prestigious festivals such as Ravinia Festival and Tanglewood Music Festival, Labro will open his 2023 season performing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall, Orchestra of St Luke’s and the Paul Taylor Dance Company at Lincoln Center. Spring of 2024 will see Labro zigzag the US with concerto appearances, chamber concerts with his ongoing collaboration with the Takács Quartet, a premier and residency with Camerata Pacifica, performances with the Maria Schneider Orchestra, and premier a new collaboration with Evan Lurie and Mark Ribot at Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN.
In his free time, Labro is working on composing a second bandoneón concerto that will be a sequel to his first El Fueye Del Tiburón (The Bellows of the Shark). To learn more about Labro, visit julienlabro.com.
ARTIST
PROGRAM NOTES MASTERWORKS II1:
PASSIONATE DEVOTION
Serenade in C major for Strings, Op. 48
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
B: May 7, 1840, Kamsko-Votinsk, Viatka province, Russia
D: November 6, 1893, St. Petersburg
Work composed: 1880
World premiere: October 30, 1881, in St. Petersburg
Instrumentation: string orchestra. Tchaikovsky added a note to the score: “The larger the string orchestra, the better will the composer’s desires be fulfilled.”
Estimated duration: 28 minutes
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who dubbed Mozart “the Christ of music,” composed the Serenade for Strings as a tribute to his favorite composer. “It is intended to be an imitation of [Mozart’s] style,” Tchaikovsky wrote, “and I should be delighted if I thought I had in any way approached my model.”
Tchaikovsky worked on the Serenade at the same time as the 1812 Overture, and his feelings about the two works could not have contrasted more strongly. “You can imagine, beloved friend, that my muse has been benevolent of late when I tell you that I have written two long works very rapidly,” Tchaikovsky wrote to his patron, Nadezhda von Meck, “the festival Overture [the 1812] and a Serenade in four movements for string orchestra. The Overture will be very noisy; I wrote it without much warmth or enthusiasm and therefore it has no great artistic value. The Serenade, on the contrary, I wrote from inner conviction. It is a heartfelt piece and so, I dare to think, is not without artistic qualities.” Indeed, Tchaikovsky was so pleased with his Serenade that upon its completion he wrote his publisher, “I am violently in love with this work and cannot wait for it to be played.” At its premiere, the audience responded in a similar fashion, calling for an encore of the second movement. Even Anton Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky’s stern teacher, who was often harshly critical of his student’s music, conceded that the Serenade was Tchaikovsky’s finest work.
The opening Pezzo in forma di Sonatina (Piece in the form of a Sonatina) begins with a slow introduction, in the manner
of an 18th century string serenade. This full hymn-like melody gives way to an energetic tune that suggests the buoyancy and joy of Mozart. The lilting Waltz has delighted audiences since its premiere; here Tchaikovsky eloquently in captures the essential cosmopolitan Viennese flavor of this dance with its shimmer and sparkle. In the Elegie, we hear hints of the brooding quality most associated with Tchaikovsky’s style, but the overall mood is meditative rather than melancholy. In the final movement, Tchaikovsky indicates a Russian theme (Tema Russo), and the slow introduction is indeed a Russian folk tune, paired with another Russian folksong full of hustle and bustle. The hymn melody from the first movement returns to conclude the Serenade.
“For me, tango was always for the ear rather than the feet.” – Astor Piazzolla
Astor Piazzolla is inextricably linked with tango. He took a dance from the back rooms of Argentinean brothels and blurred the lines between popular and “art” music to such an extent that, in the case of his music, such categories no longer apply.
Piazzolla was a master of the bandoneón, a small accordion-like instrument of German origin, which served as a portable church organ. The distinctive sound of the bandoneón became a fundamental element of Piazzolla’s tangos, and he developed a distinctive way of playing the instrument, standing up with one foot on a stool, rather than sitting down as was customary. When asked about his unconventional stance, Piazzolla said he played standing up so he wouldn’t be mistaken for an old woman.
