Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra Season 73

CHARLES LATSHAW

Music Director & Conductor

- 2023 Season

Dear Friends of FSO,

Welcome to Season 73! If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s to examine the deeper assumptions behind why we gather – and that experiences that bring together cherished friends and family are the most treasured.

The FSO operates on the belief that musical engagement can be catalytic to human wellbeing, growth, and development. To that end, we offer:

Social connection and an excuse to unplug

Symphony concerts offer a comfortable meditative space and an opportunity to slow down and notice the way listening to music affects you, whether you’re seeking solace in the timeless classics or joyous celebrations with loved ones.

Improved well-being and space to process emotion

A new partnership with the NARBHA Institute and the Guidance Center supports maternal health and early child development through the Lullaby Project, which pairs new mothers with professional musicians to write personalized lullabies for their babies.

The challenge and joy of learning something new FSO’s popular Link Up music education program is in its tenth year. Our new digital adult learning program “Sound ON” takes participants inside orchestral music, strengthening your listening skills so you can experience concerts like never before.

This season, we welcome you to “be here now” with us – to use our symphony concerts as a time to gather and treat yourself and your loved ones to a few moments of respite and reflection.

Thank you for being here.

Stephanie Stallings, Executive Director

J Michael Cruz, President Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra FSO Board of Directors

BOARD STAFF

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

J Michael Cruz, President Heidi Robinson, Vice President Nathan Schott, Secretary Anne Dickman, Treasurer

Tim Dodt

Denise Gomolak

Deborah Harris

Eric Lenz

Cindy Martin

John Marvel Connie McDonald

Tim McKay

Mary Nebel

Cynthia Nemeth

Ellen Wade

DIRECTORS EMERITUS

Irene Alpert

Elizabeth Archuleta Beverly Armstrong Edward Bowell

Irene Croft

John Cummings

Will Duncan

Kathleen Franklin

Mary Hostetler

Lela Montfort

Bill Morrison

Molly Munger

Richard Neville

Cheri Ossenfort

Hal Stern *In Memoriam

Carl Taylor

Peter Wainwright

Tom Ward

Jean Wilcox

MUSIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR

Charles Latshaw

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Stephanie Stallings, Executive Director

Cindy Binkley, Orchestra Personnel Manager

Anya Kazakin, Office Manager Emma Riebe, Patron Engagement Manager Emma Strub, Librarian

PROGRAM DESIGN

Cultural Sponge, Heather Brown

Photos courtesy of D.M. Irvine Photography & G’s Photos

To enrich, engage, and inspire our community through the performance of orchestral music

Flagstaff Symphony Association 113-A East Aspen Avenue Flagstaff, AZ 86001 928.774.5107 www.flagstaffsymphony.org

This program printed on recycled paper

Please bring omissions to our attention.

FROM THE CONDUCTOR

It is a pleasure to welcome you all to the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra’s 73rd season of music making. Orchestra seasons are planned years in advance, and this season’s concerts represent several projects finally coming to fruition after two seasons of change and delay from the global coronavirus pandemic. We’ve worked hard to curate a program with something for everybody, ranging from great masterworks of the past to exciting and fresh new pieces of the present.

Major masterworks I’m looking forward to:

• September: Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 4. In case I hadn’t mentioned it to you before, Brahms is my #1 favorite composer, and his four symphonies are my “desert island” book. If it were entirely up to me, we’d play a Brahms symphony in every concert. (And maybe it’s best that it isn’t entirely up to me!)

• January: Aaron Copland’s BillytheKid ballet suite (the most-requested piece this year from FSO members!)

• April: Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”, the most challenging and profound of Beethoven’s symphonies.

We’re pleased to introduce you to new works by living composers on nearly every FSO program this year including:

• The Arizona premiere of Dan Perttu’s “A Planets Odyssey” Piano Concerto. It features a movement titled “The Kuiper Belt and Beyond”, which the composer wrote specifically for us because I insisted “We can’t play a ‘Planets’ concerto in Flagstaff that doesn’t include Pluto!”

• Arturo Rodríguez’s Mosaico Mexicano and Arturo Márquez’s Danzón #2, featured as part of our Dia de los Muertos “¡Celebraciones!” in October

• The Arizona premiere of George S. Clinton’s The Rose of Sonora

• And an entire program featuring America’s greatest living composer, John Williams!

Photo credit G’s Photos

ORCHESTRA SEASONS ARE PLANNED YEARS IN ADVANCE, AND THIS SEASON’S CONCERTS REPRESENT SEVERAL PROJECTS FINALLY COMING TO FRUITION AFTER TWO SEASONS OF CHANGE AND DELAY FROM THE GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC.

WE ARE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE OUR PRE-CONCERT TALKS ARE BACK WITH OUR CONDUCTOR, CHARLES LATSHAW. HAVE A MORE IN-DEPTH UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCERT PIECES BY ARRIVING EARLY AT 6:30PM.

And we are proud to partner with our friends and colleagues in Northern Arizona to present:

• Our October “¡Celebraciones!” concert in connection with the Museum of Northern Arizona’s annual Dia de los Muertos celebration. It’s a concert celebrating old and new Mexican culture featuring an entirely Mexican cast of composers!

• The annual tradition of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker ballet with the Northern Arizona University Community Music and Dance Academy, led by Andrew Needhammer.

• A return to choral-orchestral works in April with Timothy Westerhaus, FSO’s new chorusmaster, conducting Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis

We are privileged to have such an excellent orchestra as the FSO here in Northern Arizona, and equally privileged and appreciative to have you and your support in our musical family. Thank you so very much for sharing the music with us this season. As always, I want to know how we’re doing! Have a piece you’d like to hear the FSO play? Have a suggestion how we much make the concert experience even better for you? Email me any time at clatshaw@flagstaffsymphony.org.

Photo credit D.M. Irvine Photography

Prior to 2016 Latshaw was director of the Kent Blossom Music Festival and the Kent State University Orchestra and formerly Artistic Director and Conductor of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra in Indiana. Latshaw has also held positions with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, the Washington Sinfonietta and the Ars Nova Chamber Orchestra. He holds the distinction of being selected by members of the Vienna Philharmonic as their Herbert von Karajan Conducting Fellow in 2007.

Firmly dedicated to bringing orchestral music to new audiences, particularly the young, he has taught band, choir, general music and musical theatre to students of all ages. In this capacity he served as faculty for numerous summer programs including the Rocky Ridge Music Center, the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic Strings Camp and the Palace Theatre summer programs. Additionally, he has led “Side by Side” concerts for high school students with the Indianapolis Symphony, the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic and the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra.

In his efforts to expand audiences for newly-created, accessible contemporary compositions, Latshaw has premiered more than thirty new works for chamber groups, youth orchestras and full symphony orchestras, many of his own commissioning.

Off the podium, he has held positions as principal trumpet in orchestras in Ohio, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, performing also with jazz bands as trumpeter, vocalist and band leader. On the stage he has appeared in acting and singing roles with the Palace Professional Theatre of Manchester and the New Hampshire State Opera. These various activities have led to touring in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and the U.S.

Charles Latshaw holds a master’s and doctorate degree in instrumental conducting from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Now living in Colorado with his wife Kelley, they spend their free time in the woods, camping, hiking and skiing in the beauty of the Rockies. (And they spent last summer rafting the Grand Canyon)

American conductor Charles Latshaw is in his sixth season as Music Director of the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra in Arizona and maintains his position as Music Director of the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra in Colorado, a post he has held since 2016.

