Madison Symphony Orchestra, Inc. Heather Rose, Editor Email: hrose@madisonsymphony.org
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Thank You to our Season Partners
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
As we gather in this space for these concerts, the Madison Symphony Orchestra acknowledges the Ho-Chunk Nation’s ancestral lands and celebrates the rich traditions, heritage, and culture that thrived long before our arrival. We respectfully recognize this Ho-Chunk land and affirm that we are better when we stand together.
John DeMain music director
In his 31st season as music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO), Grammy and Tony Award-winning conductor John DeMain is noted for his dynamic performances on concert and opera stages throughout the world.
American composer Jake Heggie assessed the conductor’s broad appeal, saying,
“There’s no one like John DeMain. In my opinion, he’s one of the top conductors in the world.”
In January 2023 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Opera Association, the NOA’s highest award.
During more than three decades in Madison as the MSO music director, DeMain has consistently raised the quality of the orchestra by introducing blind auditions and continuously expanding the repertoire to encompass ever more challenging and virtuosic works, including the highlyacclaimed performances of the complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler. DeMain also oversaw the move into the world-class Overture Hall and expanded the subscription season to triple performances.
His active conducting schedule has taken him to the stages of the National Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the symphonies of Seattle, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Columbus, Houston, San Antonio, Long Beach, and Jacksonville, along with the Pacific Symphony, Boston Pops, Aspen Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Orchestra of Seville, the Leipzig MDR Sinfonieorchester, and Mexico’s Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional.
Prior engagements include visiting San Francisco Opera as guest conductor for General Director David Gockley’s farewell gala, Northwestern University to conduct Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, and the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center in D.C. to conduct Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars In 2019, he conducted the world premiere of Tazewell Thompson’s Blue at the Glimmerglass Festival to critical acclaim — he “drew a vibrant performance from an orchestra of nearly 50 players; the cast was superb.” (The New York Times) He was also planning to conduct the premiere of Blue at the Washington National Opera in March 2020.
DeMain also serves as artistic director for Madison Opera and in their 2024-2025 season conducts The Barber of Seville, Maria de Buenos Aires, and Don Giovanni. He has been a regular guest conductor with Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center and has made appearances at the Teatre Liceu in Barcelona, New York City Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera, Virginia Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Aspen Music Festival, Portland Opera, and Mexico’s National Opera.
During his distinguished 17-year tenure with Houston Grand Opera, DeMain led a history-making production of Porgy and Bess, winning a Grammy Award, Tony Award, and France’s Grand Prix du Disque for the RCA recording. In spring 2014, the San Francisco Opera released an HD DVD of their most recent production of Porgy and Bess, conducted by John DeMain.
DeMain began his career as a pianist and conductor in his native Youngstown, Ohio. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at The Juilliard School and made a highly acclaimed debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. DeMain was the second recipient of the Julius Rudel Award at New York City Opera and one of the first six conductors to receive the Exxon/National Endowment for the Arts Conductor Fellowship for his work with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.
DeMain holds honorary degrees from the University of Nebraska and Edgewood College and he is a Fellow of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. He resides in Madison and his daughter, Jennifer, is a UW–Madison graduate.
VIOLIN I
Naha Greenholtz
Concertmaster
William and Joyce Wartmann Chair
Suzanne Beia
Co-Concertmaster
Steinhauer Charitable Trust Chair
Leanne Kelso
Associate Concertmaster
George and Candy Gialamas Chair
Huy Luu
Associate Concertmaster
Olga Pomolova
Assistant Concertmaster
Endowed by an Anonymous Friend
Maynie Bradley
Annetta H. Rosser Chair
Kina Ono
Neil Gopal
Elspeth Stalter-Clouse
Tim Kamps
Jon Vriesacker
Katherine Floriano
Laura Burns
Paran Amirinazari
Alec Tonno
Naomi Schrank
VIOLIN II
Xavier Pleindoux
Principal
Dr. Stanley and Shirley Inhorn Chair
Hillary Hempel
Assistant Principal
Elyn L. Williams Chair
Peter Miliczky
Holly Wagner
Rolf Wulfsberg
Olga Draguieva
Kathryn Taylor
Wendy Buehl
Geri Hamilton
Robin Ryan
Matthew Dahm
Wes Luke
Laura Mericle
VIOLA
Christopher Dozoryst
Principal
James F. Crow Chair
Katrin Talbot
Assistant Principal
Dove Family Chair
Diedre Buckley
Renata Hornik
Elisabeth Deussen
Janse Vincent
Jennifer Paulson
Hanna Pederson
David Beytas
Melissa Snell
Marie Pauls
Molly O’Brien
Members of the Symphony: 2024-25
CELLO
Karl Lavine
Principal
Reuhl Family Chair
Mark Bridges
Assistant Principal
Patricia Kokotailo & R. Lawrence
DeRoo Chair
Karen Cornelius
Knapp Family Chair
Jordan Allen
Margaret Townsend
Lisa Bressler
Derek Handley
Trace Johnson
Alex Chambers-Ozasky
Jean Hatmaker
BASS
David Scholl
Principal
Robert Rickman
Assistant Principal
Carl Davick
Tom Mohs Chair
Zachary Betz
Jeff Takaki
August Jirovec
Gregory Heintz
Mike Hennessy
FLUTE
Stephanie Jutt
Principal
Terry Family Foundation Chair
Collin Stavinoha
Linda Pereksta
PICCOLO
Linda Pereksta
OBOE
Izumi Amemiya
Principal
Jim and Cathie Burgess Chair
Andrea Gross Hixon
ENGLISH HORN
Lindsay Flowers
CLARINET
JJ Koh
Principal
Barbara and Norman Berven Chair
Nancy Mackenzie
BASS CLARINET
Gregory Smith
BASSOON
Cynthia Cameron
Principal
Amanda Szczys
Carol Rosing
CONTRABASSOON
Carol Rosing
HORN
Emma Potter
Principal
Steve and Marianne Schlecht Chair
Dafydd Bevil
Michael Szczys
William Muir
Ingrid Mullane, Assistant
TRUMPET
John Aley
Principal
Marilynn G. Thompson Chair
John Wagner
David Cooper
TROMBONE
Joyce Messer
Principal
Fred and Mary Mohs Chair
Benjamin Skroch
BASS TROMBONE
Ben Zisook
TUBA
Joshua Biere
Principal
TIMPANI
John Jutsum
Principal
Eugenie Mayer Bolz Foundation Chair
PERCUSSION
Anthony DiSanza
Principal
JoAnn Six Plesko and E.J. Plesko
Chair
Richard Morgan
Nicholas Bonaccio
HARP
Johanna Wienholts
Principal
Endowed by an Anonymous Friend
ORGAN
Gregory Zelek
Principal
The Elaine and Nicholas Mischler Curatorship
PIANO/CELESTE
Daniel Lyons
Principal
Stephen D. Morton Chair
Orchestra Committee
Mark Bridges, Chair
Joshua Biere, Vice-Chair
Elspeth Stalter-Clouse, Secretary
David Scholl, Treasurer
Lisa Bressler, Member-at-large
Librarian
Jennifer S. Goldberg
John and Carolyn Peterson Chair
Stage Manager
Benjamin Skroch
Personnel Manager
Alexis Carreon
SCAN HERE
For the most up-to-date musician roster for the season, or scan the QR code on each program page to see the musican roster for each concert.
THURSDAY, APRIL 3 | 7:30 PM SHANNON HALL AT MEMORIAL UNION
STUDENT & YOUTH TICKETS STARTING AT $8! uniontheater.wisc.edu
This performance is part of the David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music Series and is supported by the David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music Support Fund.