In October 1959, while Piazzolla was touring Central America, he received word of his father’s unexpected death in a bicycle accident. Shocked and grief-stricken, Piazzolla cut the tour short and traveled to New York, where he wrote Adios Nonino. Five years earlier, Piazzolla had composed a tango simply titled Nonino, an affectionate term for grandfather; in Adios Nonino, he used the same rhythm from his earlier work, and combined it with an unforgettable melody full of nostalgic longing. Adios Nonino quickly became, and remained, Piazzolla’s best-known and most performed work. In 1979,
Piazzolla, reflecting on Adios Nonino’s enduring popularity, remarked, “Perhaps I was surrounded by angels. I was able to write the finest tune I have written. I don’t know if I shall ever do better. I doubt it.”
El Fueye del Tiburón (The Bellows of the Shark) (US Premiere)
Julien Labro
B: 1981, Toulouse, France
Work composed: 2022
World premiere: December 23, 2022, in Seoul, South Korea
Instrumentation: solo bandoneón and string orchestra
Estimated duration: 14 minutes
Julien Labro fell in love with the accordion at age nine, and picked up the bandoneón after he discovered the music of Astor Piazzolla. Today Labro is a virtuoso performer on both instruments, and has been hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “the next accordion star.” Like all solo artists who play niche instruments, Labro is constantly working to expand the repertoire, as well as dispel listeners’ often narrow
preconceptions of both instruments. To that end, Labro began writing his own works for bandoneón and accordion. These serve as vehicles for his own performances, but he hopes they will also inspire future players.
El Fueye del Tiburón is Labro’s homage to Piazzolla. The title references Piazzolla’s passion for shark fishing, and also plays with the word “fueye” (bellows), a nickname Argentinean bandoneón players use for their instrument. “Piazzolla compared trying to catch a shark with the wrestling you end up having to do to hold the bandoneón on your knee in this very awkward position,” Labro explains. “Piazzolla is the ultimate shark in this piece. I’ve always wanted to write something for him because he’s done so much for the instrument. He brought the bandoneón to places it had never been before, and it still wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for him. Bandoneón is so linked to tango music, and Piazzolla struggled all his life to make people understand that the music he was writing was not tango. It was a whole new genre.”
The first two movements feature extended cadenzas for the bandoneón, and Labro uses the second movement cadenza to improvise (or preview) thematic ideas that will emerge in the music that follows. “The first movement is uptempo and has some angular, spiky melodies, along with a lot of shifting meters and rhythmic play. It’s quite a tour de force to put together with the orchestra.” In the second movement, the orchestra provides a sonic bed over which the soloist executes long melodies. “There’s a bit of milonga flavor to it [milonga is a slow tango rhythm], while the third movement is mostly in 6/8, with a few odd shifts of meter, and might sound a bit like a tarantella.”
Il Postino (The Postman) Luis Enríquez Bacalov
B: August 30, 1933, Buenos Aires
D: November 15, 2017, Rome
Work composed: 1994 as part of the soundtrack for the film Il Postino
World premiere: Il postino was first screened at the Venice Film Festival on September 1, 1994
Instrumentation: solo bandoneón and string orchestra
Estimated duration: 4 minutes
The Argentinean composer Luis Enríquez Bacalov is best known for his film music, particularly his Oscar-winning score for the 1994 Italian film Il Postino. Tonight’s selection, probably the most recognizable excerpt from the score, is the music Bacalov composed for the title credits. It captures the sun-warmed beauty of the Italian island where the story takes place, and evokes the friendship between Mario, the title character, and Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who lives in exile on the island.
SUPPORT FOR TEXARKANA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA IS PROVIDED, IN PART, BY THE ARKANSAS ARTS COUNCIL, AN AGENCY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ARKANSAS HERITAGE, AND NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS; AND BY THE TEXAS COMMISSION ON THE ARTS.
MASTERWORKS IV
LASKAROV AND SAINT-SAËNS
KIRIL LASKAROV
Violin
SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 2025
PEROT THEATRE | 7:00 P.M.
221 Main Street, Texarkana, Texas
Concert Preview: 6:10 p.m.