Photo credit G’s Photos

Tony Hannigan

Vice President,

thannigan@alliancebankofarizona.com (928)

John Fockler

Vice President, Senior Relationship Manager john.fockler@alliancebankofarizona.com (928) 214-3410

ALL GIFTS RECEIVED BETWEEN JULY 1, 2021 - JUNE 30, 2022 DONORS

FRIEND {$25 - $499} Krista Allen + Linda Nina Anderson + Kara Attrep + George and Holly Averbeck + Bill and Jill Babb + Zach Bednar + Sterling Begay + Cheryl Blume + Roger and Laura Bounds + Richard Bowen + Gary Boyer + Heather Brown + David and MaryAnne Bruner + Barbara Brunner + Bourck Cashmore + Viola Centner + Beatrice Cooley + Jason Costello + José L. Cruz Rivera and Rima Brusi + Audrey Cullen + Bryan and Meredith Curley + Terrell Dineyazhe + Sheila Duffy + Mary Egan + Stephen Ehrenreich + Josh England + Nick Esposito + Ann Fekety + Helen Ferrell + Kathleen Flaccus + Henry and Maria Flurry + Patricia Foster + Lena Fowler + Sheryll and William Gibson + Shila Gifford + David and Janet Gillette + Paul Gordon + Andrea Graves + Paula Gressman + Nancy Guelzow + Jennifer Guyer + Rosalinda Haddon + Jeff and Schenley Hall + Albert Harclerode and Rita Borden + Lisa Harrington + James Harris + Dora Harrison + Kristin Haskins + Rue Heitland + Ann Heitland + Alex Herder + David and Jean Hockman + Deidre Hunter + Pamela Hyde + Peggy Jackson + Donald and Donna Jacobson + Fred and Leigh Johnson + Chris Kee + Phyllis Kegley + Alexis Knapp + Rick Knous + Barry Levine + Yuri Lewicky + John Little + John Marvel + Sam and Marj Mcclanahan + Mark Mellinger + Steve Montgomery + Darren Moore + Barbara and David Osborne + Nancy Paxton + Stephen Peters + Betty and Jim Peterson + Edward Robinson +

Stephen Ros + Amy Rushall + Lynnae Ruske + Daiton Rutkowski + Andrew Sanchez + Blase and Rebecca Scarnati + David Schleicher + Frank and Louise Scott + Bill and Carleton Sheppard + Al and Marcia Silberman + Therese Simon + William Sims + Wayne Sjoberg + Jennifer Skersick + Martha Somers + Stephanie Stallings + Cameron and Laurie Staveley + Barbara Taylor + Kevin Todacheenie + Kim and Robert Vane + Chris Verrill + Vicki Wallis + Nat and Jean White + Joel Williams + Nicholas Williams + Anne Worthington + Tina Zecher + Agassiz Landscape Group, LLC + Arizona Music Pro + Bright Side Bookshop + Cyclebar + Esenem Yoga, LLC + Flagstaff Bone and Joint + Flagstaff Neurosurgery, PLLC + Flagstaff Symphony Guild + Greenlaw Wash & Kut Barber Shop + Loven Contracting, Inc. + Morning Dew Landscaping + NAU College of Arts and Letters + NAU Foundation + Sound Vibrant + The James Vincent Group + The Sweet Shoppe + U-Haul of Flagstaff

PATRON {$500-$999} John Briggs + Gabriel Buldra + Jim and Ginny Case + Barbara and Jose Cazares + Jon Eder + Eric Fernandez + David Fitzgerald + Margaret Gunderson + Alice Hagerman + Ryan Herder + Steven Jenkins + Andrea Lewkowitz + Joseph and Kathryn Magee + Constance Mcdonald + Gladys Miller + Lillian Murphy + Dave and Mary Nebel + Brad Nicol + Cheryl and John Ossenfort + Timothy Quigley +

Carolyn Shaw + Louise Simpson + Gwynne Trivelpiece + Derek van Zijll + BizFit + Coconino Community College + Crest Insurance Group + Dickman + Company CPAs + Flagstaff Chevrolet Cadillac + Fratelli Pizza + Gail Lowe, CPA + Gold Wolff Jewelers + Jeff Karl Jewelers + Marvel Anesthesia, PLLC + Shell Oil Company + Switala Insurance + The Artists’ Gallery + United Way of Northern Arizona + Val’s Workshopy

GUEST ARTIST {$1000-$1999}

Charles and Nancy Bene + Robert Bowser + Norma Jean Clifton + J Michael Cruz and Kevin Gustafson + James and Sara Gibson + Peter Gibson and Maggie Vallejos + William Grabe + Debbie and Paul Holbrook + Richard and Celia Holm + Mary Brooker Horgan + Austin Leggett + Randy McGrane + Roger and Lynn Perkins + Phyllis Schiller and Kathy Small + Lori and George Schreiber + Carl and Holly Taylor + Ellen Wade + Feliz Weems + Jeff Wheless + Samuel and Phyllis Wolfskill + Canyon Pet Hospital + Coconino County + Edward Jones + Flagstaff Surgical Associates + Grand Canyon Education + Kitchen TuneUp Flagstaff + Majestic Marketplace + Mantis Shrimp, LLC + Nestle Purina Pet Care Company + North Country Healthcare

PERFORMER {$2000-$4999}

Hanna and Richard Cortner + Dawn Di Maio + Dave and Anne Dickman + Tim Dodt + Ann Johnson + Gisela and William Kluwin + Mike Loven + Jude Mack + Cindy Martin + Roger and Donna Muhlenkamp + Eugene and Molly Munger + Michele Roberts + Brenda and Paul Silveus + Stanley and Dawn Sutherland +

Elizabeth Vogler + Arizona Snowbowl + The Molly and Joseph Herman Foundation

VIRTUOSO {$5000-$9999}

Edward Bowell and Anne-Marie Malotki + Barbara Cress + Carrol Galanti + Max Jerrell + William Nietmann + Cece Zeller and Christopher Lambert + APS Corporate Giving + Arthur Judson Foundation + Aspey, Watkins & Diesel, PLLC + Hufford, Horstman, Mongini, Parnell and Tucker, PC + Findlay Toyota + Northern Arizona Healthcare + Optimum Mobile + Realty Executives of Flagstaff, LLC

CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE {$10000+} Arizona Commission on the Arts + Arizona Community Foundation + Creative Flagstaff + NAU Office of the President + The NARBHA Institute

IN HONOR OF (FLAGSTAFF SYMPHONY GUILD) Alice and John Dunford + Max Jerrell + Joyce McNelly

NADENE BEAN ENDOWED CELLO CHAIR FUND Alice Bean + Kenneth Bean + Susan Buth

KAREN KITT ENDOWED OBOE CHAIR FUND Michael and Karen Kitt

LEGACY CIRCLE MEMBERS

Irene Alpert + Paul Bjorklund + Edward Bowell + Richard and Hanna Cortner + Kathryn L. Dorst + Samuel Fitzpatrick + Chester and Ann Goldberg + Dick Griesenbeck + Kathleen Gregg + Jean Hansen + Lucy Alice and H. Stuart Houston + Ann Johnson + Bruce and Blanka Lockling + John McLaughlin + Friends and family of Warde B. Ogden + Bill Rowland + Linda and John Rumics + Mary Sweitzer + Eugene L. Weller

Members of the Legacy Circle are those who have made bequests in support of the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra. Please contact the Symphony office to discuss planned giving opportunities that will sustain our organization in the future.

If you find an error or omission in this donor listing, please notify the FSO Office at info@flagstaffsymphony.org

THERE MAY BE SOME THINGS OUT OF YOUR CONTROL RIGHT NOW, BUT YOUR ESTATE PLAN ISN’T ONE OF THEM.

Spurred by COVID, many people are using this time to update their existing wills or writing new ones. How about you?

This is a great time to review your financial plans for the future, including how you might leave a community legacy of musical excellence. Leaving a meaningful legacy is easier than you might think. A simple bequest in your will or living trust can leave a percentage, a dollar amount, or the residue of your estate to the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra.