TICKETS & INFO
Empire Brass Celebration Greg Zelek , organ
Marc Reese, trumpet; Derek Lockhart, trumpet; Gregory Miller, horn; Mark Hetzler, trombone; Kenneth Amis, tuba; Matt Endres, percussion; Greg Zelek, organ
I was lucky enough to meet the Empire Brass as a high school student when they came to my hometown for a clinic and a concert back in 1984. Years later, I was even luckier when I was asked to join the group, becoming a member of the ensemble for 16 seasons, and getting to perform some of the finest brass music in the world’s greatest concert halls. I am so pleased to be part of this concert program that features highlights from the group’s famous recordings and ground-breaking repertoire for both brass and organ, including the world premiere of my newly-commissioned work to celebrate the 20th of the Overture Concert Organ. Please join us for An Empire Brass Celebration! – Mark Hetzler
PRESENTING SPONSOR
William Steffenhagen
MAJOR SPONSORS
Shirley Spade, in memory of Gerald Spade
Audrey Dybdahl, in memory of Philip Dybdahl
Kay Schwichtenberg and Herman Baumann
Tielman Susato, Basse danse bergerette
Giovanni Gabrieli, Canzona duodecimi toni
Johann Sebastian Bach, My Spirit Be Joyful from Cantata No. 146
Johann Sebastian Bach, Pedal-Excercitium in G minor, BWV 598
Sergei Prokofiev, Wedding and Troika from Lieutenant Kijé
Gustav Holst, Jupiter from The Planets
Charles-Marie Widor, Toccata from Symphony No. 5 in F minor, Op. 42, No. 1
…or, Louis Vierne, Finale from Symphony No. 1, Op. 14
Kenneth Amis, Bell Tone’s Ring
Mark Hetzler, Balaenoptera musculus Blues (Blue Whale Blues) [World-premiere in celebration the 20th of the Overture Concert Organ]
George Gershwin, I Got Rhythm
Fats Waller, Ain’t Misbehavin’
George Gershwin, Summertime
Leonard Bernstein, West Side Story Suite (Something’s Comin’, Maria, America)
MARK MATTKENNETHDEREKMARCGREGORY
GREG
ZELEK
thank you to our generous sponsors for supporting these performances
Rosemarie and Fred Blancke
program
John DeMain | Music Director
99th Season | Overture Hall | SubscriptionProgram No. 6
Fri., Mar 14, 7:30 pm | Sat., Mar, 15, 7:30 pm | Sun., Mar 16, 2:30 pm
John DeMain, Conductor
Amanda Majeski, Soprano
Kirsten Lippart, Mezzo-Soprano
Martin Luther Clark, Tenor
Matt Boehler, Bass
Madison Symphony Chorus, Beverly Taylor, Director
RICHARD STRAUSS (1864-1949)
Don Juan, Op. 20
RICHARD STRAUSS
Four Last Songs
Martha and Charles Casey
Skofronick Family Charitable Trust
Rodney Schreiner and Mark Blank von Briesen & Roper, s.c.
with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts
Endowment support for the music library collection is the gift of John & Carolyn Peterson.
The Overture Concert Organ is the gift of Pleasant T. Rowland.
Frühling September Beim Schlafengehen Im Abendrot
MS. MAJESKI
INTERMISSION
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791)
Requiem, K. 626
I. Introitus
Requiem aeternam
II. Kyrie
Kyrie eleison
III. Sequentia
Dies irae
Tuba mirum
Rex tremendae majestatis
Recordare, Jesu pie
Confutatis maledictis
Lacrymosa dies illa
IV. Offertorium
Domine Jesu Christe
Hostias et preces tibi
V. Sanctus
Sanctus
VI. Benedictus Benedictus
VII. Agnus Dei Agnus Dei
MS. MAJESKI
MS. LIPPART
MR. CLARK
MR. BOEHLER
MADISON SYMPHONY CHORUS
Note that we will be projecting surtitle translations for Strauss' Four Last Songs and Mozart's Requiem.
SCAN HERE
To access the digital program book for this concert!
WELCOME TO THE MSO!
Please silence your electronic devices and cell phones for the duration of the concert. Photography and video are not permitted during the performance. You may take and share photos during applause. Thank you!
Amanda Majeski soprano
Internationally renowned American soprano Amanda Majeski is rapidly garnering critical acclaim for a voice of “silvery beauty” (Musical America), with the Financial Times remarking that “Majeski’s well-rounded soprano … is so warm and glorious, the singing so outstanding, that she leaves no emotions unstirred.” Having established herself as a celebrated interpreter of Mozart, Strauss, Wagner and Handel, Majeski added a new dimension to her career with her breakthrough performance as the title role in Janáček's Káťa Kabanová at Royal Opera, Covent Garden in 2019, which won Best New Opera Production at that year’s Olivier Awards.
During the 2023/24 season, Majeski returned to the Teatro Real Madrid as Marta in The Passenger and performed Katja at the Semperoper Dresden. In 2022/23 she debuted the title role Salome for the Madison Opera and sang Katja in concert with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. Other recent performances include: her house debuts at the Dutch National Opera, as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and Opéra de Paris, in La clemenza di Tito; a return to the Teatro Real Madrid as 3rd Norn and Gutrune in Götterdämmerung; Katya in concert at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw; an appearance with the Madison Opera for the return of its wildly popular Opera in the Park concert; and virtual performances with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Harris Theater.
Majeski’s 2019/20 season commenced with her debut with the Nürnberger Symphoniker bringing her Straussian expertise to his Vier letzte Lieder conducted by Kahchun Wong. She then returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago, the company that launched her international career, for her house role debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni , followed by Hugo Wolf Italienisches Liederbuch at the 92nd Street Y, alongside bass-baritone Philippe Sly and pianist Julius Drake.
Highlights from her previous season include rave reviews for her Royal Opera House Káťa Kabanová, “If there is a more compelling solo performance on the operatic stage this year than Amanda Majeski’s in the title role of Janacek’s opera, I will need a new stock of superlatives. I unhesitatingly say that you are unlikely to encounter a Katya more profoundly acted than by the American soprano, nor more strikingly sung.” The Times . Her 2018/19 season also included her concert debuts with the Sydney Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Music of the Baroque, and her debut at Staatsoper Stuttgart as the title role in IphigénieenTauride was praised as “Amanda Majeski in the title role has a voluminous, clean-sounding and beautiful soprano. She is the ideal person for this role” Kultura Extra, as well as a return to Santa Fe Opera in Così fan tutte in a new production under conductor Harry Bicket and director R. B. Schlather.
Majeski made her Metropolitan Opera debut on the opening night of the 2014/15 season as Countess Almaviva in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro conducted by James Levine, which was broadcast in HD internationally and on PBS across the United States. Since then, she has returned for revivals of Le nozze diFigaro and DonGiovanni , both conducted by Fabio Luisi, and a new production of Cosìfantutte conducted by David Robertson which was a featured HD broadcast in the 2017/18 season. An alumna of the Ryan Opera Center, she made her mainstage Lyric debut with only a few hours’ notice as Countess Almaviva conducted by Andrew Davis. Named “Best Breakout Star” by Chicago Magazine, she has since continued her relationship with Lyric audiences in La clemenza di Tito , Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , in Der Rosenkavalier and in The Passenger , hailed as a “shattering, star-making performance” by the Chicago Classical Review.
On the concert stage, Majeski made her debut with the Hong Kong Philharmonic in Götterdämmerung conducted by Jaap van Zweden which was released commercially on Naxos Records. She has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in Beethoven Symphony No.9 conducted by Gustavo
Dudamel and sang her first performances of Strauss Vier letzte Lieder at Philadelphia’s Verizon Hall with the Curtis Orchestra conducted by Karina Canellakis. She debuted with Sinfonieorchester Aachen singing Berg's Sieben frühe Lieder and Mozart's Requiem , has been heard in concert singing Agathe’s arias from DerFreischütz with conductor Erik Nielsen and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the soprano solo in Mahler Symphony No.4 with the Quad City Symphony. She also sang Gounod Marguerite in concert with Washington Concert Opera under Antony Walker, Bach Magnificat under Sir Gilbert Levine in Chicago, Mahler's Symphony No. 4 with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center and the title role in Stanisław Moniuszko Halka at the Bard Music Festival. She made her New York City recital debut at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation and returned for her solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2014.
Majeski holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and Northwestern University. She was a member of San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, the Gerdine Young Artist Program at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and the Steans Institute at Ravinia. Awards include the George London Foundation Award, first prize of the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition, and a Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation.
Kirsten Lippart mezzo-soprano
Kirsten Lippart is a lyric mezzo-soprano based in Madison, WI. Recent highlights include performances with Madison Opera as a Studio Artist for their 2018-2019 and 20192020 seasons, followed by a mini-recital as part of their Digital 2020-2021 Season.
With a wide range and vocal flexibility, Kirsten has performed a variety of operatic and musical theatre roles. Opera roles include: Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti), Third Wood Sprite in Rusalka (Dvorak), Fox in The CunningLittleVixen (Janáček), Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni), Cherubino in Le nozzediFigaro (Mozart), Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte (Mozart), Third Spirit in The MagicFlute (Mozart), Baba the Turk in The Rake’sProgress (Stravinsky), Meg Page in Falstaff (Verdi), and Flora in LaTraviata (Verdi).
Operetta roles include: Cousin Hebe in HMSPinafore (Gilbert & Sullivan), Venus in OrpheusintheUnderworld (Offenbach), and Prince Orlofsky in The Bat (J. Strauss).