CONCERT REPERTOIRE
NEEDHAM, Clint (b. 1981)
The Hands that Built a City
I. Stories from the Past
II. What I Remember
III. Dreams of the Future
SAINT-SAËNS, Charles-Camille (1835-1921)
Concerto for Violin, no. 3, op. 61, B minor
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Andantino quasi allegretto
III. Molto moderato e maestoso; Allegro non troppo
KIRIL LASKAROV
INTERMISSION
RACHMANINOFF, Sergei Vasilyevich (1873-1943)
Symphonic Dances, op. 45
I. Non allegro – Lento - Tempo [original title “Noon”]
II. Andante con moto, tempo di valse [original title “Twilight”]
III. Lento assai - Allegro vivace [original title “Midnight”]
PHILIP R. MANN Conductor
KIRIL LASKAROV
Kiril Laskarov is in his 26th season as Concertmaster of the Arkansas Symphony and 15th season as Concertmaster of the Texarkana Symphony. A native of Bulgaria, he received a Bachelor of Arts from the State Academy of Music in Sofia and a Master’s from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale where he studied with Michael Barta. Laskarov has appeared as a soloist with the Arkansas Symphony, Las Vegas (NV) Philharmonic, Monroe (LA) Symphony, Southern Illinois Symphony, Abilene (TX) Philharmonic, Symphony Irvine (CA), and Texarkana (TX) Symphony and as a concertmaster with the Arkansas Philharmonic, Monroe (LA) Symphony, Southern Illinois Festival, and McCall (ID) Festival Orchestra.
ARTIST BIO
VIOLIN
PROGRAM NOTES MASTERWORKS IV:
LASKAROV AND SAINT-SAËNS
The Hands That Built A City
Clint Needham
B: August 20, 1981, Texarkana, TX
Work composed: 2023
World premiere: The Texarkana Symphony gave the first performance on December 8, 2023, as part of the festivities surrounding the city’s sesquicentennial celebrations.
The music of Texarkana native Clint Needham has been described as “wildly entertaining” and “stunning, brilliantly orchestrated” by the New York Times, as well as “well-crafted and arresting … riveting” by the Herald Times.
Needham has received commissions and performances by leading orchestras across the country including the Minnesota Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Omaha Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Spokane Symphony, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, and the New York Classical Players, among others. Needham is also an educator who currently serves as composer-in-residence and professor of composition at the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Performing Arts.
Needham writes, “The Hands that Build a City was commissioned by the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra to celebrate the City of Texarkana’s 150th anniversary. The piece serves as both a tribute to the city’s rich heritage and a reflection on its continued growth, weaving together its history, present, and future.
“The first section imagines the early days, when settlers established themselves along the Red River, laying the foundation for a community that would soon become Texarkana. The music captures the city’s transformation
into a vital railroad hub, where the rhythm of trains and industry forged connections between people and places, turning Texarkana into a thriving twin city straddling the Texas-Arkansas state lines.
“In the second section, I sought to capture the essence of my childhood in Texarkana, paying homage to the region’s pastoral setting and the people who shaped my formative years.
“The final section looks ahead, expressing a vision of hope and optimism for Texarkana’s future. As the city continues to evolve, this movement reflects the aspirations for unity, progress, and a prosperous tomorrow.”
Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor, Op. 61
Camille Saint-Saëns
B: October 9, 1835, Paris
D: December 16, 1921, Algiers
Work composed: March 1880, written for and dedicated to violinist Pablo de Sarasate
World premiere: de Sarasate gave the premiere at a Châtelet concert in Paris on January 2, 1881
Camille Saint-Saëns’ career spanned seven decades; during that time, he was both vilified by conservatives for his endorsement of Richard Wagner’s music in the late 1850s, and dismissed by Claude Debussy as “the musician of tradition” in 1903. One explanation for Debussy’s remark could be Saint-Saëns’ preference for established (and, to his French detractors, foreign) genres: symphonies, concertos, sonatas, and chamber music.
On July 19, 1870, French soldiers invaded neighboring Prussia, igniting the Franco-Prussian War. The conflict dragged on for another seven months and resulted in a humiliating defeat for France. Afterwards, Saint-Saëns joined a movement to revive French art and culture. In particular, Saint-Saëns set himself the task of proving the French could produce not just operas and ballets but also achieve renown in the abstract genres – symphonies, string quartets, concertos –dominated by German composers. To that end, Saint-Saëns co-founded the Société Nationale de Musique, whose motto, “ars gallica,” emphasized the Society’s mission to nurture new French music.