Donating part or all of your unused retirement assets, such as your individual retirement account (IRA), is an excellent way to make a contribution to the FSO. Because nonprofits do not pay income taxes on the donations they receive, distributions to nonprofits will avoid being taxed as income.

All those who remember the Symphony in their estate plans are honored as esteemed members of our Legacy Circle. When you consider an estate gift, remember to work with your attorney or financial advisor. The FSO’s legal name and address is Flagstaff Symphony Association, PO Box 122 Flagstaff, AZ 86002. Our federal tax ID number is 86-0186038.

We would love to hear from you. Contact the FSO office at (928) 774-5107.

Coconino Community College helps prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s jobs, eases the transition to a four-year university, and offers courses for the lifelong learner in us all.

This season, the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra will serve as a national partner in the Lullaby Project, a program of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI) that pairs pregnant women and new mothers and fathers with professional artists to write personal lullabies for their babies.

The participants are offered a creative opportunity to communicate feelings, hopes, and dreams as they look to the future with their child. The Lullaby Project supports maternal health, aids childhood development, and strengthens the bond between parent and child. FSO is delighted to partner with The NARBHA Institute to bring this program to Flagstaff.

The “Northern Arizona Symphonette” was formed by Dr. Jack Swartz of Arizona State College (now Northern Arizona University, or NAU) with the collaboration of Dr. Eldon Ardrey, Frances Babbitt, Robert Fitzmaurice, as part of the development of ASC’s music program. It played its first concert under the baton of Dr. Swartz in Ashurst Auditorium on May 21, 1950, with only twenty-nine musicians.

The FSO began charging for its performances, selling season tickets for $6.00 per family, and $1.00 a person at the door.

The Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra was officially incorporated on June 13, 1961.

Thomas Kirshbaum replaced Pat Curry, and from 1966 to 1982 produced memorable performances by distinguished guest artists, including celebrated African American baritone William Warfield, a favorite of FSO audiences. Pianists Van Cliburn and Garrick Ohlsson, soprano Roberta Peters, and many other internationally known artists performed with the FSO during these years. Since then, the orchestra has maintained its commitment to showcasing outstanding artists, musical excellence and innovation.

Arizona State College Professor Dr. Vernon Kliewer replaced Hal Goodman as conductor. Under Kliewer, the Symphony would typically hold concerts on Sunday afternoons in the NAU auditorium or the men’s gymnasium.

Harold “Hal” Goodman, formerly a violinist in the orchestra, replaced Swartz as conductor. That same year, Goodman supported the establishment of the Symphony Guild, which provided a more significant economic base for the orchestra and supported its expansion to 85 players.

To support Curry’s ambitious vision for the orchestra, he enlisted the involvement of the Flagstaff community to establish the Flagstaff Symphony Association and board.

Pat Curry became the conductor and did a great deal to professionalize the Symphony. He instituted a regular concert schedule (six concerts a year), brought in guest conductors, and required the musicians to dress uniformly for the first time, all in black.

STANDING: MR & MRS. ARDEY. SITTING: JACK SWARTZ

Hal Weller became the FSO’s Conductor and Orchestra Manager. During his 15-year tenure, he started a weekly radio program on KNAU, expanded the concert season, and achieved the highest per capita rate of support of any symphony orchestra in the United States. At the request of NAU’s President Clara Lovett, Weller developed and oversaw the “Flagstaff Spectrum Series,” featuring Isaac Stern, Wynton Marsalis, and other performers.

The FSO began its collaboration with the NAU Community Music and Dance Academy and the Flagstaff Symphony Guild to produce The Nutcracker Ballet and Lollipop Concerts, a tradition that continues to this day.

Today, we are fortunate to have Music Director and Conductor Charles Latshaw leading the FSO, who is committed to making the concert experience more welcoming to newcomers and traditionalists alike and regularly performing works by living composers. He also brings tremendous zeal and an extraordinary ability to connect with audiences of all ages.

17 - present

Composer and conductor Randy Fleischer took the orchestra forward musically by leaps and bounds. In Fleischer’s first season, The Arizona Daily Sun proclaimed that “This sounds like a different symphony orchestra, and this season should be an exciting experience.” Among his many accomplishments, he started a popular Youth Concert series and helped the FSO connect with the Native American Community through his collaborations with artists like R. Carlos Nakai.

Maestra Elizabeth Schulze, known for her energy and passion, led the orchestra through a period of artistic growth for nine seasons. Schultz is a champion of women’s music and was instrumental in developing the partnership with the Carnegie Hall Link Up program in 2013. And for the past eight years, the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra has been a national leader in music education, using the Link Up program to reach over 3500 students a year in 22 Flagstaff and surrounding community schools.

The Financial Anatomy of a Concert

Staging a concert costs the FSO $50,000 to $90,000. Why so much? Here’s how it works:

IN OUT

Tickets

We sell season subscriptions and individual tickets for all performances. At competitive prices, this almost covers the cost of a modest concert without a soloist. But for a “big” concert like Beethoven’s Ninth, artistic expenses alone can balloon from $30,000 to nearly $60,000.

Sponsors

Sponsors donate generously to help defray the expense of each concert. Without their support, the FSO could not present the seasons it does. Show your appreciation to the sponsors who make such a difference to the FSO.

Everything else

Ah, the tricky part of life in a nonprofit. The FSO is no different from other symphonies in its reliance on philanthropic support. Donations,fundraisers, silent auctions, bequests: This is the complex mix of funds that keeps great music alive in Flagstaff.

Rehearsal

The orchestra rehearses with Maestro Latshaw during concert week. Each rehearsal is a “service.” Musicians are paid for all services.

Concert

The performance is another service.

Soloists

Did you enjoy that world class performance? Concert artists’ fees are at least $5000.

Rentals

Concert venue, sheet music, copyright royalties, equipment: Nothing is free.

Everything else

We have a paid staff and an office with equipment and utilities. We have to print ads and programs, replace computers, and buy supplies. These costs occur every month, even though we don’t have a concert every month.

HOW TO BE A SYMPHONY PHILANTHROPIST

The following are just some of the ways that you can support your Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra…

• Shop at smile.amazon.com and make the Flagstaff Symphony Association your preferred organization

• Use the Donate Button on our Facebook page

• Use the Donate Button on our website at flagstaffsymphony.org

• Make a Legacy Donation

• Make a donation when buying your single tickets online

• Make a donation when buying your subscription online

• Make a donation when purchasing your subscription via our mail-in brochure

• Sponsor a musician yearly

Photo credit G’s Photos

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022, 7:30 PM

Ardrey Memorial Auditorium Charles Latshaw, Conductor | Pre-concert talk with the conductor at 6:30 pm

Samuel Barber, Second Essay for Orchestra

At a Glance About this Piece

Length: 10 minutes When the doors of Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music Composed: 1942 opened for the first time on October 1, 1924, fourteen-yearold Samuel Barber was the second student to walk through them. At school, Barber dazzled his classmates by having three majors (piano, voice, and composition) and by being outstanding in each.

It wasn’t surprising, then, when Barber gained notoriety in 1938 for being the first American composer to have his pieces conducted by Arturo Toscanini, the famously fussy Italian conductor of the New York Philharmonic. These were his muchadmired Adagio for Strings and the first Essay for Orchestra.

Barber began work on his Second Essay in the spring before the United States entered World War II. On the eve of war, his uncle urged him to focus on composing: “Music represents the

SAMUEL BARBER

contribution of the individual to the welfare of the whole. Write the greatest things you possibly can!” And he did, turning out the Second Essay and his song for men’s chorus and timpani, A Stopwatch and an Ordnance Map, in 1942.