Musical Theatre roles include: Ilona Ritter in SheLovesMe (Bock & Harnick), Babette in BeautyandtheBeast (Menken), Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel (Rodgers & Hammerstein), Mrs. Segstrom in ALittleNightMusic (Sondheim), and Celeste #1 in SundayintheParkwithGeorge (Sondheim).
Martin Luther Clark tenor
Martin Luther Clark is praised by the Chicago Tribune for for bringing “an extra frisson of vocal and dramatic vitality to everything [he] sang.” In the 2023-24 season, he sang his first performances of the title role of Candide with Madison Opera as well as returns to the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Luis Griffith in Champion and joins Dallas Opera as the Orderly in the world premiere of The DivingBellandthe Butterfly. He also sings Handel’s Messiah with the Florida Orchestra and South Dakota Symphony and Bruckner’s Te Deum with the Apollo Chorus and Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra. In the summer he joined Wolf Trap Opera for the Brother in Weill’s SevenDeadly Sins and Jonathan Dale in SilentNight His future engagements include debuts with Houston Grand Opera and Portland Opera. Last season he created the role of CJ in the world premiere of Will Liverman and DJ King Rico’s highly-anticipated new opera, The Factotum. He also sang Tenor 3 in Davis’ X: The Life andTimesofMalcolm X with Detroit Opera and Opera Omaha as well as Rapunzel’s Prince in IntotheWoods with Tulsa Opera. In the summer, he returned to the Aldeburgh Music Festival to sing Britten’s CanticleII:Abraham and Isaac and Canticle V: The DeathofNarcissus in addition to William Croft’s A HymnofDivineMusick, realized by Britten. He also sang Master Slender in SirJohninLove as well as two concerts the Bard Music Festival.
Previously at the Lyric Opera of Chicago at which he was a member of the Ryan Opera Center, he sang the First Armoured Man in Die Zauberflöte and Adult William and the Chicken Plucker in Blanchard’s Fire Shut up in my Bones in addition to covering Malcom in Macbeth During COVID’s hold on the industry, he also sang on a number of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s digital programs, including Larry Brownlee and Friends, The Next Chapter: Creating the Factotum, Sole e amore—upon which he sang songs of Mascagni and Puccini, MagicalMusicalAroundtheWorld, and the company’s annual Rising Stars in Concert in which he sang excerpts of L’amico Fritz.
He joined Washington National Opera as Man 2 on the recording of Tesori’s Blue. He sang Borsa—whilst covering Duca—in RigolettoandthePeasantLeader—whilst covering Lensky—in EugeneOnegin as a Resident Artist at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. While a student at the Curtis Institute of Music, he sang Don Ottavio in DonGiovanni and with Russian Opera Workshop, he sang Count Vaudemont in Iolanta and King Charles VII in Pikyovaya Dama On the concert stage, he joined the Kansas City Symphony as soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy as well as sang Handel’s Messiah at Opera North and Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Highland Park Chorale.
Mr. Clark is a previous young artist of the Britten Pears Young Artist Program, George Solti Academia, and Central City Opera as well as a Resident Artist at Opera North and Studio Artist at Wolf Trap Opera. In addition, he sang numerous outreach performances or Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore with Dallas Opera while obtaining his Bachelor of Music at the University of North Texas, at which his performances included Don Ottavio in DonGiovanni, Tybalt in RoméoetJuliette, the Chevalier in Dialoguesdes Carmélites, Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance, and Mack the Knife in The Threepenny Opera. He holds a Master of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music. He is a Richard F. Gold Career Grant recipient from the Shoshana Arts Foundation.
Matt Boehler bass
Hailed by The New York Times as “a bass with an attitude and the goods to back it up,” Matt Boehler is a singer known in the worlds of opera and theater for his captivating, dynamic performances and his long-earned reputation as an inventive and truly collaborative artist. He has appeared as a principal artist with The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Minnesota Opera, Spoleto Festival, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Theater St. Gallen, and Canadian Opera Company, as well as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and the New York Festival of Song, among many others. In addition to bringing “power and brilliant tone” (Opera News) to staples of the standard repertoire, Matt is frequently in demand as a new music collaborator and his discography features many world premieres.
A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, he is now based in San Francisco. He trained as an actor at Viterbo College, an opera singer at Juilliard, and as a composer at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Salon Piano Series PRESENTS
HORSZOWSKI TRIO
SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2025
7:30 PM
Clarke, Harbison, Schubert
JAN BARTOŠ
SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 2025
7:30 PM
Kabeláč, Janáček, Smetana
Tickets at SalonPianoSeries.org
All concerts are held at Farley’s House of Pianos
Watch for 2025-26 concert announcements and tickets at SalonPianoSeries.org
Marek
Bouda
Lisa-Marie
Mazzucco
Beverly Taylor Claudia Berry & David E. Miran Director, Madison Symphony Chorus
Beverly Taylor, Emerita Professor of Music at University of Wisconsin-Madison and Director of the Madison Symphony Chorus, is a frequent guest conductor at festivals throughout the United States. She has been recognized by critic Richard Dyer (The Boston Globe) as a conductor who “has the crucial gift of inspiring people to give of their best, and beyond.”
Taylor assumed the post of Director of Choral Activities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1995, where she served as director of the Concert Choir and the Choral Union, and led the graduate choral conducting program until her retirement in 2020. From 19892012, she was conductor of the Boston Bar Association Orchestra, and for seven years the Music Director of the Back Bay Chorale, in which she conducted concerts with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra and other professional orchestras. Their recording of Robert Kyr’s Passion According to Four Evangelists is available on the New Albion label. She served as Assistant Conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra from 1996-2018.
In 1995, Taylor completed 17 years as the Associate Director of Choral Activities at Harvard University. In this position, she directed both the prize-winning Radcliffe Choral Society and the Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus. She led the groups on frequent domestic and international tours, directed a number of premieres of American music, and produced two recordings on the AFKA label.
As a guest conductor, Taylor has led the Artur Rubinstein Philharmonic Orchestra in Poland, the St. Louis Symphony Chorus, the Vermont Symphony, the Harvard Chamber Orchestra, the Madison Opera, the U.S. Air Force Band and Orchestra, the Harvard Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, and the Wellesley Chamber Singers. She worked with John Williams to prepare for a July 4th concert with the Boston Pops Summer Esplanade Chorus.
A graduate of the University of Delaware and Boston University, Taylor studied with Gustav Meier, Paul Vermel, Andrew Davis, Helmuth Rilling, Robert Shaw, Margaret Hillis, and Herbert Blomstedt. She received a fellowship from Chorus America and an orchestral fellowship from Aspen. She was a 2016 finalist for the American Prize in choral conducting, college division, and a 2017 recipient of the Emily Mead Baldwin Award in the Creative Arts at UW-Madison.
Madison Symphony Chorus
Beverly Taylor, Claudia Berry & David E. Miran Director
Drew Collins, Assistant Director Dan Lyons, Accompanist and Manager
Formed in 1927, the Madison Symphony Chorus gave its first public performance on February 23, 1928, and has performed regularly with the Madison Symphony Orchestra ever since. The chorus is comprised of more than 150 volunteer musicians who come from all walks of life and enjoy combining their artistic talent. In 2017, the chorus sang three Brahms Requiems in Germany with regional orchestras under Ms. Taylor’s direction.
