2024-2025 SEASON
2024 | 2025 NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Welcome to the Macomb Symphony Orchestra’s 50th Anniversary season. We began as a small chamber ensemble and have grown into a full symphony orchestra, we are thrilled to celebrate our musical legacy. This season includes six concerts, held on Sundays at 3pm, in addition to our annual Youth Engagement concert for school age students.
We continue to offer our special solo and small ensemble performances for our community. If you are interested in hosting one of these performances at your venue, please contact us via our website.
The fabulous, dedicated musicians led by our esteemed, impassioned Music Director, Andrew Neer, aspire to provide you exceptional performances.
As the curtain rises on our 50th season your contributions are vital to our continued success. The future of your Macomb Symphony Orchestra depends greatly on your generosity. Please consider giving a financial gift to the orchestra, donations can be made by visiting our website. All financial gifts are tax-deductible.
On behalf of the Macomb Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors, thank you for celebrating this milestone with us. We appreciate your continued support. May the music live on for many years to come and enjoy the season!
Kathleen Bard | President of the Board
MUSIC DIRECTOR
American conductor, Andrew Neer, is known for his dynamic and expressive conducting style. Now in his third season with the MSO, coming off the heels of a fabulous 2023-24 season. He is excited for the growing performance schedule this season. This effort is ongoing, but thus far, we are expanding the ‘24-25 (our 50th Anniversary) season by two performances. He believes that at the heart of everything, music is the soul of America and provides transformational experiences for those performing and participating in the audience.
Andrew has lived in Michigan (Macomb County) since 1991, he is honored to be part of the Macomb Symphony Orchestra family. He has been honored to lead choruses and conduct operas in and around Metropolitan Detroit. In 2017, he embarked on an international conducting career appearing as a guest conductor with orchestras in Romania and Bulgaria. Andrew is excited to welcome Amanda Blaikie (Flutist) and Brianna Robinson (Soprano)!
Andrew holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from the world-renowned University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. He is honored to have studied with mentor Kenneth Kiesler, and all the marvelous faculty at UofM. He attended Central Michigan University (CMU) studying Composition, Trumpet and Music Theatre Performance. He earned two Master of Music degrees in Composition and Conducting, respectively, from Wayne State University.
In addition to the Macomb Symphony Orchestra, Andrew is honored to serve as Music Director/ Conductor of Warren Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Sono, and as Artistic Director/ Conductor of Oakland Choral Society. In his time away from the orchestras, he makes the most of spending time with his wife, Mary Lynn, and son Eli. He is forever thankful for the enduring support from his family!
JUDITH TEASDLE
Violinist Judith Teasdle is a native of Pontiac, Michigan and a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy. She received a Bachelor’s in Music from Oakland University, where she studied with Lafayette String Quartet members Ann Elliott-Goldschmid and Joanna Hood. She went on to graduate studies with Dr. Walter Verdehr at Michigan State University, earning a Master’s in Violin Performance. She is the Principal 2nd Violin of the Saginaw Bay Orchestra, Oakland Symphony Orchestra and the Warren Symphony. She also performs regularly with the Detroit Opera, Ann Arbor Symphony, Flint Symphony and Lansing Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Detroit Jazz Festival Orchestra.
Her recording credits include Aretha Franklin, De La Soul, Kem, American Idol finalist Jena Irene, Shaun Martin and avant-garde rock group The Sursiks. Judith has also shared the stage with a wide variety of artists, including The Who, Glen Campbell, The Moody Blues, Robert Goulet, Dave Brubeck, Victor Borge, Sarah Brightman, Richard Marx and Disturbed. A resident of Detroit, Michigan, Judith has been a founding member of several string quartets and maintains an active teaching studio.