Barber later said it should be evident that the Second Essay was written in wartime. The martial sound comes from plenty of rumbling, pounding timpani and choirs of brass instruments, which are softened near the end by Barber’s characteristically warm, sumptuous strings. In the context of tonight’s astronomythemed program, the Second Essay might remind you of moments in Gustav Holst’s The Planets, “Mars: The Bringer of War.”

Daniel Perttu, “A Planets Odyssey” Piano Concerto

At a Glance

About this Piece

Length: 22 minutes The centerpiece of tonight’s concert is this new piano concerto, Composed: 2021 where pianist Jeffrey Biegel plays the space traveler, taking the main theme (“the mysteries of the universe”) through variations representing each planet in the order of distance from the sun.

Unlike the mythological basis of Gustav Holst’s The Planets (“Mercury, the Winged Messenger,” and so on), Dr. Perttu based his inspiration on current scientific knowledge about astronomy and the physical features of each planet. Mercury’s lack of atmosphere, for example, gives it extreme temperature fluctuations, which can be heard in the aggressiveness and stark contrasts in that variation. As a nod to Lowell Observatory and Flagstaff’s historic role in the discovery of Pluto, Perttu included a variation for “the Kuiper Belt and universe beyond.”

“I WAS MEANT TO BE A COMPOSER AND WILL BE I’M SURE. DON’T ASK ME TO TRY TO FORGET THIS UNPLEAS ANT THING AND GO PLAY FOOTBALL - PLEASE.”

Johannes Brahms, Symphony No. 4 in E minor

At a Glance

I. Allegro non troppo (12 minutes)

Length: 39 minutes II. Andante moderato (12 minutes) Composed: 1885 III. Allegro giocoso (6 minutes)

IV. Allegro energico e passionato (9 minutes)

About this Piece

“It is like a dark well; the longer we look into it, the more brightly the stars shine back.” That is how the critic Eduard Hanslick, an early champion of Brahms’s music, described this symphony.

Brahms was conscious of his Fourth Symphony being one of the most demanding pieces he had composed. He wrote it during two summer vacations in a quiet Austrian town in the Alps, writing to a friend that his new symphony “tastes of the climate here; the cherries are hardly sweet—you wouldn’t eat them!” Despite the beautiful surroundings and Brahms’ widespread success, the work that emerged would be received as one of the darkest works of the symphonic literature.

It is also acknowledged as one of the most magnificent and soul-stirring, a judgment largely based on the grand Finale, which begins with an ominous chorale featuring the trombones, an instrument Brahms reserved for this moment. The melodic line was adapted from a cantata by J.S. Bach that Brahms discovered while helping edit Bach’s works. The words from Bach’s original cantata were “All my days which pass in suffering, God ends at last in joy.”

Though mortality was clearly on his mind (he had just turned 52), Brahms lived another 12 years after writing this piece. One month before his death (of liver cancer) he heard it performed by the Vienna Philharmonic at the last orchestral concert he attended. When the ailing Brahms appeared at the end of the concert, the applause was thunderous. Florence May, Brahms’s first English language biographer, described the moment: “Tears ran down his cheeks as he stood there, and through the audience there was a feeling of a stifled sob, for each knew he was saying farewell. One more acknowledgement from the master, and Brahms and his Vienna had parted forever.”

The life of Jeffrey Biegel takes its roots from age three, when Mr. Biegel could neither hear nor speak, until corrected by surgery. The ‘reverse Beethoven’ phenomenon explains his life’s commitment to music, having heard only vibrations in his formative years. The year of 2020 focused on composition and commissioning projects: original “Waltzes of Hope”, “Sonatina”, and “Three Reflections: JFK, RBG and MLK” for solo piano, and for piano and orchestra, orchestrations by Harrison Sheckler. Autumn 2021 sees the world premieres of his “Reflection of Justice: An Ode to Ruth Bader Ginsburg” with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s “Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg” for mezzo-soprano, piano and orchestra in tribute to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves. Also, the world premiere of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s “Shadows” newly arranged for piano and seven players with the Idaho State Civic Symphony.

Considered the most prolific artist of his generation, Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA, conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters upon Mr. Biegel in 2015, for his achievements in performance, recordings, chamber music, champion of new music, composer, arranger and educator.

In 2019, Kenneth Fuchs’s “Piano Concerto: ‘Spiritualist’” with the London Symphony Orchestra led by JoAnn Falletta received a Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium, featuring Mr. Biegel as its soloist. In 2019, the first digital recordings were released on Mr. Biegel’s Naturally Sharp label: “Cyberecital: An Historic Recording”, “A Pianist’s Journey”, and the September 2021 release of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” 1924 version with the Adrian Symphony Orchestra, Bruce Kiesling conducting. In 2022, he will premiere Jim Stephenson’s piano concerto, Daniel Perttu’s ‘A Planets Odyssey’ for piano and orchestra, Farhad Poupel’s “The Legend of Bijan and Manije” for piano, orchestra and chorus, and Peter Boyer’s “Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue” in 2023.

Photo credit D.M. Irvine Photography

Mr. Biegel created the first largest consortium of orchestras in 1998 for Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s ‘Millennium Fantasy’ premiered with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 2000, followed with Charles Strouse’s ‘Concerto America’ with the Boston Pops, Lowell Liebermann’s ‘Concerto no. 3’ with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, William Bolcom’s ‘Prometheus’ for piano, orchestra and chorus, with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and Pacific Chorale, Richard Danielpour’s ‘Mirrors’ with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s ‘Shadows’ with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Jake Runestad’s ‘Dreams of the Fallen’ with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and Symphony Chorus of New Orleans, Lucas Richman’s ‘Piano Concerto: In Truth’ with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, recorded with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Kenneth Fuchs’s “Piano Concerto: ‘Spiritualist’” with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (MA). He also premiered and recorded Giovanni Allevi’s ‘Concerto for Piano and Orchestra’ and commissioned Christopher Theofanidis’s “Concerto no. 2 for Piano and Orchestra” with the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, the “Peanuts Concerto” by Dick Tunney, based on music by Vince Guaraldi, Jimmy Webb’s ‘Nocturne for Piano and Orchestra’ and, PDQ Bach’s ‘Concerto for Simply Grand Piano and Orchestra’ by Peter Schickele with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Renowned composer, Daniel Dorff, composed his Piano Concerto for Mr. Biegel, premiered with the Etowah Youth Orchestra, conducted by Michael Gagliardo.

He studied at The Juilliard School with Adele Marcus, herself a pupil of Josef Lhevinne and Artur Schnabel, and is currently on faculty at the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College.

Photo credit D.M. Irvine Photography

MUSIC MATTERS!

YOUR SUPPORT MAKES

IT POSSIBLE!

Bring exhilarating symphonic music to Flagstaff

Motivate thousands of northern Arizona youth through our LinkUp program

Celebrate America through our patriotic programs like A Flag Fourth, part of one of the best small-town Independence Day celebrations

Contribute to the $90 million-dollar annual impact that the arts bring to our region

PATRON

FRIEND choose your gift level from $25 to $499 and receive:

• Invitation to special receptions and events

• Recognition in the season program

with a gift of $500 to $999, you’ll receive the Friend level benefits plus these exclusive privileges designed to bring you even closer to the music:

• Recognition in the season program and at the concert

• Receive 2 passes to select rehearsals during the season

• Receive 1 complimentary ticket for your use (valued at $63)

GUEST ARTIST

donate from $1,000 to $1,999 and receive these valuable addons:

• Opportunity to meet one of our guest artists

• Quarter page black and white ad in the season program (valued at $600)

• Name on website as a sponsor with hyperlink to your business, if applicable

• 2 complimentary tickets for your use (valued at $126)

• Opportunity to sit on stage next to the orchestra during the February 14 concert.

