Dvořák Delights Concert Programme

NEW WORLD FESTIVAL

DVOŘÁK DELIGHTS OCTOBER 2 SUNDAY • 2:30PM

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Cilla and Peter Budda Wendy Charlebois Les Ellenor Joan Ellenor Barb Ennis Jean Ethridge Marline and Tibout Glazenburg Donna Good Dale Johnston

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Gabriele Klein Tony Lewis Claire Meuier Russ Nakonseby Debbie Olson Lynne Wickett Gwen Whyte Jan & Bob Wilkins Jeanetta Zorn

Message from the Board President Welcome to the opening concert of our very exciting 2022–23 Salmon Arm Series. I know I speak for the entire KSO team when I say we are thrilled to be back on this stage bringing you —our subscribers, donors and supporters—the amazing and spell-binding experience of live music.

For many of us as we navigated the labyrinth of a pandemic over the past few years, our hearts and ears were missing the sensory experience of a full season of live performances. As one subscriber said to me jubilantly, “it is the highlight of life to attend KSO’s concerts.” And it is with great joy and enthusiasm that we launch our magnificent new season. We sincerely hope that the musical programme developed for our entire season will bring you much enjoyment and pleasure.

Most of you will not know that I am a student of Russian literature and I cannot resist sharing a quote from Leo Tolstoy—one of my favourite authors: “Music is the shorthand of emotions.” May our performances this weekend and throughout the whole season unleash the power of your emotions and bring you great joy.

Sit back, relax and enjoy what we have in store for you today.

We are so honoured to perform for you this afternoon.

John J. McDonald III Board President Kamloops Symphony

GOVERNMENT GRANTS

The Kamloops Symphony wishes to acknowledge that this concert is taking place on Secwépemc territory within the traditional lands of the Secwépemc Nation.

Kamloops Symphony Society BOARD OF DIRECTORS

John McDonald | President Helen Newmarch | Secretary Tyler Klymchuk | Treasurer Kathy Collier Lucille Gnanasihamany Gabriele Klein Rod Michell Steve Powrie Simon Walter

HONOURARY LIFE MEMBERS Bonnie Jetsen Art Hooper

ADMINISTRATION Executive Director

Daniel Mills

Music Director

Dina Gilbert

Office Administrator

Sue Adams

Operations Coordinator

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Marketing Coordinator

Ryan Noakes Librarian

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Olivia Martin

Production Assistant

Adrien Fillion

Chorus Master

Tomas Bijok Proud Member of Orchestras Canada, the national association for Canadian orchestras

Collaborative Pianist

Daniela O’Fee

Music Director Emeritus

Bruce Dunn

PERFORNMANCE SPONSORS

SEASON SPONSORS

SERIES SPONSORS

Sponsors

Orchestra

FIRST VIOLIN Cvetozar Vutev

—concertmaster * Elyse Jacobson

—assistant concertmaster * Parmela Attariwala Paul Chan Evelyn Creaser-Rumley Jeremy Ferland Carol (Eunkyung) Hur Samantha Kung

BASS Maggie Hasspacher* Michael Vaughan Yefeng Yin

TRUMPET Mark D’Angelo* Jeremy Vint TROMBONE Angus Armstrong++ Cindy Hogeveen BASS TROMBONE Rod Simmons

OBOE Marea Chernoff* Lauris Davis

Shee Ling Sandra Wilmot

Chair Sponsors

HORN Sam McNally* Dennis Colpitts Maddie Davis Heather Walker

FLUTE Heather Beaty* Jeff Pelletier

SECOND VIOLIN Boris Ulanowicz* Francisco Barradas Majka Demcak Haley Leach

VIOLA Ashley Kroecher* Erin MacDonald Fahlon Palm Jinhee Park Calvin Yang

CELLO Martin Kratky* Doug Gorkoff Laure Matiakh Olivia Walsh

TUBA Richard Cane++

CLARINET Sally Arai* Julie Begg

TIMPANI Martin Fisk++ PERCUSSION Brian Nesselroad++

BASSOON Olivia Martin* Dave Overgaard Principal

*

Acting Principal

+

Substitute Principal

++

Geoff & Judith Benson | concertmaster Rod Michell | assistant concertmaster Gabriele Klein | principal second violin June McClure | principal viola Anonymous | principal cello Eleanor Nicoll | principal flute Joyce Henderson | principal clarinet Kelvin & Roberta Barlow | principal bassoon Hugh & Marilyn Fallis | principal trumpet

MUSIC DIRECTOR Music Director Dina Gilbert is a Canadian conductor passionate about educating audiences of all ages and broadening their appreciation of orchestral music through innovative collaborations. This commitment, as well as Dina Gilbert’s extensive repertoire—often highlighting Canadian and women composers—have shaped her career and the orchestras she has worked with over the years.