MEET THE ORCHESTRA
Conductor | Andrew Neer
Listed in alphabetical order
* Denotes Principal ( + Acting Principal) ** Assistant Principal
First Violin
Judith Teasdle (concertmaster)
Bethany Backos
Clarke Bonten
Catherine DeLuca
Sherri Marttila
Anna Redding
Reuben Seward
Yelena Yendovytska
Second Violin
Kimberly Becker *
Rachel Baker
Jennifer Boutin
James Kujawski
Michael McGillivray
David Nagorsen
Thomas Family Chair
Bruce Rutter **
Viola
Jessica Zelinski *
Kathy Blanchard
Mircea Cure **
Fawzi Jeroudi
Cello
Gregory Stawick *
Kathleen Bard Chair
Pat Birch
Jason Charboneau
Rebecca Hoerner
Pat Lewandowski
Boryana Tamasini-Scheer **
Todd Schmitz
Double Bass
Don Lewandowski *
Nancy Wigginton Chair
Richard Wiggington
Tom Yates
Flute
Rachel Lucas *
Terry Modawell
Lisa Taormina
Oboe
Amy Kesler *
Rachel Krueger
Clarinet
Wendy Webster-Fischer *
Casandra O’Brien
Bassoon
Frederick Hoops *
Mark Berger
Horn
Gregory Holt *
Phillip Mallender
Justin Zak
Brian Nutting
Trumpet
Paul Roache *
Rory Powell
Chris Napier
Trombone
Larry Huntington *
Martha Farmer
Jason Cash (Bass Trombone)
Tuba
Jeffrey Rideout
Timpani
Nicholas Backos *
Percussion
Stephen Badalament *
Ron Strnad
Thomas Wharton
Harp
Katherine Oppermann *
Piano
Marina Stojanovska *
Orchestra Personnel Manager
Sherri Marttila
Assistant Conductors
Madeleine Krick
Joshua Tobias
Music Librarian
Nicole Tremonti
Assistant Music Librarians
Pat Birch
Joshua Tobias
50 TH SEASON SOLOISTS
FLUTE
AMANDA BLAIKIE
Amanda Blaikie was appointed 2nd Flute of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra by Leonard Slatkin in 2016, and was recently Acting Assistant Principal Flute under Jader Bignamini for a large portion of the 2023-2024 season. Previously, Amanda held the position of Principal Flute with the Detroit Opera, Sarasota Opera, Miami City Ballet, and the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra. Amanda is a core musician with Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings, and also performs with ensembles including New Music Detroit, Detroit Chamber Players, and the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival.
Performance highlights include her solo debut at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in 2010, and performances at the 2017 and 2018 National Flute Association Conventions. As a concerto soloist, Amanda has performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Symphony Orchestra, Allegro Chamber
Orchestra, and the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra.
Amanda has also performed extensively as a substitute with the New York Philharmonic, including a Live from Lincoln Center television broadcast, Carnegie Hall performance, and the 2010 European Tour. Amanda has performed with other orchestras including the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Ann Arbor Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, and Opera Tampa, among others.
Passionate about teaching and educating, Amanda has presented masterclasses at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Eastern Michigan University, the University of Akron, and Purdue University Fort Wayne. Amanda was previously a Flute Instructor at Oakland University (MI) for eight years, as well as the University of Miami (FL) for two years. She also taught as a Flute Faculty member at the Pacific Music Institute in Hawaii (2019) and the National Orchestral Institute (2023). Currently, Amanda maintains a private flute studio and is active with the DSO’s Community and Educational Outreach Programs.
Amanda earned a Professional Studies Degree at the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Robert Langevin. She also received a MM in Flute Performance from the University of Miami where she studied with Christine Nield-Capote and Jenny Robinson, and a BA in Music from Principia College where she studied with flutist and pianist Dr. Marie Jureit-Beamish.
Dr. Mark & Linda Stout
Congratulations to the Macomb Symphony Orchestra on 50 years of fantastic music and cultural contributions to our community!
SHERRI MARTTILA
Personnel Manager
Sherri Marttila has been an avid violinist since the age of nine. She has completed educational rigors at Interlochen Arts Academy, the Congress of Strings (New York), and the University of Michigan. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from the University of Michigan.
Sherri is the Personnel Manger and Concertmaster for several orchestras spanning from Metropolitan Detroit to Traverse City. Additionally, she performs with the Detroit Opera Theater, Flint Symphony, Saginaw Bay Symphony, Midland Symphony, Traverse Symphony, and Lansing Symphony.
Sherri has worked with incredible artists including Andrea Bocelli, Aretha Franklin, John Tesh, Sandi Patty, Michael W. Smith, Johnny Mathis, Anne Murray, Alexander Zonjic, Regis Philbin, Harry Connick Jr., Josh Groban, Sarah McLachlan, Amy Grant, Sarah Brightman and wonderful musical groups like The Who, The Eagles, The Temptations, The Ten Tenors, Il Divo, Il Volo, Mannheim Steamroller, Citizen Zero, Warner Brother Symphony, Wimborne Symphony, The Tea Party, and the Celtic Women. She also performed with the Game of Thrones concert series with the Composer and Director, Ramin Djawdi.
Aside from her active performance schedule, Sherri also has been teaching and coaching in the Flint, Detroit, and Petoskey areas since 1990, and she is the current University of Michigan – Flint instructor of violin, viola, and string chamber music.