Saint-Saëns completed 10 concertos overall: five for piano, 2 for cello, and three for violin. Of those for violin, No. 3 in B minor is the most popular and performed today. Written for the virtuoso Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate, who had premiered Saint-Saëns’ first violin concerto at age 15, Op. 61 deftly combines Sarasate’s matchless technique with
Saint-Saëns’ masterful command of harmony and melody. The outer movements abound with singable themes and fiery passages, while the central Andantino features a lilting barcarolle – a French sea lullaby.
We can hear Sarasate’s influence in this concerto – SaintSaëns consulted the man he called “his violinist” during the writing of Op. 61 – particularly in the closing moments of the second movement, which feature a series of feather-light harmonic arpeggios (players sound harmonics by barely touching the string with their finger, rather than pressing down while they bow; Sarasate was known for his ability to execute harmonics with seeming ease). One reviewer opined that the Andantino “shows what can be done by a great musician when he imposes on himself the simplicity which embarrasses the lesser man.”
Symphonic Dances for Large Orchestra, Op. 45
Sergei Rachmaninoff
B: April 1, 1873, Oneg, Russia
D: March 28, 1943, Beverly Hills, CA
Work composed: the summer and autumn of 1940. The published score bears the inscription: “Dedicated to Eugene Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra.”
World premiere: Eugene Ormandy led the Philadelphia Orchestra on January 3, 1941
Sergei Rachmaninoff had great regard for the Philadelphia Orchestra and its music director, Eugene Ormandy. As a pianist, he had performed with them on several occasions, and as a composer, he appreciated the full, rich sound Ormandy and his musicians produced. Sometime during the 1930s, Rachmaninoff remarked that he always had the unique sound of this ensemble in his head while he was composing orchestral music: “[I would] rather perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra than any other of the world.” When Rachmaninoff began working on the Symphonic Dances, he wrote with Ormandy and the orchestra in mind. Several of Rachmaninoff’s other orchestral works, including the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and the Piano Concerto No. 4, were also either written for or first performed by Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
The Symphonic Dances turned out to be Rachmaninoff’s final composition. Although not as wellknown as the piano concertos or the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Rachmaninoff himself and many others regard the Symphonic Dances as his greatest orchestral work. “I don’t know how it happened,” the composer remarked. “It must have been my last spark.”
Nervous pulsing violins open the Allegro, over which the winds mutter a descending minor triad (three-note chord). The strings set a quickstep tempo, while the opening triad becomes both the melodic and harmonic foundation of the movement as it is repeated, reversed and otherwise developed. The introspective middle section features the first substantial melody, sounded by a distinctively melancholy alto saxophone. The Allegro concludes with a return of the agitated quickstep and fluttering triad.
Muted trumpets and pizzicato strings open the Andante con moto with a lopsided stuttering waltz, followed by a subdued violin solo. This main theme has none of the Viennese lightness of a Strauss waltz; its haunting, ghostly quality borders on the macabre suggestive of Sibelius’ Valse triste or Ravel’s eerie La valse. Rachmaninoff’s waltz is periodically interrupted by sinister blasts from the brasses.
In the Lento assai: Allegro vivace, Rachmaninoff borrows the melody of the Dies irae (Day of Wrath) from the requiem mass. Rachmaninoff had used this iconic melody many times before, most notably in Isle of the Dead and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. In the Symphonic Dances, the distinctive descending line has even more suggestive power; we can hear it as Rachmaninoff’s final statement about the end of his compositional career. This movement is the most sweeping and symphonic of the three and employs all the orchestra’s sounds, moods, and colors. In addition to the Dies irae, Rachmaninoff also incorporates other melodies from the Russian Orthodox liturgy, including the song “Blagosloven Yesi, Gospodi,” describing Christ’s resurrection, from Rachmaninoff’s choral masterpiece All-Night Vigil.
On the final page of the Symphonic Dances manuscript, Rachmaninoff wrote, “I thank Thee, Lord!”
The Texarkana Symphony Orchestra wishes to thank the following companies and individuals whose contributions of time and services help make possible the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra’s 2024-2025 season.