Regularly invited to conduct in Canada and overseas, Dina Gilbert attracts critical acclaim for her energy, precision and versatility.

In addition to conducting the Kamloops Symphony, highlights of the 2022-2023 season include debuts with the Orchestre national des Pays de la Loire and a tour with the Orchestre national de Metz in France and return invitations with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and the Orchestre symphonique de Québec. As the Principal Conductor of the Orchestre des Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, she will perform Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Prokofiev’s Cinderella.

Over the years, Dina has been invited by leading Canadian orchestras including the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Hamilton Philharmonic and the Orchestre symphonique de Québec. She also conducted performances in Oregon and North-Carolina, in Colombia, Spain, France, and in Niigata and Tokyo.

Her innate curiosity towards nonclassical musical genres and her willingness to democratize classical music have brought her to conduct the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Orchestre national de Lyon in several Hip Hop Symphonic

programs featuring renowned Hip hop artists I AM, MC Solaar, Youssoupha and Bigflo & Oli. Dina is also renowned for her expertise in conducting multidisciplinary projects such as cineconcerts performances (The Red Violin, The Artist, E.T. the Extraterrestrial) as well as Video Game soundtracks (The Montreal Video Game Symphony, Outlast, The Amazing Spiderman 2).

As the Music Director of the Orchestre symphonique de l’Estuaire (20172022), Dina expanded the symphonic repertoire and has reached thousands of children with her interactive and participative Conducting 101 workshops.

As the founder and artistic director of the Ensemble Arkea, a Montreal-based chamber orchestra, she premiered over thirty works from emerging Canadian composers. From 2013 to 2016, Dina Gilbert was the assistant conductor of the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal and Maestro Kent Nagano, also assisting guest conductors including Zubin Mehta, Sir Roger Norrington and Lawrence Foster.

Dina Gilbert earned her doctorate from the Université de Montréal and she polished her skills in masterclasses with Kenneth Kiesler, Pinchas Zukerman, Neeme Järvi and the musicians from the Kritische Orchester in Berlin. Awarded the Opus Prize of “Découverte de l’année” in 2017, Dina Gilbert was also named as one of the “50 personnalités créant l’extraordinaire au Québec” in 2018 by the Urbania Magazine. She has also received support from the Canada Arts Council, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and from the PèreLindsay Foundation.

Dina Gilbert

DVOŘÁK DELIGHTS P R O G R A M M E

Sunday

OCTOBER 2

Dina Gilbert, Conductor Stéphane Tétreault, Cello

Antonin Dvořák............

Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104

I.

Allegro

II. Adagio III. Finale: Allegro moderato —Andante—Allegro vivo INTERMISSION

Antonin Dvořák Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 “From The New World”

I.

Adagio—Allegro molto

II. Largo III. Molto vivace

IV. Allegro con fuoco

GUEST ARTIST

Stéphane Tétreault In addition to numerous awards and honours, Stéphane Tétreault is the recipient of the prestigious 2019 Virginia Parker Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts and was a nominee for the Oscar Morawetz Award for Excellence in Music Performance from the Ontario Arts Council. He is also the laureate of the 2022 Prix Opus for “Performer of the Year”, awarded by the Conseil Québécois de la musique and accompanied by a Canada Council grant. In 2018, he received the Maureen Forrester Next Generation Award in recognition of his sensitivities with music, his enviable technique, and his considerable communication skills. In 2015, he was selected as laureate of the Classe d’Excellence de violoncelle Gautier Capuçon from the Fondation Louis Vuitton, and received the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto Career Development Award. Stéphane was the very first recipient of the $50,000 Fernand-Lindsay Career Award as well as the Choquette-Symcox Award laureate in 2013. First Prize winner at the 2007 Standard Life-Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition, he was named “Révélation” RadioCanada in classical music, was chosen as Personality of the Week by La Presse newspaper, and awarded the Prix Opus New Artist of the Year.