In recent seasons, the Chorus has joined the MSO for such awe-inspiring works as Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, Rossini’s jubilant Stabat Mater, the Requiems of both Verdi and Mozart, Holst’s The Planets, John Adams’ challenging On the Transmigration of Souls, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection), excerpts from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Rachmaninoff’s magnificent The Bells, Vaughan Williams's Toward the Unknown Region, and excerpts from Handel’s Solomon, among others
SOPRANO
Caryn Baham
Jill Bailey
Judith Brauer
Alexis Buchanan
Lisa Burns
Ashley Calderon-McHugh
Jennifer Christensen
Barbara Eggleston
Linda Feiler
Sydney Fine
Susan Galasso
Kate Grovergrys
Kimberly R. S. Han
Margaret Harrigan*
Rose Heckenkamp-Busch
Sara Hendrickson
Katie Hess
Laurie Holman
Patricia Jenkins-Bock
Janet Joe
Marjasana Kay
Holly Keevil
Maureen Kind
Susan Kittleson
Veronica Kleckner
Julie Klein
Jennifer Kuckuk
Marie Kulackoski
Sarah Lang
Amber Lehnherr
Natalie Lowe
Lisa Middleton
Claudia Berry Miran
Genevieve Mullen
Connie Nelson
Sally Norman
Vanessa Orr
Christine Otth
Myleen Passini
Lindey Peterson
Libby Pier
Kristen Radley
Susan Roehlk
Erin Selbee*
Anya Smith
Natalie Sorden
Joette Suloff
Samantha Tushaus
Casey Umhoefer
Sarah Walker
Pam Wilinski
Merina Witz
Sophie Wohltjen
ALTO
Annemarie Adams
Jaime Alvis
Kathleen Berkley
Sharon Blattner Held*
Penny Carlson
Roberta Carrier
Spencer Chaplin
Johanna Chworowsky
Wendy Coleman
Kira Connoly-Nelson
Lavonne Dettmers*
Chloe Diehl-Walker
Susan Ecroyd
Tammy Elmer
Gwen Evans
Tola Ewers
Deb Flanders
Erika Gallagher
Denise Garvin
Holly Gefroh-Grimes
Kristina Geiger
Bryn Golden
Lori Grapentine
Jane Henneberry
Rebecca Hillary
Talia Ivry
Amy Johnson
Jessica Jones
Susan Jones
Estelle Katz
Alana Katz
Heidi Kramer
Sally Lanz
Heather Laurila
Denise Martin
Rachel Mokelke-Heineman
Fran Puleo Moyer
Jacklyn O'Brien
Chloe Orr
Susan Peterson
Rhianna Reed
Emily Regenold
Angela Reisetter
Christine Richards
Deb Roever
Veronica Rueckert
Kathleen Schell
Nancy Shook
Caroline Short
Latisha Smith-Chase
Robin Swadley
Lauren Wick
Julianne Wilke
Katie Wisz
Megan Yockey
TENOR
Gordon Brand
William Bremmer
Bradley Carter
Drew Collins
Jeff Cooper
Bryan Endres
Robert Factor
Christopher Feyrer
Michael Hammer
Mark Hanson
David Hanson
John Hayward
John Heaton
James Kleckner
Alex Kovensky
Kathy Lewinski
Jonathan Myers
William Nelson*
Mitchell Patton
Dave Roever
Basil Rutkowski
David Snook
James Staskal
LeRoy Stoner
Thomas Swartz
Craig Wuerzberger*
Steve Yeazel
BASS
Jeff Bauer
Steve Beversdorf
James Blanchard
Paul Bushland
Mike Byrne
Mark Danforth
Robert DeBroux
Robert Dinndorf
Alan Ferguson
David Flanders
Benson Gardner
Robert Gentile
Glenn Hanson
Charles Hodulik
Colin Holden
Alexander Jankowski
David Johnson
Peter Kleinschmidt
Mitch Lattis
Jules Lee
Denaly Min
Donald Olsen
Greg Polacheck
Brayden Remerowski
Barry Rokusek
Tradd Schmidt
Michael Schmit
George Shook
Chris Sink
John Unertl
James Wear
Benson Wehseler
Craig Wille*
Kent Williams
Isaac Wojcicki
*Section Leader
OFFICERS
Rose Heckenkamp-Busch, President
James Wear, Vice-President
Samantha Tushaus, Secretary
program notes
Mar 14-15-16, 2025
program notes by J.
Michael Allsen
This program explores the legacies of two composers, Richard Strauss, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, through their final works. After opening with one of Strauss’s great youthful tone poems, Don Juan, soprano Amanda Majeski joins the orchestra for what Strauss himself called his Four Last Songs. Then mezzo-soprano Kirsten Lippart, tenor Martin Luther Clark, bass Matt Boehler and the Madison Symphony Chorus join with Majeski for Mozart’s great Requiem. This was literally the work Mozart was writing while he was on his deathbed, and it was left unfinished when he died in December 1791. It was completed after his death by his associate Franz Xaver Süssmayr. It appears that at least some of the familiar versions of the Requiem that will be heard at these programs may indeed not be Mozart’s, but its music no less profound or impressive.
This work, one of Strauss’s early symphonic poems, takes its story from a 19th-century version of the Don Juan legend.
Richard Strauss
Born: June 11, 1864, Munich, Germany. Died: September 8, 1949, Garmisch-Partnerkirchen, Germany.
Don Juan, Op. 20
Composed: 1887-88. Premiere: November 11, 1889 at the Weimar Opera House. Previous MSO Performance: 1947, 1974, 1980, 1992, 2007, and 2016. Duration: 18:00.
Background
The direct inspiration for Don Juan was Strauss’s love for Pauline de Anha, a young soprano, whom he would eventually marry.
Strauss composed in virtually every musical genre, producing a huge collection of operas, symphonic works, ballets, songs, and chamber music during a musical career spanning more than seventy years. But his most frequently-performed orchestral works—and the works that first gained him international fame—are a series of symphonic poems he composed as a relatively young man. The symphonic poem, the most thoroughly romantic of symphonic forms, developed in the nineteenth century as an expression of poetic or philosophical ideas in music, or frequently, as pure program music that tells a story. The musical forms of these works transcend the old symphonic molds, as a 24-year-old Strauss wrote in 1888:
“If you want to create a work of art that is unified in its mood and consistent in its structure, and if that work is to give the listener a clear and definite impression, then what the composer wants to say must be just as clear in his own mind. This is only possible through inspiration by a poetic idea, whether or not it is introduced as a ‘program.’ I consider it a legitimate artistic method to create a new form for each new subject; a task that is very difficult, but all the more attractive for its very difficulty...”
In 1887, Strauss became infatuated with Pauline de Ahna, a young soprano, and he was inspired to write a work based upon his new-found love. The poetic idea behind this work came from the most erotic of stories, the 17th-century story of Spanish seducer Don Juan—the same story that inspired Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Strauss took his direct inspiration from a 19th-century retelling of the Don Juan legend by the poet Nikolaus Lenau. Lenau’s portrayal of Don Juan is not particularly sympathetic, but he does portray the Don as a figure who is hopelessly driven by his own desire for sexual fulfillment, and who is increasingly disappointed and bored after each conquest. In the end, Lenau’s Don Juan accepts death at the hands of a girl’s vengeful father, as the only
escape from a meaningless life. This was pretty strong stuff for a young late-19th-century gentleman to write with a respectable young lady in mind! But it was well in keeping with romantic ideals of the artistic temperament. (Pauline did, after all, marry Strauss a few years later.) The new work, Don Juan, was first performed in Weimar in 1889, and published a year later: the first of Strauss’s musical works to appear in print.
What You’ll Hear
Though Strauss does not include an explicit program, it is easy to follow the Don Juan story in the music: through music representing his passionate character, through a couple of love affairs, to the climactic sword fight and death of the Don.
Strauss included three extended quotations from Lenau’s poem at the beginning of the score, but did not provide a specific program for the music. Even so, it is irresistible to conjure up the outlines of the story from Strauss’s music. The opening music, fiery and passionate, can only represent Don Juan himself (and perhaps Strauss’s own vision of himself as a twentysomething lover). The central section of the work is dominated by two amorous interludes. The first and shorter interlude is light and flirtatious in character, but tossed aside in fairly short order when the Don spots another woman. The second interlude is more serious—as if the woman in Don Juan’s eye means something more than just another prize. The expansive main theme of this section is introduced by the solo oboe and developed extensively throughout the orchestra. After this theme is thoroughly elaborated, the music becomes disconsolate. The exuberant opening music returns as Don Juan apparently shakes off his depression, and goes in search of further conquests. The coda comes with a brilliant musical scene that recalls the climactic swordfight
between Don Juan and Don Pedro. In Lenau’s poem, Don Juan has victory in his grasp, but suddenly allows his enemy to run him through. Strauss’s music comes to a tremendous orchestral crescendo, a grand pause, and a hushed postlude that recalls the Don’s dying words:
“It was a beautiful storm that drove me on; it has subsided, and left behind a calm. All of my hopes and desires are seemingly dead. Perhaps a bolt of lightning from the Heaven that I despised has struck down my powers of love, and suddenly my world becomes deserted and dark. And yet, perhaps not — the fuel is all burnt and the hearth is cold ”
If Don Juan represented Strauss as a vigorous young man, his Four Last Songs, written some 60 years later, reflect a sad and contemplative composer at the end of a long career.
Four Last Songs Composed: 1948.
Premiere: The songs were published after his death and were first performed by soprano Kirsten Flagstad and the Philharmonia Orchestra, under the direction of Wilhelm Furtwängler, on May 22, 1950 in London
These orchestral songs were written at the end of Strauss’s life, and he seems to have intended them as a final statement. The final song is to a text by Joseph von Eichedorff, while the first three are by Hermann Hesse.