PERFORMER

When you give at the Performer’s level you become one of the Symphony’s valued leaders, shaping the future of the FSO. Performers donate from $2,000 - $4,999, and get these exclusive additional benefits:

• Upgraded halfpage color ad for your business in the season program (valued at $750)

• Name on select marketing emails to 2,000+ patrons

• For business owners: Logo on social media posts and flyers (local distribution including NAU) reaching 2,500+ patrons

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VIRTUOSO

Become a Virtuoso sponsor with a $5,000 - $9,999 donation and receive exclusive access and privileges as one of the Symphony’s leading supporters. Enjoy all previous benefits, plus:

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THE CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE, $10,000+

Join the Conductor’s Circle and receive exclusive access and privileges as one of the FSO’s leading supporters!

Contact Executive Director, Stephanie Stallings for more information. 928.774.5107

or over forty years, our Board Certified dermatologists have provided medical care to patients of all ages with disorders of the skin, including skin cancer. With our extensive medical and surgical training, experience, and passion, our physicians help keep your skin, hair, and nails healthy for life.

We treat the medical, surgical, and cosmetic skin needs of Northern Arizona residents, tourists passing through, and individuals from surrounding states at our three facilities: Flagstaff, Sedona, and Cottonwood.

Kelly Czarnecki Scott Dale Jordan Miller Brendan O’Neill Kristina Paley Sara Risner-Rumohr Elena Salpas Bradley Taylor PA-C M.D. M.D. M.D. M.D. M.D. PA-C M.D.

THE FLAGSTAFF SYMPHONY GUILD

THE FLAGSTAFF SYMPHONY GUILD is the dynamic and successful auxiliary of the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra. The Guild boasts more than 100 members who enjoy social functions and support the FSO through volunteer service and fundraising activities. The Guild presents the Flagstaff Home Tour of local residences each summer and other events in the course of each year.

These fundraising programs provide critical operating support to the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra and enable the Guild to sponsor the popular Lollipop Concert for children in the winter holiday season.

In support of the orchestra’s community and education programs, the Guild provides meals for FSO musicians during the long rehearsal and performance associated with the July 4th concert.

Guild members also enjoy gathering for monthly luncheons and bridge parties and at Flagstaff Symphony concerts throughout the year.

BECOME A GUILD MEMBER

Membership in the Flagstaff Symphony Guild is open to all and each individual member’s level of involvement is tailored to fit with their schedule and energy level.

For more information, please call Flagstaff Symphony Guild President Connie McDonald at 630.258.2999.

The Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra appreciates each and every Guild member for their volunteerism and fundraising support!

Pediatric Care at

The pediatric providers at North Country HealthCare & Flagstaff Pediatric Care provide the highest-quality, compassionate care for your child!

Both the Flagstaff Business News and Quad Cities Business News are are published monthly, with timely business news articles, pertinent profiles, and up-to-date topics, including Health & Wellness, that are read by area business leaders as well as the growing population in Northern Arizona!

Our print and digital papers are distributed via direct mail as well as in hundreds of distribution points throughout Northern Arizona.

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Piano soloist Thomas Pandolfi

Art by Susanne@susanneclark.com

Violin soloist Katie McLin

James D’León

Photo by Hank Gans

OCTOBER 28, 2022, 7:30 PM

Ardrey Memorial Auditorium Charles Latshaw, Conductor | Pre-concert talk with the conductor at 6:30pm

Arturo Rodríguez, Mosaico Mexicano

At a Glance

About this Piece

Length: 11 minutes Born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1976, Arturo Rodríguez is one of Composed: 1999 two living Mexican classical composers featured in tonight’s concert. He was a winner of Mexico’s Mozart Medal in 1996 and is a frequent guest conductor of orchestras in the U.S., Mexico, and South America. Mosaico Mexicano was his first symphonic work, an homage to the music of the great Mexican composers of the 1940s and 1950s, a period known as the golden age of Mexican cinema.

Full of sparkling brass and infectious dance rhythms, this piece invokes Mexico and its people with sections based on rousing mariachis, indigenous Indian music, and a serenata (a romantic ballad). “Mosaico Mexicano may be an over-romanticized account of the music of my country or the country itself,” says the composer, “but those are the sounds I hear in my head every time I hear the word México.”

Manuel M. Ponce, Poema Elegíaco

At a Glance

About this Piece

Length: 10 minutes Ponce was the first Mexican composer to introduce elements Composed: 1934 of folk and popular Mexican music to works for orchestra. He came of age at a time when Mexico was still in the grip of dictator Porfirio Díaz, who preferred popular culture imported from Europe—particularly Italian romanzas and opera arias.

Ponce began writing this piece in 1919 as the beginning of a grand symphony he never finished. He revised it and gave it this title in 1934, the same year he became director of Mexico’s National Conservatory of Music.

Arturo Márquez, Danzón No. 2

At a Glance

About this Piece

Length: 10 minutes Born in 1950, Márquez divided his early years between the Composed: 1994 U.S. and Mexico; his parents had moved there from Arizona. His adolescence was spent in Los Angeles, but he returned to Mexico at the age of 17 to study at the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City. He eventually returned to L.A. on a Fulbright scholarship, where he earned an MFA in composition from the California Institute of the Arts.

Márquez is best known for his five compositions based on the danzón, a style of dance that arrived from Cuba in the 19th century and is still popular in Mexico today. Number 2 is built on an elegant main theme (heard in the clarinet) that builds in intensity before erupting into passionate rhythms and a footstomping ending.

Juventino Rosas, Sobre las Olas

At a Glance

About this Piece

Length: 4 minutes This might be the most recognizable piece of music you’ve Composed: 1888 never heard the name of. Composed in 1888, this waltz soon made its way to the United States and beyond, reverberating in the great spaces of the circus, fairground, skating rink, dance hall, and park. Recycled in cartoons and films, in television, and in various other cover versions, Rosas’s waltz has become one of the most popular musical works ever to emerge from Mexico.

José Pablo Moncayo, Huapango

At a Glance

About this Piece

Length: 9 minutes José Moncayo was a Mexican percussionist who worked mainly Composed: 1941 as a conductor. In 1941 he was asked to write a piece based on the popular music of the state of Veracruz. Today it is widely considered a second national anthem of Mexico.

The word huapango comes from the Náhuatl term “cuahupanco,” which means “where the wood is placed” (that is, the dance floor). Moncayo’s piece simulates the traditional sounds of a huapango in the orchestra: the harp, guitar, violin, requinto, and jarana (both a type of smaller guitar), which are simulated with strummed violins. Listen for solos in the trombone and trumpet, which compete for the leading role inspired by the melodies and rhythms of three traditional huapangos: “Siqui-Siri,” “Balajú,” and “El Gavilán.”

Michael Giacchino, Suite from Coco

At a Glance

About this Piece

Length: 5 minutes Pixar’s Oscar-winning film Coco takes viewers on a grand Composed: 2017 adventure through the afterlife. A young boy wants to be a musician in a family that has banned music, and he somehow finds himself communing with talking skeletons in the land of the dead after passing through the tomb of his ancestors on the Mexican holiday Día de Muertos

COMMUNITY CONCERTS

Mark your calendars for the Max Jerrell Community Concerts, two free and open to the public chamber music concerts! Both concerts will be held at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in downtown Flagstaff. Parking is available in the lot across North Beaver St. for $1/hr.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15TH

AT 7PM

Join us for a night of Cozy Classical music performed by Branan Harrison (violin), Emma Riebe (cello), and Austin Gentry (piano). This program will warm your insides during chilly November and feature Beethoven’s “Archduke” Piano Trio in B flat major, Op. 97.