Chosen as the first ever Soloistin-Residence of the Orchestre Métropolitain, he performed alongside Yannick Nézet-Séguin during the 2014-2015 season. In 2016, Stéphane made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of

Maestro Nézet-Séguin and performed at the prestigious Gstaad Menuhin Festival in Switzerland. During the 2017-2018 season, he took part in the Orchestre Métropolitain’s first European tour with Maestro NézetSéguin and made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Stéphane has performed with violinist and conductor Maxim Vengerov and pianists Alexandre Tharaud, Jan Lisiecki, Louis Lortie, Roger Vignoles, Marc-André Hamelin, Charles Richard-Hamelin and John Lenehan and has worked with conductors Michael Tilson Thomas, Paul McCreesh, John Storgårds, Rune Bergmann, Kensho Watanabe and Tung-Chieh Chuang amongst many others. He has participated in a number of masterclasses, notably with cellists Gautier Capuçon and Frans Helmerson.

PROGRAMME NOTES

Antonin Dvořák (1841–1904)

Dvořák was born near Prague in 1841 and died in that city in 1904 at age sixtytwo. His father was a village pork butcher and also an innkeeper. These do not sound like promising origins for a future composer of international renown.

However, his father was also a musician—a zither player—in a country, Bohemia, where music making was an instinctual activity for almost everyone. Later in life Dvořák described that “in Bohemia every child must learn music, and if possible sing in church … after church the people revel in music and dancing, sometimes until early morning.” Young Dvořák, who quickly learned to play a variety of instruments, was part of these musical activities from an early age. Then, later, when he moved to Prague, he became a violist in the recently founded National Opera. Although he lacked much formal training in composition he began to compose prolifically, songs, and orchestral and chamber works, in the German classical style of Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann. Gradually, however, the distinctive Bohemian voice of his music began to assert itself, the voice that makes Dvořák, for most music-lovers, the best known of the leaders of the various “nationalist” movements in music that emerged in the 19th Century.

Unfortunately, lacking a music publisher, Dvořák’s reputation was for some time limited and based chiefly on his operas. However, in 1875, he drew the attention of no less a musical figure than Brahms who, as a competition adjudicator, saw work that Dvořák had submitted in a competition for a government grant.

The most important result was that, in addition to giving Dvořák generous artistic encouragement, Brahms put Dvořák in touch with his own music publisher, Simroc.

Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 The Concerto for Cello and Orchestra is the other significant composition that resulted from Dvořák’s three-year appointment in the United States. The stimulus for its creation is reputed to have been a performance Dvořák attended in spring of 1894 of Victor Herbert’s Second Cello Concerto (with Herbert himself as soloist). (Yes, that Herbert, later the composer of operettas such as Naughty Marietta.)

Inspired by Herbert’s new work and recalling the commitment he had

made to his Czech colleague, the cellist Hanus Wihan, for a substantial composition for cello, Dvořák began work on his concerto in November 1894. Within three months it was finished. Almost.

While at work on the concerto Dvořák heard that his sister-in-law, Josefina, in Bohemia was very ill, and this news prompted him to include a melody of which he knew she was especially fond into the slow movement. She died in 1895 soon after Dvořák returned home,

PROGRAMME NOTES

so the concerto was completed back in Prague with the addition of some final references to her favourite song in the third movement and suggestions from cellist Wihan for the solo part.

Wihan was especially keen that there be a cadenza at the end of the finale (normally an important showpiece for a soloist). Dvořák disagreed—he felt that to draw attention to the virtuosity of the soloist at the close would defeat the point of his tribute to his sister-inlaw. There is no cadenza.

The composer Brahms, who provided both encouragement and practical support earlier in Dvořák’s career, is credited with this (mock)-grudging but good-natured praise of the concerto: “Why didn’t I know that it was possible to write a cello concerto like this? If I’d known, I’d have written one myself a long time ago!” With its solo part closely interwoven with the orchestral texture, Dvořák’s three-movement concerto is almost symphonic in character, with the solo part quite closely interwoven into the orchestral texture.

1st Movement Allegro An orchestral introduction begins the first movement with a theme from the clarinets followed by an expressive horn melody. These lead to the entry of the solo cello which from that point on plays a prominent role in the exposition, development, and recapitulation of the thematic material through to the movement’s triumphant-sounding close.

2nd Movement Adagio ma non troppo The second movement is leisurely and relaxed, pastoral in character, Slavonic in feeling, allowing the solo instrument’s noblest qualities full expression. There is a dramatic middle section based on the melody (one of Dvořák’s own songs) that was beloved by his now dead sister-inlaw. There is a short section for the soloist accompanied by woodwinds, a quasi-cadenza perhaps, a concession to cellist Wihan. The movement dies away in pastoral serenity.