The last years of Strauss’s life were marked by sadness and setbacks. The most prominent figure in German music of the 1930s and the War years, Strauss stayed in Germany when so many others fled. He cooperated with the Nazis’ cultural program, though
the extent of his true collaboration remains the subject of debate. In 1933, he was appointed president of the Nazi Reichsmusikkammer, though he was forced to resign two years later, largely because of his connections with the Jewish writer and librettist Stefan Zweig and because his daughter-in-law was also of Jewish ancestry. Though he produced a few occasional pieces for the Nazi regime, through much of the war, he and his family were harassed, and even at times held prisoner by the Gestapo. At the war’s end, he underwent a humiliating “de-Nazification” trial, though he was cleared of all charges. The aged Strauss was cut off from most sources of income, and spent much of his last few years—years of declining health for both Strauss and his wife—in voluntary exile in Switzerland. On a trip to England in October 1947, a reporter asked the 83-year-old composer what his future plans were. Strauss’s answer was brief, and must have caused an uncomfortable silence: “To die.”
Despite all of this, Strauss produced a series of astonishing works in his last few years: his final opera Capriccio (1941—the production of yet another opera, Danae, was halted by Nazi authorities in 1944), the dark Metamorphosen (1945), his brilliant OboeConcerto (1945), and most profound of all, the FourLastSongs. In 1948, Strauss came upon ImAbendrot (In Twilight) by the German romantic poet Eichendorff. This poem, a picture of an aging couple who look forward to death with calm and dignity must have resonated strongly with Strauss, and he completed a superb setting for soprano and orchestra in May 1948. This was to have been part of a larger song-cycle of five songs, the remainder being settings of poems by the German poet and novelist Hermann Hesse. Hesse, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1946, was also in a kind of self-imposed exile in Switzerland, though in his case he had left Germany at the close of the first world war. The Hesse poems selected by Strauss also accord with the ideas of rest and a life that is
ending. InFrühling, (Spring) there are hints of resurrection and rebirth. In September, the withering of a garden and the falling of leaves becomes a metaphor for death itself. Beim Schlafengehen (While going to sleep) speaks of a longed-for rest and the freeing of one’s soul to a richer life. Settings of the three Hesse poems were finished in September 1948. A fourth Hesse setting, intended as part of the same set, was left incomplete when Strauss died a year later. Strauss did not leave any instructions regarding the order of the songs, and they have become best known in the order in which they appeared in the posthumous published score.
What You’ll Hear
The songs have a clear dramatic arc: from the happy optimism of Frühling, through the more wistful September and dark Beim Schlafengehen, to the calm consummation of ImAbendrot.
Frühling sets the text above a turbulent orchestral background at the beginning. The song comes to a turning-point on the soprano’s exuberant line on the word “Vogelsang” (“bird-song”), and continues in a joyous mood until the end. In September, the musical setting retains the garden’s former lushness under the soprano’s unhurried presentation of the poem. At the end there is a lovely horn solo and string passage that serves as a kind of epilogue. The third song, Beim Schlafengehen, is also the darkest, with intense contrapuntal lines supporting the soprano. Strauss inserts a luminous violin solo as a bridge between the second and third stanzas, and rounds off the song with a quiet coda. In the last and longest song, ImAbendrot which inspired Strauss to undertake this project—he places the soprano above a rich, dense, romantic texture. When she finally sings of death itself, the mood is not of resignation or fear, but of calm acceptance and satisfaction. In the closing bars, Strauss includes a quiet allusion to his own 1889 tone poem Deathand Transfiguration.
Mozart’s final work, left unfinished at the time of his death, was a magnificent setting of the Latin Requiem, or Mass for the Dead.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Born: January 27, 1756, Salzburg, Austria. Died: December 5, 1791, Vienna, Austria.
Requiem, K. 626
Composed: Mozart’s Requiem was composed in the summer and late fall of 1791. The work was unfinished at Mozart’s death, but was completed by his associate Franz Xaver Sussmayr in 1792 or 1793.
Premiere: The first performance probably occurred in Vienna shortly after it was completed.
Previous MSO Performance: 1963, 1982, 2004, and 2014. Duration: 47:00.
Background
As his final, unfinished work, Mozart’s Requiem is surrounded by mystique— perhaps most familiarly through the climactic scene of the movie Amadeus. The real story is perhaps just as dramatic... though not nearly so sinister.
The Latin text of the Requiem, or Mass for the Dead, has provided composers with inspiration for over 500 years. In the Catholic liturgy prior to the Vatican II reforms, the Latin Requiem was sung at burial services and on All Souls Day (November 2), in remembrance of the faithful dead. At the heart of the Requiem is the lengthy sequence Diesirae. This text dwells on the terror and destruction of the Day of Judgement foretold in the Book of Revelation, and the petitioner’s prayers for safety from the Lord’s wrath. The offertory Domine JesuChriste offers prayers for the dead, and recalls the promise of redemption. The Mass closes with the gentle imagery of the Lux aeterna, a further prayer for intercession,
celebrating the merciful Lord. Mozart’s setting of the Requiem is one of the most powerful settings of these emotive texts.
No work of Mozart’s is surrounded by more historical mystique than his Requiem. His Mass for the Dead was his last work, and was left uncompleted at the time of his own death on December 5, 1791. The most popular legend about the Requiem concerns a mysterious and sinister “messenger in gray” who commissioned the Requiem and who may have had a hand in Mozart’s death. With all due respect to F. Murray Abrams and Tom Hulse, the real story is no less interesting, although somewhat less than sinister. In the spring or summer of 1791, a Viennese nobleman, Count Franz Walsegg von Stuppach, sent his steward to Mozart with an anonymous commission for a setting of the Requiem Mass. Walsegg’s wife had died earlier that year, and he envisioned the Requiem as a monument to her. Mozart set the rather exorbitant price of 60 ducats for the composition, and to his surprise, the anonymous commissioner immediately sent 30 ducats, with a promise to pay the balance upon completion. Walsegg, an amateur composer, would occasionally commission works from Vienna’s professional composers and then pass them off as his own—this may have been his intent with the Requiem. Mozart completed some of the sketches for the Requiem immediately, although work on was interrupted by operatic projects: completion of Die Zauberflöte and LaClemenzadiTito, and a trip to Prague in August for a production of his opera Don Giovanni. He returned to the Requiem in October, and began to work diligently. Mozart’s health and financial situation were deteriorating by this time, but there is no reason to credit the notion that he was consumed with thoughts of death in the last months of his life. However, when he realized that the end might well be near—a few days prior to his death—he did indeed work feverishly on the Requiem, even enlisting the help of friends (though, alas, not Salieri...) as
copyists. By the time he died, Mozart had completed the orchestration of the first two movements and a partial score for the music up to the Lacrymosa. He had apparently sketched out most of the remainder.
Mozart’s wife Constanze, who badly needed the money from the anonymous commission, asked Mozart’s friend and student Joseph Eybler to complete the Requiem Eybler did some work with Mozart’s sketches, but soon found that it was taking more time than he could afford. The task then fell to another associate of Mozart’s, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, who produced a complete version of the Requiem by 1793. (Among Constanze’s reasons for selecting Süssmayer—an otherwise undistinguished composer— may have been that his handwriting closely resembled Mozart’s, and she needed to pass this off as entirely her late husband’s work!) A few years later, Süssmayr wrote a letter indicating that the Sanctus, Benedictus, and AgnusDei were entirely his own creations, setting off a storm of debate that continues in our own time. It appears that at least some of the familiar versions of the Requiem that will be heard at these programs may indeed be Süssmayr’s, but its authorship makes the music no less profound or impressive.
What You’ll Hear
Although some parts of the Requiem follow wellestablished Austrian tradition in setting the text, Mozart’s Requiem is remarkable for its sensitivity in expressing the meaning and emotional content of the text in his music.
The Introitus begins with a dark woodwind passage that closes with three abrupt trombone chords to usher in the chorus. As always, Mozart’s setting is driven by the meaning of the text. Just one detailed example—just the first three lines—should suffice: after the dour and strict counterpoint of Requiemaeternam, and the impassioned homophony of etlux
perpetua, the orchestra enters with a major-key transformation of the opening orchestral passage and the mezzo enters with Te decethymnus. Mozart’s form reflects the meaning of the text perfectly: from the stark imagery of the grave, to the metaphor of light, to a more personal appeal. The Kyrie is an intense choral fugue that climaxes in a dramatic pause and a stark unison in the chorus.