NICOLE TREMONTI
Music Librarian
Nicole Tremonti joined the Macomb Symphony Orchestra as Music Librarian in September 2022. She was introduced to the music library world in August 2021, when she started as a sales representative at Luck’s Music Library. During her employment, she gained experience as Interim Rental Librarian, as well as the perspective of the publisher on music librarianship. Nicole is grateful for the fond memories and meaningful relationships made at Luck’s. In May 2023, she attended Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, as the Music Library Apprentice. The following month, Nicole started as Orchestra Librarian Assistant at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
As a musician, Nicole is an active brass player and enjoys freelancing with orchestras and churches in Metro Detroit. Playing trumpet since the age of nine, she studied Trumpet Performance at Oakland University under Dr. Jen Oliverio, Dr. Kenneth Kroesche, Gordon Simmons, and Chris Napier. She has extensive British Brass Band experience from playing cornet, tenor horn, and flugelhorn with the Oakland University Brass Band. Nicole won a caption award for Best Solo Tenor Horn at the 2018 Dublin Festival of Brass. Currently, she plays First Horn with the Five Lakes Silver Band under the direction of Christopher Ward.
Other human things Nicole enjoys are rock climbing, tennis, reading, cooking, embroidering, knitting, and chess. She loves her two cats, Sokka and KC (Kitty Cat).
Finlandia (10’)
PICTURES OF FOLKLORE
Sunday, October 6, 2024 @ 3 PM
Conductor | Andrew Neer
PROGRAM
Jean Sibelius (1895-1982)
Tales: A Folklore Symphony (25’)
I. Motherboxx Connection
II. Flying Africans
III. Go Down Moses (Let my People Go)
IV. John Henry
Intermission (15 minutes)
Pictures at an Exhibition (35’) Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
Promenade
1. The Gnome (Gnomus) Promenade
2. The Old Castle (Il vecchio castello) Promenade
3. Tuileries (Children’s Quarrel after Games)
4. Cattle Promenade
5. Ballet of Unhatched Chicks
6. “Samuel” Goldenberg and “Schmuyle” Promenade
7. The Market
8. Catacombs (Roman Tomb)
9. The Hut on Hen’s Legs (Baba Yaga)
10. The Great Gate of Kiev
MORE INFO & PROGRAM NOTES
by: Eldonna L. May, Ph.D
Carlos Simon (b. 1982)
BARBER & BRAHMS
Sunday, November 17, 2024 @ 3 PM
Conductor | Andrew Neer
“Triumphal March” from Aida (5’)
PROGRAM
Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (20’)
Brianna Richards, soprano
Intermission (15 minutes)
Symphony No. 1, Op. 68 (45’)
I. Un poco sostenuto - Allegro - Meno allegro
II. Andante sostenuto
III. Un poco allegretto e grazioso
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Samuel Barber (b. 1982)
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
IV. Adagio — Più andante — Allegro non troppo, ma con brio – Più allegro
by: Eldonna L. May, Ph.D
BACH TO THE HOLIDAYS
Sunday, December 15, 2024 @ 3 PM
Conductor | Andrew Neer
Magnificat, in D major (30’)
1. Magnificat
2. Et exultavit
3. Quia respexit
* Vom Himmel hoch
4. Omnes generationes
5. Quia fecit
* Freut euch und jubiliert
6. Et misericordia
PROGRAM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
7. Fecit potentiam
* Gloria in excelsis
8. Deposuit potentes
9. Esurientes
* Virga Jesse floruit
10. Suscepit Israel
11. Sicut locutus est
12. Gloria Patri
Intermission (15 minutes)
Sleigh Ride Leroy Anderson
Cornucopia of Carols Arr. Hardin
Let the Bright Seraphim Handel
Bugler’s Holiday Leroy Anderson
White Christmas Irving Berlin
There’s No Place like Home for the Holidays Arr. Hayes
“Somewhere in my Memory” from Home Alone Leroy Anderson
by: Eldonna L. May, Ph.D
MY SUPERHERO ROMANCE
Sunday, February 2, 2025 @ 3 PM
Conductor | Andrew Neer
PROGRAM (subject to change)
Batman: The Dark Knight
Spiderman
Hook: Flight to Neverland
Titanic
Superman
Schindler’s List
Intermission (15 minutes)
Hans Zimmer
Danny Elfman
John Williams
James Horner
John Williams
John Williams
MORE INFO & PROGRAM NOTES
by: Eldonna L. May, Ph.D
FRIENDS OF THE MSO
CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP
1st Chiropractic
19 Mile Senior Housing, LLC
Achatz Handmade Pie Co. LLC
Allen Family Foundation
Aline Underhill Orten Foundation
Bank of America Investments
Butzel Long Charitable Trust
Charter Township of Clinton
Creative Asset Solutions LLC
DTE Foundation
Ernie’s The Grill
Flute Specialists Inc.