3rd Movement Allegro moderato Introduced by a march-like opening theme, the Finale is in rondo form and is notable for the wealth of its melodic content, for its rhythmical variety and its brilliant instrumentation. The contribution of the solo cello becomes gradually more prominent. Toward the end it seems as if Dvořák is reluctant to part company from his musical creation, developing an extended series of quiet, thoughtful passages seemingly by way of postponement.

Then, quite unexpectedly, he briefly includes the clarinets with their opening theme from the concerto’s first movement. For just a moment it may seem the concerto will end quietly—not a common practice in Romantic concertos. However, from that point on Dvořák quickly gathers his musical forces together and closes the concerto with decisive energy.

PROGRAMME NOTES

Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, From the New World Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” is his best-known symphony, possibly his best-known orchestral work. He wrote it in 1893 while on a three-year appointment in the United States as artistic director of the recently established National Conservatory of Music in New York.

He had been hired in the expectation that as a now well known European “nationalist” composer he would show the burgeoning American musical community how to create a new national style of classical music for the United States. Based on his own experiences, Dvořák believed that a genuinely national music could emerge only from folk traditions, so he looked to the music of American Indians and African Americans for inspiration. He explored Indian melodies, listened to plantation songs and spirituals, studied their unique musical idiom, and adapted them to his symphony. The result was an immediate success.

1st Movement Adagio—Allegro molto The symphony opens pianissimo, with a slow introduction for strings. The melancholy tone it expresses colours all of the symphony’s four movements.

The Allegro that follows is turbulent

and exciting, a reflection perhaps of this dynamic and restless “new world” that Dvořák had suddenly come to know. The movement’s main theme becomes a motto, a repeated element appearing in each movement of the symphony. Listeners will not fail to recognize the prominent flute tune reminiscent of the Negro spiritual “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”.

2nd Movement—Largo Dvořák appears to have been unsure about the tempo of this movement until he heard the New York Philharmonic rehearsing it under conductor Anton Seidl. Dvořák’s original thought had been Andante or Larghetto. Both are tempos faster than the slower one that Dvořák heard Seidl use in rehearsal, and it was the slower Largo that Dvořák decided on. The movement contains some of Dvořák’s most evocative music. Most notable is the fervent cor anglais melody that we know now as “Goin’ Home” because of the words later composed by William Arms Fisher. It was not (as some have claimed) an already existing negro tune that Dvořák copied, but his own work as a composer sensitive to the distinctive idiom of different melodic traditions. Other elements of the

PROGRAMME NOTES

movement were inspired by American Henry Longfellow’s poem, Song of Hiawatha, about the Indian hero, a work already familiar to Dvořák from a translation into Czech. Precisely which episodes from the poem the music embodies is not clear however: the funeral of Minnehaha in the forest, or a morning scene blessing the cornfields.

Listen for return of the motto theme, this time in the trombones, but the movement ends with quietness.

3rd Movement Scherzo: Molto vivace In the third movement’s opening some listeners hear Dvořák tipping his hat to Beethoven, specifically the timpanipunctuated Scherzo of Beethoven’s 9th. For much of the rest of the movement Dvořák swings into lively dance mode, with three different dance varieties. These too are said to have a link to the “New World” associations in the symphony, and again the link is to Longfellow’s Hiawatha. This time the music evokes “Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast,“ in particular the “Whirling, spinning round in circles,/ Leaping o’er the guests assembled” and other spectacular feats of the tribal dancer, Pau-Puk-Keewis. Again, listen for the motto theme from the first movement

which is announced close to the movement’s end on the horns. They are silenced decisively by a single emphatic chord.

4th Movement Allegro con fuoco In the symphony’s Finale, Dvořák masterfully combines themes from the previous three movements to form an integrated symphonic whole.

Added to these earlier melodies are new ones: a lively Bohemian dance (a furiant as in his Slavonic Dances), a nostalgic clarinet melody, a polka and the first six notes of “Three Blind Mice.” All of this Dvořák builds to a massive, climactic conclusion.

We are left to wonder whether this musical message “From the New World” is intended as a colourful set of impressions for those back home of the dynamic culture Dvořák found in North America. Or is it the work of a Bohemian composer homesick for his own country, whose sympathy for the plight of the oppressed coloured and Indian peoples is suffused with his own nostalgia?

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