The long, dramatically complex Sequentia is divided into several sections. The Diesirae is set in an angry choral passage punctuated by military trumpet calls. The bass’s Tubamirum is announced by a trombone solo and decorated by a lovely obbligato. Each of the soloists enters in turn in the next section, culminating with an emotional Quidsummisertuncdicturus? from the quartet. The choral Rex tremendae begins stridently, but closes with a fervent prayer. The soloists carry the next passage, which contains the most
personal lines of supplication in the Requiem Both anger and pleading return in the choral Confutatis, culminating in a prayer for mercy sung above mysterious trombone chords. Lacrymosa closes the Sequentia in a mood of profound sadness. (Mozart had originally intended to close the movement with an Amen fugue, but this exists only in sketches.)
The Offertorium begins with a pale echo of the anger of the Diesirae, but here it is more restless in character. This is answered by the sublime prayer of the Hostias, and a return of the hopeful reminder quamolim Abrahae While Süssmayr claimed to have written much of the music from Sanctus onwards, most writers seem to agree that he worked from themes and ideas sketched out by Mozart before he died. (Indeed a lot of this music simply seems toogood to have been composed exclusively by Süssmayr, whose surviving church
music is pedestrian at best!) Sanctus begins with a simple choral statement of the threefold Sanctus and closes with a brief Hosanna fugue. Benedictus is an operatic ensemble for the soloists that closes with a reprise of the Hosanna fugue. AgnusDei is a rather simple choral setting that ends with a clear preparation for the last movement. Probably following Mozart’s original intent, the closing Communio begins with a reminiscence of the Requiem’s opening music. The closing, cum sanctistuis, is a reworking of the Kyrie fugue, which brings the Requiem to a magnificent conclusion.
with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts
Endowment support for the music library collection is the gift of John & Carolyn Peterson.
WELCOME TO THE MSO!
Please silence your electronic devices and cell phones for the duration of the concert. Photography and video are not permitted during the performance. You may take and share photos during applause. Thank you!
Time For Three:
Ranaan Meyer, Double Bass
Nicolas Kendall, Violin
Charles Yang, Violin
SAMUEL BARBER (1910-1981)
Second Essay for Orchestra, Op. 17
KEVIN PUTS (B. 1972)
Contact The Call Codes Contact Convivium
TIME FOR THREE:
RANAAN MEYER
NICOLAS KENDALL
CHARLES YANG
INTERMISSION
SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891-1953)
Selections from “Romeo and Juliet”
Montagues and Capulets (Suite 2, No. 1)
Juliet the Young Girl (Suite 2, No. 2)
Minuet (Suite 1, No. 4)
Masks (Suite 1, No. 5)
Romeo and Juliet: Balcony Scene (Suite 1, No. 6)
Death of Tybalt (Suite 1, No. 7)
Dance of the Maids from the Antilles (Suite 2, No. 6)
Romeo at Juliet’s Grave (Suite 2, No. 7)
Death of Juliet (Suite 3, No. 6)
SCAN HERE
To access the digital program book for this concert!
Joseph Young guest conductor
American conductor Joseph Young is among the most gifted conductors of his generation, balancing his flourishing career as a guest conductor with leadership roles as Music Director of the Berkeley Symphony and Artistic Director of Ensembles at the Peabody Conservatory.
“Joseph Young has had quite a year … impressive,” wrote Washington Classical Review of his 2023 National Symphony Orchestra debut, which capped a year of debuts that included leading Jeanine Tesori’s Blue with Washington National Opera, the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, and NYO2 at Carnegie Hall and on tour in the Dominican Republic, as well as collaborations with composer Du Yun, pianist Lara Downes, artist William Kentridge, bass-baritone Davóne Tines, and icon Debbie Allen.
Joseph is committed to amplifying a range of musical voices — both historical and contemporary — that animate his consistently compelling programs, which have included works by Brian Raphael Nabors, Florence Price, and Carlos Simon, alongside iconic composers such as John Adams, Brahms, Dvořák, and Prokofiev, and many others.
Highlights of previous and upcoming engagements include the San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, New World Symphony Orchestra, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música (Portugal),
the Orquesta Sinfónica y Coro de RTVE (Spain), and the Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra (South Africa). In July 2024, he conducted the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in the Cincinnati Opera’s world-premiere staging of the Liverpool Oratorio, Paul McCartney’s acclaimed 1991 work for orchestra, chorus, and soloists.
Earlier in his career, Joseph served as the Assistant Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony under Robert Spano and Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, where he was the driving force behind the ensemble’s artistic growth. He has served as Resident Conductor of the Phoenix Symphony and the League of American Orchestras Conducting Fellow with the Buffalo Philharmonic and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Joseph began his steady ascent in the orchestral world while serving as an educator in South Carolina. Self-guided, selffunded study—and a chance encounter with the influential conductor Michael Morgan—led him to a conducting workshop with Marin Alsop who, recognizing his raw talent, created the BSO–Peabody Conducting Fellowship to facilitate his artistic and professional growth. He has since been mentored by luminaries in the orchestra world, including Jorma Panula, Robert Spano, and Alsop, with whom he maintains a close artistic partnership.
Now a dedicated mentor and role model himself, Joseph shapes the future of classical music through his dynamic performances and programming with major symphony orchestras, his steadfast commitment to teaching in classrooms and concert halls, and his service on the board of New Music USA. He also maintains a working relationship with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute and its National Youth Orchestra program, where he served as Resident Conductor for NYO2 from 2017 to 2022 prior to his Carnegie Hall debut in 2023.
Joseph is a three-time recipient of a coveted Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award for young conductors (2008, 2014, 2015). In 2013, he was a semi-finalist in the Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition in Bamberg, Germany. In 2011, he was one of six conductors featured in the League of American Orchestras’ prestigious Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview.
He holds an Artist’s Diploma in conducting from the Peabody Conservatory, studying with Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar, and a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of South Carolina. He grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, the eldest son of a banker and a Naval officer, studying the trumpet before picking up a baton.
Time For Three
Ranaan Meyer, double bass
Nicolas Kendall, violin
Charles Yang, violin
Grammy and Emmy-winning ensemble, Time For Three (TF3), defies convention and boundaries by showcasing excellence across different genres, including classical music, Americana, and singer-songwriter. Their unique sound captivates audiences, immersing them in a musical experience that merges various eras, styles, and traditions of Western music. TF3, consisting of Ranaan Meyer (double bass, vocals), Nicolas Kendall (violin, vocals), and Charles Yang (violin, vocals) combines their instruments and voices in a remarkable sound, establishing a distinct voice of expression that resonates with listeners worldwide.
TF3’s longstanding history of collaboration with contemporary classical composers continues to thrive. They have worked closely with esteemed artists such as Chris Brubeck and Pulitzer Prize winners William Bolcom and Jennifer Higdon. Their most recent commission, Contact, composed by Pulitzer Prize winner Kevin Puts, premiered with the San Francisco Symphony and The Philadelphia Orchestra in the summer of 2022. This extraordinary piece, alongside Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto4-3, was released on Deutsche Grammophon
under the album title LettersfortheFuture. Conducted by Xian Zhang, the album’s exceptional quality propelled it onto the Billboard top 10 Classical Recordings charts. Additionally, it garnered a nomination for an Opus Klassik award and received a Grammy win in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category.
Renowned for their charismatic and energetic performances, TF3 has garnered praise from respected outlets including NPR, NBC, The Wall Street Journal, and the Chicago Sun-Times. They have graced illustrious stages such as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and The Royal Albert Hall, effortlessly adapting their inimitable and versatile style to intimate venues like Joe’s Pub in New York or Yoshi’s in San Francisco. TF3 was featured on the acclaimed “Night of the Proms” tour, sharing stages with renowned artists like Chaka Khan and Ronan Keating across several European countries. Their collaborations span a diverse range of artists, including Ben Folds, Branford Marsalis, Joshua Bell, Aoife O’Donovan, Natasha Bedingfield, and Arlo Guthrie.
TF3’s exceptional talents have not only earned them a Grammy win but also secured them an Emmy for their concert special, “Time For Three In Concert,” produced by PBS. Their appetite for new experiences led them to collaborate with cellist and composer Ben Sollee, creating the soundtrack for Focus Features’ film Land, directed by Robin Wright. Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2021. TF3 has teamed up with Grammy-winning songwriter Liz Rose and Grammy-winning producer Femke Weidema for new recordings released through Warner Music. They have also contributed to Summer Walker’s R&B hit, Constant Bullsxxt, showcasing their versatility across genres.