Four County Community Foundation
Friends of Polish Art
Gingrich Agency
Huber-Breese Music, Inc.
Huron-Clinton Metroparks
Jacqueline and Joseph Lovejoy
Kiwanis Club of Clinton Township
Laura’s Fashion Boutique
Peter Lucido
Piano Place Michigan LLC
Pranzo Bags
Printing By Johnson
Psarianos Violins Ltd
PT in the D
Shar Music
Steinhoff Piano Service
Dr. Mark and Linda Stout
Suzanne Romadan, MD PC
Hon. Joseph Toia
Total Health Systems
Video Library / Mrs. William Carley
Viviano Flower Shop, Inc.
Wilson Fine Violins
PRINCIPAL CHAIR SPONSOR CIRCLE ($2500+)
Kathleen Bard
Thomas Cook
Kirsten and Stephen Redding
Richard Wigginton In memory of Nancy Wigginton
CHAIR SPONSOR CIRCLE ($1500+)
Douglas & Michelle Thomas
CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE ($500+)
Kiwanis Club of Clinton Township
Dr. Gary Flemming
Miriam and Muriel Lenz
Dr. Robert Mobley
Maria and Richard Schneider
Kingsley Sears
John & Denise Weisgerber
Scott Williams
ORCHESTRA CIRCLE($250+)
John Corrado
Kristine and James Guillen
Johann and Blondine Klimbach
Donald and Patricia Lewandowski
John Weisberger
COMPOSER’S CIRCLE ($100+)
Daniel Coakley
Marilyn Creelman
Thomas Dixon
Rachael Torres Harla
Rebecca & David Hoerner
John & Lynn Kinch
John Meldrum
Thomas and Marie Miller
Joyce Minch
Joyce Nieman
Raymond and Melanie Palmatier
John & Tonia Reinhard
Donald Ritzenhein and Katherine Grenda
Dr. Gary Scavnicky
Todd Schmitz
Eric Shea
John and Ellen Smith
Dr. Marianne Stefan
David Stewart
Anita Suarez & Paul Champion
Marguerite Tiemann
Dr. James Varty
Dr. W. Kent & Terrie Voigt
Janet Weber in memory of William Rutledge
Carole and Richard Wiseman
FRIENDS OF THE MSO ($50-$99)
Karen Childs
Arthur Dries
Pamela and Larry Horvath
Lurlie Hourle
Dr. James Jacobs
Richard Kowalewski
Genevieve Lenda
Shelly Rouse-Freitag
Margaret Schutter
Nicole Tremonti
Contribute to the MSO
The Macomb Symphony is committed to bringing the arts to the Macomb community. Please consider making a contribution to make a lasting impact on our community, and arts and culture.
We invite you to join the roster of supporters who share in this mission.
To contribute visit: macombsymphony.org Or scan the QR code below
The Macomb Symphony Orchestra is a 501c-3 non-profit organization.
NIELSEN FLUTE CONCERTO
Sunday, March 2, 2025 @ 3 PM
Conductor | Andrew Neer
Flutist | Amanda Blaikie
PROGRAM
Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (23’)
I. Allegro moderato
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
II. Allegretto un poco – Adagio ma non troppo – Allegretto – Poco adagio –Tempo di marcia
Amanda Blaikie, flute
Intermission (15 minutes)
A German Requiem (45’)
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
by: Eldonna L. May, Ph.D
4 | 2025
MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU...
Sunday, May 4, 2025 @ 3 PM
Conductor | Andrew Neer
Join your Macomb Symphony in a celebration of Star Wars and American film music legend John Williams
Star Wars, a journey through the decades
John Williams
Full program to be announced later in the season but will traverse the entire Star Wars universe from Episodes 1-9 and a few extras from the recent streaming shows.
PROGRAM NOTES
by: Eldonna L. May, Ph.D
by: Eldonna L. May, Ph.D
MSO Board of Trustees
The Macomb Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors extends their appreciation to all the musicians, past and present, who have dedicated their lives to the arts in this community. It is the passion of each artist that brings their collective talents together in creating so many fine performances.
CHAIR/PRESIDENT
Kathleen Bard
VICE PRESIDENT
Frederick Hoops
TREASURER
David Nagorsen
MEMBERS
Thomas Cook
Gary Flemming, PhD
Todd Schmitz
The Kiwanis Club of Clinton Township congratulates the Macomb Symphony Orchestra for 50 years of great music and service to the community.