COMMUNITY CONCERTS

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH

AT 3PM

The FSO flute section, Jeannette Hirasawa Moore, Andrea Graves, and Rebecca Romo with FSO keyboardist, Rita Borden, performing a program of solo and chamber music inspired by valentines.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

The Nutcracker, op. 71

ACT I

1. Overture

2. March

3. Galop

4. Arrival of Drosselmeyer

5. Drosselmeyer’s dance

6. Departure of the guests

7. Battle of the Nutcracker and the Mouse Queen

8. The Forest of the Snow Queen

9. Waltz of the Snowflakes

ACT II

10. The Kingdom of the Sweets

11. Arrival of Clara and the Nutcracker

12. Spanish Chocolate

13. Arabian Coffee

14. Chinese Tea

15. The Marzipan Shepherdess and her Sheep

16. Mother Ginger and her Children

17. Russian Trepak

18. Waltz of the Flowers

19. Pas de Deux of the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier

20. Variation of the Cavalier

21. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

22. Coda

23. Waltz Finale and Apotheosis

Struggling with the Story

The Nutcracker is based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s 1816 fairy tale Nussknacker und Mausekönig (Nutcracker and Mouse King) via a French retelling by Alexandre Dumas. The original story is a rich and subtly humorous story for children while offering irony and literary allusions that only adults would understand. Ahead of its time in having no moral or didactic agenda, it blurs fantasy and reality as strange nocturnal events take place in the same world that the children inhabit.

In its translation to dance the story lost its darkly mysterious qualities, not to mention crucial backstory. (Have you ever wondered why the Nutcracker is attacked by the Mouse King?) The ballet scenario is a lopsided affair: the first act carries all the action of the Christmas Eve party and the battle with the Mouse King, while the second act is pure confection with no real dramatic significance. Tchaikovsky was deeply unhappy with the limitations it presented. Act I, for example, is entirely mimed action with a few character dances and offers no opportunity for a grand pas de deux. The inevitable result was procrastination, and at one point he asked to be released from the commission. Tchaikovsky’s final ballet score very nearly wasn’t written.

Inspiration from Tragedy

Tchaikovsky wasn’t released—he was given an extension. Then a sad event seems to have given him the impetus to finish the score. Just as he was departing for concerts in America, he learned that his beloved sister, Sasha, had died. He spent the voyage reminiscing about their childhood and it’s possible, says scholar Roland Wiley, there emerged in his mind a parallel between Sasha and the Sugar-Plum Fairy. The Kingdom of Sweets—a children’s Utopia—then represents Sasha’s estate, where Tchaikovsky had spent many happy months.

The music is scattered with clues to this. The Intrada from the pas de deux in Act II, for instance, begins with the cellos playing a “tune” that is simply a descending major scale—a “non-tune” if you like. But the banality of the melody throws attention on its rhythm, and the rhythm is that of a phrase from the Russian Orthodox funeral rite: “And with the saints give rest.” This melody is repeated with prayer-like insistence and growing intensity as the Intrada unfolds. According to Wiley, the prosody of the funeral rite would have been in Tchaikovsky’s mind and it was inevitable it would permeate the music at a point where the choreographer was calling for a majestic and “colossal” effect.

There are other clues, too, such as the Arabian Dance, which isn’t an Arabian dance at all but a Georgian lullaby—a lullaby traditionally sung to sick children. And Tchaikovsky borrows from French nursery songs, with Mother Ginger and her polichinelles dancing to “Giroflé, Girofla” and “Cadet Rousselle.” Act II as a whole emerges as a kind of nostalgic meditation on childhood pleasures, Tchaikovsky adding a hidden layer of personal significance to an otherwise superficial drama.

Reality and Fantasy

There’s also significance in the music that frames Act II: it begins and ends with a lilting barcarole. Traditionally in 19th-century ballets, a barcarole would be used to underscore a transition between worlds: life and death, waking and dreams or, as in The Nutcracker, reality and fantasy. A famous instance can be found in La Bayadere: the entry, one by one, of the ghostly temple dancers is accompanied by a barcarole. Tchaikovsky himself had used the device for the Panorama in Sleeping Beauty, when the Lilac Fairy grants the Prince a vision of the sleeping Aurora. So it can be no accident that Tchaikovsky writes a barcarole to transport Clara to and from the fantastical world of the Kingdom of Sweets—a world she thinks she’s been dreaming.

Musical Magic

Without the distractions of dancing, and the sets and costumes that can give this ballet an air of sugary superficiality, this performance highlights the depth

of emotion in the music, as well as the ways in which Tchaikovsky revitalized 19th-century ballet music with techniques and strategies from symphonic music.

Central to the success of Nutcracker is the brilliance of Tchaikovsky’s orchestrations and his imaginative use of instrumental color, together with a powerful deployment of harmony for dramatic effect.

The ballet is built around two keys: B-flat major (the Overture) and E major (for the arrival in the Kingdom of Sweets). Musically, these are complete opposites—the equivalent of purple and yellow in a color wheel—allowing Tchaikovsky to play up the contrast between reality and fantasy. And it’s precisely at the moment of Drosselmeyer’s arrival at the party in Act I that Tchaikovsky shifts direction from B-flat to E, emphasizing the ambiguity and tension surrounding this character.

At the same time, Tchaikovsky uses instrumental color to establish Drosselmeyer’s identity. His entry, for instance, is accompanied by a weird but effective combination of tubas, trombones, and sinister muted horns and violas. We hear what the choreographer Marius Petipa had in mind: a character who is “serious, somewhat frightening, then comic.”

The orchestration of Nutcracker is never less than magical—not just magical in effect but magical in dramatic significance. Every time the scenario touches on the supernatural or the extraordinary, Tchaikovsky does something special in the orchestra. The Magic Castle at the beginning of Act II charms with flourishing flutes and rippling passages from the harp and celesta. For the following number where Petipa describes a rose-water fountain, Tchaikovsky creates a sweetly cascading sound in the flutes using a technique, frulato, he’d learned from a flute-playing colleague in Kiev. It’s essentially flutter-tonguing, ahead of its time.

But the most magical of all is the bell-like celesta that is the signature sound of the SugarPlum Fairy, heard at the beginning of Act II and coming into its own for her solo variation in the pas de deux. While in Paris, Tchaikovsky had been seduced by the “glistering tones” of this marvelous new instrument: “something between a small piano and a Glockenspiel.” Wanting to surprise Russian audiences (and his composer colleagues!) he had one shipped secretly to Saint Petersburg, refusing at first to even make it available for practice, although he did specify that the musician had to be a very good pianist! The celesta works its enchantments in the Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy—a distillation of the delicate effects, exotic color, and lyricism that make Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker so irresistible.

Program Notes by Yvonne Frindle

Photo credit G’s Photos

JANUARY 20, 2023, 7:30 PM

Ardrey Memorial Auditorium

Charles Latshaw, Conductor | Pre-concert talk with the conductor at 6:30pm

Elmer Bernstein, The Magnificent Seven Symphonic Suite

At a Glance About this Piece

Length: 5 minutes Elmer Bernstein’s music for Magnificent Seven rang in a new Composed: 1960 era for the Western film. The vigorous main theme quickly outgrew its source material to become, via the Marlboro Man commercials, the most memorable advertising theme of all time. Bernstein (no connection to Leonard Bernstein) received an Academy Award nomination for the score, but didn’t win the Oscar - a trend that continued for him through 13 nominations until he won Best Music for Thoroughly Modern Millie in 1968. The music calls to mind images of a band of hired American gunslingers in the Wild West - including Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, and Yul Brynner - as they protect a Mexican border from bandits.