Time For Three’s artistic achievements, fueled by their relentless pursuit of musical excellence, have solidified their status as a remarkable ensemble. Their Grammy win and extraordinary collaborations speak to their unwavering dedication to pushing creative boundaries and captivating audiences with their exceptional talent.
program notes
Apr 11-12-13, 2025
program notes by J. Michael Allsen
Guest conductor Joseph Young leads this program, beginning with Samuel Barber’s concise Second Essay for Orchestra. We then welcome the wonderfully eclectic string trio Time for Three (TF3). This genre-bending group, whose performances not only include string playing and vocals, also embrace a huge range of musical styles. In 2021, American composer Kevin Puts completed Contact, kind of “triple concerto” for them. To end, we have maestro Young’s selection of movements from one of the greatest ballet scores of the 20th entry, Prokofiev’s RomeoandJuliet.
We open with a great mid-20thcentury work, one of the pieces with which Samuel Barber earned his reputation as one of America’s leading composers.
Samuel Barber
Born: March 9, 1910, West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Died: January 23, 1981, New York City.
Second Essay for Orchestra, Op. 17
Composed: 1942.
Premiere: April 16, 1942, with the New York Philharmonic, led by Bruno Walter. Previous MSO Performance: 2017.
Duration: 11:00.
Background
This work was commissioned by the great conductor Bruno Walter, who was then leading the New York Philharmonic.
In the 1940s, Barber was one of a new generation of American composers— Hanson, Copland, Diamond, and later Bernstein—whose works were being programmed with increasing frequency by the world’s great orchestras. Barber in particular was championed by
several of the period’s preeminent conductors. In 1937, Artur Rodzinski conducted Barber’s Symphony No.1 at the Salzburg Festival—the first American work to be performed there. The aging maestro Arturo Toscanini heard the symphony at Salzburg and asked Barber for a new work, to be played by the newly-organized NBC Symphony Orchestra. Barber responded with not one, but two new pieces, the famous AdagioforStrings, and his [First]Essay forOrchestra. Another distinguished conductor who was impressed by Barber was Bruno Walter, who would eventually record the Symphony No.1 (the only work by an American composer recorded by Walter), and who commissioned him to do a new orchestral work for the New York Philharmonic. The result was the SecondEssay.
What You’ll Hear
A highly concentrated work in which all of the music material derives from the melody in the opening bars, the Second Essay explores a huge range of feelings and textures before ending in stirring hymn.
The ideal written essay is brief and economical, treating a single subject. The title Essay allows a certain freedom of form within a musical work, but the SecondEssay fits the literary definition perfectly. All of its various melodic ideas are derived from a single theme, spun out at the beginning by the solo flute. It also derives a number of distinct moods from this material—sometime with great vehemence. (A few months after the premiere, Barber wrote that: “Although it has no program, one perhaps hears that it was written in war-time.”) The first idea, quietly introduced by solo woodwinds builds to a gentle climax in the full strings. A new theme, melodically similar to the first, is built up rather quickly to a strident brass passage. A sudden crisp chord breaks the mood the clarinet begins an intense fugue— which plays out in several keys at once—that eventually gives way to an
angry scherzo. The SecondEssay ends with a broad hymn, first in the strings, and then even more dramatically in the brass.
A work composed during the depths of the Covid lockdown, Contact was composed in close collaboration—direct and virtual—between the composer and Time for Three.
Kevin Puts
Born: January 3, 1972, St. Louis, Missouri.
Contact
Composed: 2020-2022.
Premiere: This work was actually scheduled for a premiere in June 2020, but it was canceled due to the pandemic. TF3 and the Philadelphia Orchestra actually recorded it, playing to an empty hall, in September 2021. It was finally premiered live in Tampa Bay by the Florida Orchestra in March 2022. Previous MSO Performance: This is our first performance of the work.
Duration: 30:00.
Background
Originally scheduled for a premiere in December 2020, its performance was delayed by the lockdown, which, according to Puts allowed for further collaboration on the score
Kevin Puts has had a host of commissions and performances by leading orchestras, ensembles and soloists throughout North America, Europe, and the Far East, including the Pacific Symphony, Utah Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, New York Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, Yo Yo Ma, and many others. Puts won a Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for his opera Silent Night, about the famous “Christmas Eve truce” in World War I. His musical style is intended to be approachable and appealing, and Puts channels influences as diverse as Copland, Barber, Adams, Mozart, Beethoven, jazz, and the Icelandic pop singer Björk—all in his own
distinctive musical voice. As he noted in a 2011 interview:
“I know there’s still a fear among some of us that trying to hold the audience rapt with attention means you’re selling out, you’re not a real composer. But for me, composing is much more complicated than the communication of an abstract idea. First thing, I’ve got to revel in the kinds of musical language that I care most deeply about, or I can’t write anything convincing; I might as well be dead as try to work within someone else’s aesthetic realm. Second thing—and this is not the primary aim of every composer, but I admit that it is mine—I want to communicate. I want audiences to be held in the moment, and be taken to the next moment. If that’s not happening, I feel like I’m falling short.”
His openness to an eclectic range of influences made for a particularly close relationship with the trio Time for Three. Puts remembers that:
“In April 2017, I heard the prodigiously gifted Time for Three perform at Joe’s Pub in New York City, having recently been contacted about possibly writing a concerto for them. After hearing them play, sing, improvise, and perform their own arrangements and compositions, I felt elated by the infectious energy they exhibit as a trio. However, I couldn’t imagine conceiving any music they couldn’t improvise themselves!”
Contact is was initially commissioned for TF3 by a consortium of orchestras and by the Sun Valley Music Festival, and was scheduled for a premiere in June 2020. This plan was scrapped by the pandemic lockdown, though according to Puts, the delay allowed for further refinement of the score, working so closely with TF3—that he:
“collaborated perhaps more closely than ever before in [my] career to create music tailored to the group’s unique style of performance—one which combines dazzling virtuosity, spontaneity, singing, all manner of
string techniques and an infectious joy for music itself.”
What You’ll Hear
This work is laid out in four movements
• The Call, based upon a repeating refrain sung by TF3 at the beginning.
• Codes, in which terse rhythms support improvisatory-style playing by the trio,
• The solemn Contact, which moves gradually from tension towards an uplifting ending.
• A wild finale, Convivium, based upon a Bulgarian folk dance.
Puts says that the four movements of the concerto “tell a story that I hope transcends abstract musical expression.” Regarding the first movement, The Call, he asks “Could the refrain at the beginning of the first movement be a message from Earth, sent into space?” This haunting refrain is sung a cappella by the trio at the beginning and travels like a passacaglia theme throughout the orchestra, culminating in a broad statement by the brass. There is a sudden change in texture where the trio’s violinists, supported by walking bass, reinterprets this idea as a new theme, eventually taken up by the entire orchestra. Horns return to the original refrain, and the movement ends as it began with a cappella singing by the trio.
In a similar vein, Puts asks in regards to the second movement, Codes, “Could the Morse-code-like rhythms of the scherzo suggest radio transmissions, wave signals, etc.?” The movement proceeds as a set of rhythms barked out by the orchestra, supporting lively quasi improvisatory playing by the trio—music that has more than a little resemblance to a bluegrass hoedown!
Though a science fictional meaning is implied in the title Contact (as in the fine 1997 movie of the same name)—the
composer describes an “image of an abandoned vessel, floating inert in the recesses of space.”—Puts also notes a meaning related to the pandemic: “The word ‘contact’ has gained new resonance during these years of isolation and it is my hope that our concerto will be heard as an expression of yearning for this fundamental human need.” The music begins with tense atmospheric textures from the orchestra, eventually supporting improvisatory music from the trio. Near the end, there is a shift to a more positive and uplifting mood.
Convivium implies a happy coming together, and details of this joyous movement were apparently worked out in extensive jam sessions between TF3 and Puts. Here the main theme is a brisk 11/8 Bulgarian folk dance, Gankinohoro. In the second half of the movement, there are constant reminders of the “call” motive from the first movement, before the music ends in a wild conclusion.
Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, based upon the Shakespeare tragedy, is among the finest ballet scores of the 20th century. Here we play a set of selections from this great work.
Sergei Prokofiev
Born: April 23, 1891, Sontsivka, Ukraine. Died: March 5, 1953, Moscow, Russia.
Selections from “Romeo and Juliet”
Composed: 1934-35.
Premiere: The first concert performance of the full score took place in Moscow in October of 1935. The ballet was not staged until 1938, with a production in Brno, Czechoslovakia, and it was finally performed in Russia in 1940, with a production by the Kirov Ballet of Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
Previous MSO Performance: We have played excerpts from the score at these concerts in 1954, 1984, 1999, 2009, and 2018.