NEIL ABELES
SHELLY BROWN
BRENDA BURNS
ANGELA CLARK
TAYLOR COLEMAN
THE GEORGE CRANK FAMILY
DEANNA CRAYTOR
JACOB CUTHBERTSON JAY DAVIS
MICAH DORSEY
BUNN FAWCETT
ELIZABETH FAWCETT
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH - TEXARKANA
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
MATT FRY
DANNY GRAY
SUE ELLEN HALL
TRENT HANNA
J. BROWN FOR THE HOME
NANCY JACKSON
RONALD MAKARAMBA
KATRINA MCGINNIS
ST. JAMES CHURCH
STEVE MITCHELL, KTXK RADIO
WILLIAM MORRISS
LAURA AND DAVID ORR
PHI THETA KAPPA
MARY ELLEN YOUNG
TC HONOR SOCIETY
RUSSELL ROBERTS
BECKY ROBERTSON
REV. SHERRI WATERS-CLEM
LYNN WHITT
SUPPORTING THE
SYMPHONY
WE GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGE THE GENEROSITY OF THE FOLLOWING DONORS WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE TSO IN THE LAST YEAR, AS OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2024.
Guaranty Bank & Trust
Sonja and Bob Hubbard
Suzy and Robert Irwin
JCM Industries Inc. Foundation
John Collins
Katherine and George Lease*
Ledwell Office Solutions
Lisa and Steve Ledwell
Legacy Consulting
Chad Gallagher
Ludlow Farm for the Perot Theatre in memory of Kathryn Ludlow
Tatiana and Philip Mann*
Brenda Martinez
Katrina and Dr. Robert McGinnis*
Gloria and Judge John Miller
Deborah and Ron Mills*
Julia Peck Mobley
Blake Montgomery
Morel Group
PLATINUM $10,000+
Advertising & Promotions Commission
Texarkana, AR
Arkansas Arts Council
Bobbie Atkinson Foundation
Cabe Cook Foundation
Lucille Cook
Martha and Jeff Prieskorn
City of Texarkana, TX
Judy Kelley Morgan/Jack B Kelley Enterprises Inc
Kelley & Morgan Families Foundation MGD
Barbara and Dr. Paul McCash*
Vasco McCoy, Jr Foundation
Ms. Pamela McCoy
Lois and Cary Patterson
Patterson-Troike Foundation
Emily and Gabe Tarr
Texas Commission on the Arts
GOLD $5,000-9,999
Dr. George W. English, III*
LeeAnn and Buddy McCulloch*
Janis Robbins
RoyOMartin Foundation
Texas Pioneer Foundation
Fred Markham
Vicki and Maurice Orr
Adam Garrett Wickliff
SILVER $2,500-4,999
Vee and Ron Collins
Vicki and Dr. Roy Deskin
Farmers Bank & Trust
Remica and Danny Gray
Gray & McGinnis Families in memory of Florence and George Crank
Dolly and Paul Henley
Dr. Susan Keeney
Deborah and Michael Malek*
Mike and Pete Mankins
Drs. Kathleen and Michael Martin*
The Morriss Family in memory of
Martha and Josh Morriss, Jr.
James R. Murphy
Robin and Danny Proctor
LaWanda and John Rich
Susan Robbins
Drs. Jennie and Dr. Brian So
Kathy and Henry Struckman
Barrie Thomson
TSO Board of Directors
Alan and Kathie Woll*
Yates GroupJim Yates Foundation
BRONZE $1,000-2,499
Arkansas Community FoundationTexarkana Area
Arkansas’s Great Southwest Hempstead Hall
Bobbie A. Atkinson*
Benchmark American
Brasserie & Café Lucille
Yulin and Jerry Brewer
Diana and Dr. Kirby Bunel*
Drs. Valeria and Matthew Burks*
C. Louis and Mary C. Cabe Foundation*
Christus St. Michael Health System
Caroline and Dr. Andrew S. Curry
Judy B. Davis
Dr. Jacqueline Santos Day
Lesley and Adam Dukelow
The Financial Advisory Group
Four States Living Magazine
James I. Freeman
Charitable Trust
James and Barbara Freeman
Wayne H. Garrison
Charitable Trust
Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons of Northeast Texas, PLLC
Dr. Kirby Bunel
Dr. Jacob Duke
Dr. Zach Legan
Dr. Mary Laura Hastings
Dr. Matthew Burks
Paula and John Pickett
Martha and Jeff Prieksorn*
Kathy and Donnie Powers* in memory of Dr. Jauquita Hargus