George S. Clinton, The Rose of Sonora

At a Glance About this Piece

Length: 27 minutes

1. Escape – The full moon has turned the Sonora desert an eerie Composed: 2019 blue. Rose rides quietly into town and makes her way to the jail house. She quickly subdues the guard and frees Jed from his cell. Together at last, they ride off into the night, the illgotten gold stashed in her saddle bags.

2. Love and Freedom – They make their way to their idyllic mountain hide-out where they share the love and freedom denied them for so long.

3. Ambush – The members of their old gang have tracked them down and sneak up on the cabin. Rose senses something is wrong, but before she can react, in a sudden flash of gunfire, they attack. Jed is fatally wounded and Rose is left for dead as the killers ride out into the night with the saddle bags of gold.

4. Death and Healing – The pain of her own wounds cannot compare to the paid of losing Jed. She holds his lifeless body in her arms, gently kisses him, and weeps.

5. Vengeance – Rose buries Jed beside the cabin. She places a single yellow rose on his grave, loads her guns, saddles her horse and sets out to find his killers. Showing no mercy, Rose hunts them down, out-riding and out-shooting them all. In a final act of vengeance, she shouts Jed’s name, grabs the saddle bags of gold, and triumphantly rides off into the red Sonora sunset.

After hearing Scheherazade at an early age, Holly Mulcahy fell in love with the violin and knew it would be her future. Since then, she has won multiple positions in symphonic orchestras across the country while maintaining a robust solo career and a small nonprofit organization.

Holly is currently serving as concertmaster of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and Chattanooga Symphony & Opera. In addition to those leadership roles, she also serves as Wichita Symphony’s Partner for Audience Engagement; a position dedicated to building meaningful relationships with audiences by breaking down stereotypical barriers.

Holly began developing her leadership skills at the renowned Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University with former Baltimore Symphony concertmaster Herbert Greenberg. In recent seasons she has enjoyed serving as traveling concertmaster for Emmy Award winner George Daugherty’s Bugs Bunny at the Symphony, and as guest concertmaster for

BELIEVING IN MUSIC AS A HEALING AND COPING SOURCE, HOLLY FOUNDED ARTS CAPACITY, A CHARITABLE 501(C)3 WHICH FOCUSES ON BRINGING LIVE CHAMBER MUSIC, ART, ARTISTS, AND COMPOSERS TO PRISONS.

ARTS CAPACITY ADDRESSES MANY EMOTIONAL AND CHARACTER-BUILD ING ISSUES PEOPLE FACE AS THEY PREPARE FOR RELEASE INTO SOCIETY.

the Columbus Symphony, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, and a one-year appointment as interim concertmaster for Orchestra Iowa.

As an in-demand performer, Holly balances her orchestral duties with numerous concerto performances across the country. Passionate about performing living American composers’ works, Holly has been featured as soloist for concertos by Jennifer Higdon, Jim Stephenson, Philip Glass, and now a concerto by Hollywood film composer, George S. Clinton.

This new concerto by George S. Clinton, The Rose of Sonora: a violin concerto in five scenes, is inspired by true stories about the lives of legendary women in the Old West and takes the listener on an epic western adventure of love, loss, and revenge. Booked coast to coast, immediately after the world premiere, Mulcahy and Clinton have received rave reviews and a solid fan following who travel to each performance. Believing in music as a healing and coping source, Holly founded Arts Capacity, a charitable 501(c)3 which focuses on bringing live chamber music, art, artists, and composers to prisons. Arts Capacity addresses many emotional and character-building issues people face as they prepare for release into society.

In addition to an active performing career, Holly is the author of Neo Classical, a monthly column on the future of classical music. On days off, Holly maintains a reputation for planning and hosting exquisite gourmet parties in her Chicago home. Holly performs on a 1917 Giovanni Cavani violin, previously owned by the late renowned soloist Eugene Fodor, and a bespoke bow made by award-winning master bow maker, Douglas Raguse.

Visit HollyMulcahy.com for more information.

Giacomo Puccini, arr. Latshaw, Melodies from La Fanciulla del West

At a Glance

About this Piece

Length: 5 minutes Puccini took about 40 years to write 12 operas. His letters Composed: 1910 reveal an ongoing struggle to find stimulating ideas that evoked, as he once said to a friend, “the spirit behind the words.” In 1907, what Puccini himself called the “California disease” took hold after he discovered David Belasco’s play The Girl of the Golden West. The combination of the (to him) exotic location and a heroine whom he found both “naïve and refreshing” was exactly the inspiration he needed. This arrangement by Maestro Latshaw of melodies from the resulting opera captures Puccini’s panorama of the high Sierras and the warmth and sheltering intimacy of the Polka.

Aaron Copland, Billy the Kid Suite

At a Glance

About this Piece

1. The Open Prairie Composed: 1938-9

Length: 22 minutes

2. Street in a Frontier Town

3. Card Game at Night

4. Gun Battle

5. Celebration After Billy’s Capture

6. Billy’s Demise

7. The Open Prairie (epilogue)

Originally designed as a one-act ballet, Copland’s Billy the Kid was drawn from a fictional treatment of the notorious outlaw William H. Bonney. “Street in a Frontier Town” is where we first encounter Billy as a boy of twelve. During a drunken brawl, Billy witnesses his mother accidentally being shot in the crowd and instantly stabs those responsible. This sets the pattern for Billy’s criminal career as an adult. “Card Game at Night” establishes a lonely, reflective mood under the stars. Violence erupts once more in the percussion-heavy “Gun Battle” as Billy is ambushed by his former friend, Sheriff Pat Garrett. The Suite omits the ballet’s episode of Billy escaping from jail into the desert but cuts to the scene of Billy’s death after he has been caught for the last time.

FEBRUARY 18, 2023, 7:30 PM

Ardrey Memorial Auditorium Charles Latshaw, Conductor | Pre-concert talk with the conductor at 6:30pm

Star Spangled Banner (arr. John Williams) Hooray for Hollywood (arr. John Williams)

Hook: Flight to Neverland “Escapades” from Catch Me If You Can Love Theme from Superman: “Can You Read My Mind?” Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

III. Nimbus 2000

IV. Harry’s Wondrous World

E.T. – Adventures on Earth

Star Wars Suite

II. Yoda’s Theme

Theme from Jurassic Park

Raiders March Star Wars Suite

III. Imperial March

I. Main Title

APRIL 14, 2023, 7:30 PM

Ardrey Memorial Auditorium Charles Latshaw, Conductor Pre-concert talk with the conductor at 6:30pm

Franz Joseph Haydn, Missa in Angustiis (Lord Nelson Mass), for four soloists, chorus and orchestra in D minor

With NAU Shrine of the Ages, Timothy Westerhaus, conductor

At a Glance

About this Piece

Length: 40 minutes Haydn witnessed many radical changes during his life. He Composed: 1798 was eighteen when Bach died in 1750 and seventy-two when Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony was first performed in 1804. He was hailed as a genius throughout Europe, admired and revered by the public and by his peers. Mozart said, “Haydn alone has the secret both of making me smile and of touching my innermost soul.” Even Napoleon, on capturing Vienna, immediately ordered a guard of honor to be placed around Haydn’s house.

In 1795, Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy, Haydn’s employer, commissioned him to compose a new setting of the mass each year to mark the name-day of his wife, Princess Maria. The superb Missa in Angustiis of 1798, the third and most

celebrated of these masses, was described by the composer’s chief biographer as “arguably Haydn’s greatest single composition.”

In 1800, Nelson, heralded as the savior of Europe since his recent crushing victory over Napoleon’s fleet, visited Prince Nikolaus at Eisenstadt, where he met Haydn. While there, this piece was performed in his honor. It used to be assumed that the mass had been inspired by Nelson’s victory, but we now know that news of the battle did not reach Eisenstadt until two weeks after the work was completed.

For economic reasons Prince Nikolaus had dismissed nearly all the wind players from his court orchestra, leaving Haydn with only trumpets, timpani, organ and strings. With typical resourcefulness he turned this into an opportunity, creating a distinctive sound with writing for trumpets that is particularly imaginative.

Despite the foreboding of the Kyrie and Benedictus, the prevailing mood of the Missa in Angustiis is one of jubilation.

NAU SHRINE OF THE AGES, TIMOTHY WESTERHAUS, CONDUCTOR

Haydn once observed, “At the thought of God my heart leaps for joy, and I cannot help my music doing the same.”

-Notes by John Bawden

Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 in Eb major (“Eroica”)

At a Glance

Length: 47 minutes

Composed: 1802-4

About this Piece

I. Allegro con brio (15 minutes)

II. Marcia funebre. Adagio assai (16 minutes)

III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio (6 minutes)

IV. Finale. Allegro molto – Poco andante – Presto (10 minutes)

Haydn wrote 104 symphonies. Mozart, who died when he was only 35, wrote 41. Yet Beethoven only wrote 9. Other composers were beginning to find ways of incorporating ideas and current events in their music, but the unprecedented scale and intensity of Beethoven’s Eroica (Heroic) Symphony formed something entirely new. This piece elevated symphonies to the primary medium for composers’ most important ideas. It left early audiences aghast at its sheer length; the first movement alone is longer than many of the symphonies that came before it.

The Eroica is famous not only for its music but for its intended dedication to Napoleon Bonaparte. When he heard that the Frenchman had declared himself emperor, Beethoven scratched out the dedication on the title page of his newly completed symphony so violently it left a hole in the paper.

Or perhaps the hero was Beethoven himself? He composed the Eroica after the greatest personal and spiritual crisis of his life. In October 1802 he finally came to terms with losing his hearing, drafting an anguished letter combining elements of suicide note, last will, and artistic manifesto. In it he grappled with ending his life but vowed to carry on only in order to continue his work. Composed the following spring, the Eroica may represent his own personal triumph over unimaginable adversity.

Our talented musicians are the lifeblood of the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra. Each one is a passionate artist who is dedicated to making the most inspiring and moving music for you.

Participating in the FSO Sponsor a Chair Program personalizes your orchestra experience and brings a new perspective to the music you love. Whether you have an affinity for a particular instrument or player, you will enjoy a sense of inclusion as you watch and listen to the FSO and your sponsored musician.

As a Chair Sponsor you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you are playing a major role in continuing the FSO’s legacy of musical excellence.

Chair Sponsor Benefits:

• If you sponsored a chair last year, you have first rights to renew sponsorship of your chair

• Your name will appear next to the name of the musician every concert of the season and on the website

• You will receive a certificate for sponsoring a musician during the 2022-23 Season

• You will have an opportunity to meet your musician backstage and take a photo as a memento

• Chair Sponsors will receive invitations to informal events and select rehearsals throughout the year, providing opportunities for sponsors and musicians to get to know each other.

You can pay all at once for the sponsorship or in monthly installments throughout the season.

SIGN UP TODAY!

CALL THE FSO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STEPHANIE STALLINGS 774-5107 EXT. 104

73 YEARS OF MUSICAL EXCELLENCE. YOU CAN ENSURE THAT TRADITION CONTINUES!

Photo credit

Photos

The orchestra warms up; excited voices fill a concert hall. An orchestra melody floats, young voices and recorders join, expressing the theme of Link Up: Come to Play – let’s make music together!

“The Carnegie Link Up program is, I think, the most important thing we do all year. It is a program that combines the schools and the orchestra so that the kids come to a concert and they perform with us. It is such a thrilling thing to be a part of.” FSO Music Director Charles Latshaw’s words capture the impact of the Link Up program.

Music teachers echo, “Our students have been learning this music in the classroom, and now, after the concert, they come away with a sense of awe at the grandiose sound and epic experience of singing and playing with a symphony orchestra.”

Studies have long shown that music improves cognitive skills, spatial intelligence, and creativity. Studies also reveal that music students perform better in school. Prior to the FSO’s Link Up program beginning in 2013, only 10% of local students had heard a live orchestra performance. Through the success of the Link Up program these past seven years, that percentage is now over 95%. Link Up immerses students in the experience of

A POWERFUL ORCHESTRAL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM

Photo credit G’s Photos

THANK YOU LINK UP CONTRIBUTORS!

Arizona Community Foundation Arizona Public Service

musical learning and creation, beginning in the classroom and culminating at the Link Up concert, where students sing, play, and move with the FSO.

Link Up is a collaboration between the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, the Carnegie Hall Weill Music Institute, and 22 regional elementary schools. The FSO provides musical leadership, administrative services, teacher training, and site support for the year-long program, culminating in interactive, full-orchestra concerts for more than 3700 3rd through 5th-grade students throughout the region, who will perform with the Symphony on February 28, 2023.

The FSO joins over 300 orchestras worldwide in Link Up, illustrating the program’s ability to connect orchestras and their communities. The program exemplifies

the principles that the League of American Orchestras promotes as a best practice in school-based educational programs. Link Up provides training and individual classroom materials that guide teachers and students in exploring music through a composer’s lens. Students participate in active music-making in the classroom, performing repertoire on the recorder, violin, voice, or body percussion. In these ways, Link Up promotes the industry and educational standards of contextual musical learning, creative expression, and interactive concert attendance.

This year’s program, The Orchestra Rocks, explores how musical melody, rhythm, and harmony create movement and features orchestral favorites by Verdi, Vivaldi, and Stravinsky.

Photo credit G’s Photos

Coconino County Superintendent of Schools

GeoFund Marjorie and Sam McClanahan

The Molly & Joseph Herman Foundation

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Being part of the community means caring THE FLAGSTAFF SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

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Flagstaff

Ben T Brewster

319 S Regent St Suite 213 928-526-0064

Flagstaff

Eric Fernandez

2405 N Rose St 928-522-6166

Flagstaff

Samuel Proctor

1016 West University Avenue Suite 106 928-774-4766

Edward D. Jones & CO., L.P. All rights reserved.

Flagstaff

Jayne E Powell, AAMS™

9 N Elden St Ste 103 928-556-8655

Flagstaff

Sabrina Carlson

9 N Elden St Ste 103 928-556-8655

ADVERTISER DIRECTORY

Alliance Bank of Arizona 9

Arizona Hometown Radio Group ........ 73

Arizona Music Pro ............................... 14

Arizona Philharmonic .......................... 43

Aspey, Watkins and Diesel ... Back Cover

Budget Rental Car ............................... 21

Canyon Pet ................. Inside Back Cover

Coconino Community College ............ 14

Creative Flagstaff ....................................

Dickman and Co. CPAs ....................... 20

Discover Flagstaff ...... Inside Front Cover

Edward Jones ...................................... 72

Findlay Toyota ..................................... 30

Flag Shakes ......................................... 40

Flagstaff Business News 41

Flagstaff Symphony Guild ................... 38

Gold Wolff Jewelers ............................ 69

Great Circle Media 33

Hufford, Horstman, Mongini, Parnell & Tucker, P.C.

....................................... 50

International Minute Press .................. 23

Jeff Karl Jewelers

................................ 36

KNAU .................................................. 32

Little America 44

Lowell Observatory ............................. 24

Master Chorale .................................... 31

Meteor Crater ..................................... 37

Museum of Northern Arizona 18

North Country Healthcare ................... 42

Northern Arizona Dermatology .......... 36

Northern Arizona Healthcare .............. 39

Orchestra Northern Arizona 19

Realty Executives 55

The Artists’ Gallery

Theatrikos

Verde Valley Sinfonietta

21

56

62

Wyndham Flagstaff Resort 64