Duration: See note below.
Background
This work’s premiere in Prokofiev’s native Russia was delayed for several years by musical politics.
There is little doubt these days that Romeo and Juliet stands as Prokofiev’s most enduring ballet score. For several years, however, this enormous work was a victim of Soviet artistic politics. The original idea for this full-scale Romantic ballet on Romeo and Juliet seems to have come from Sergei Radlov, an influential Leningrad opera director who had collaborated on Prokofiev’s opera The LoveforThree Oranges. The “story-ballet” Romeo andJuliet was to have been produced at Leningrad’s Academic Theater, but at the end of 1934 the theater underwent a sudden change of administration. Sergei Kirov, the Party boss of Leningrad, was assassinated, undoubtedly at Stalin’s order, and in an incongruous move, the Soviet authorities renamed the Academic Theater to honor this “Socialist martyr.” The new Kirov Theater was tightly controlled by the Soviet artistic bureaucracy, and Radlov—whose views had long been considered suspiciously avantgarde—fell out of favor with the authorities. Hopes for producing RomeoandJuliet in Leningrad evaporated, and Prokofiev began working with the Bolshoi ballet in Moscow. The score was completed in 1935 and played at the Bolshoi, whose directors pronounced the music “undanceable” and canceled the planned production. At least part of the problem was the story line, which had been twisted at Radlov’s suggestion, so that a suicidal Romeo arrived at Juliet’s tomb just a minute after she woke up, thus providing the most famous of all tragedies with a happy ending!
Despite these disappointments, Prokofiev continued to work on the ballet, fixing the sappy ending, and extracting two orchestral suites from the score. The concert suites (eventually three of them) he extracted from the ballet were enormously popular, both inside the Soviet Union and in Europe
and the United States. In late 1938, the Kirov Ballet finally agreed to produce RomeoandJuliet. Their change of heart seems to have been inspired in part by the success of the suites, but also by some embarrassment over the fact that a non-Soviet company (in Czechoslovakia) had actually staged the ballet in 1938. The Kirov’s lavish production in 1940 was a huge success, and the ballet finally found a secure place in the Russian repertoire— the critics hailed RomeoandJuliet as a triumph of Soviet art, and hailed Prokofiev the ballet composer as the first worthy successor to Tchaikovsky.
What You’ll Hear
Prokofiev’s evocative music is the perfect counterpoint to Shakespeare’s tragedy.
Movements from the ballet suites are often mixed and matched, as at this concert. Montagues and Capulets begins with solemn music from Act I of the ballet, which accompanies the Duke as he forbids fights between the two families. The main theme, however, is the accompaniment to the dance of the Capulet knights in Act II—a threatening march theme with ponderous trombone accompaniment. A contrasting middle section, with a lovely flute solo, is Juliet’s more graceful version of this same music. Juliet the Young Girl is a portrait of Juliet from Act I—the mood of this music shifts constantly between quick and flirtatious to quiet and introspective.
The Minuet is danced by the guests at the Capulet’s ball: a stodgy, heavyfooted and lumbering version of a courtly minuet, with several tongue-in cheek contrasting dances, including a lyrical interlude for solo trumpet. Masks features furtive and mischievous music that accompanies Romeo and his friends sneaking into the ball in disguise, while a lush episode near the end represents Romeo’s first glimpse of Juliet. RomeoandJuliet:Balcony Scene is unadulterated romanticism from beginning to end. All is hushed at the beginning as muted violins
and harp set the stage. Much of this quiet but passionate movement is a dialogue, with themes representing the two lovers presented alternately in strings and woodwinds. The music moves towards a gentle peak at the beginning but subsides to a whisper at the end. The DeathofTybalt is a complete contrast, dominated by the brasses and blazing string lines. Here, Prokofiev brings together many of the significant moments of Act II: the duel, Tybalt’s death, and the funeral procession. DanceoftheMaidsfrom theAntilles comes from near the end of the end. In a scene not in the original play, a group of bridesmaids show up to dance a polka, which turns out to be a rather grim and spooky dance, that nevertheless contains lovely moments for the solo saxophone and first violin. The final movements portray the climax of this tragedy. Romeo at Juliet’s Grave is the music that accompanies Romeo’s visit to the sleeping Juliet, whom he thinks is dead. It opens with astringent string lines and begins a slow funeral procession. It builds inexorably towards a deep cry of anguish and closes in mood of profound resignation as Romeo drinks his poison and dies next to Juliet’s sleeping body. The same mood continues in DeathofJuliet, as she wakes to find Romeo’s body. Again, the movement build towards a muted climax, with one short bark from the trombone marking the moment when she plunges Romeo’s dagger into her breast (“O happy dagger: this is thy sheath; there rust and let me die.”) before a hushed conclusion.
Complete program notes for the 2024-25 season are available at madisonsymphony.org.
The resident quartet of our award-winning HeartStrings® program, the Rhapsodie Quartet, includes our Co-Concertmaster Suzanne Beia, Principal Violist Christopher Dozoryst, Principal Cellist Karl Lavine, and violinist Laura Burns. United in mission, the members of the quartet create a fusion of talent, passion, and heart in their performances. Discover more: madisonsymphony.org/rhapsodie
TUESDAY, 7:00 PM
OVERTURE CENTER FOR THE ARTS • PROMENADE HALL
Love great music. Find it here.
The spring concert of our 22nd season celebrates the music of Vaughan-Williams and Shostakovich. Come hear the Vaughn-Williams Quintet based on English Folk Songs and the glorious Shostakovich Piano Quintet. This is the perfect way to begin the summertime fun! Sat. May 31, 2025 7:30 PM
First Congregational Church 1609 University Avenue, Madison Tickets at the door: $25/$20
Your Madison Symphony Orchestra’s 100th Anniversary season is on the horizon…
Beginning this fall, your Madison Symphony Orchestra will celebrate a century of joy bringing live music to life. You’ll experience breathtaking moments and memories throughout our 100th season. We’re composing a new future connecting community and expanding musical horizons. Share our love of music. Join us — everyone can be a part of it! The Madison Symphony Orchestra’s 25/26 concert season will take place between October 2025 and May 2026, and will include eight triple-performance subscription concerts featuring orchestral masterpieces performed by our own MSO musicians and world-renowned guest soloists, plus two MSO at the Movies live-to-film concerts and a world premiere commission.
SAVE THE DATES: SUBSCRIPTION CONCERTS 2025 2026
OCT 17-19 BATES | FRANCK | MAHLER
John DeMain, Conductor
Christopher Taylor, Piano
Jeni Houser, Soprano
Emily Fons, Mezzo-Soprano
Madison Symphony Chorus, Beverly Taylor, Director
NOV 21-23 THEOFANIDIS | HADYN | MUSSORGSKY
Guest Conductor
Alban Gerhardt, Cello
DEC 5-7 A MADISON SYMPHONY CHRISTMAS
John DeMain, Conductor
Alexandra LoBianco, Soprano
Kyle Ketelsen, Baritone
Madison Symphony Chorus, Beverly Taylor, Director
Mt. Zion Gospel Choir, Tamera and Leotha Stanley, Directors
Madison Youth Choirs, Michael Ross, Artistic Director
Subscriptions Open in April
Watch for our 25/26 season brochure and email announcement for complete details!
Visit madisonsymphony.org/100 for more.
JAN 23-25 FRANK | STRAUSS | BRAHMS
Guest Conductor
Yefim Bronfman, Piano
FEB 20-22 MENDELSSOHN | KORNGOLD
DEBUSSY | STRAVINSKY
Guest Conductor
Rachel Barton Pine, Violin
MAR 20-22 STRAUSS | MOZART | ORTIZ | RESPIGHI
John DeMain, Conductor
Emanuel Ax, Piano
APR 10-12 LÓPEZ | RODRIGO | SIBELIUS
Guest Conductor
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Guest Artists
MAY 1-3 BEETHOVEN | HEGGIE/SCHEER World Premiere Commission
John DeMain, Conductor
Ailyn Pérez, Soprano
Madison Symphony Chorus, Beverly Taylor, Director
Mt. Zion Gospel Choir, Tamera and Leotha Stanley, Directors
Madison Youth Choirs, Michael Ross, Artistic Director
NOTE: Dates, artists, programs, and prices subject to change. MSO at the Movies are separate from the subscription season. Subscribers can add Movies concerts to their subsciption before single tickets open to the public August 23, 2025
Kyle Knox, Conductor
CENTENNIAL OPENING CELEBRATION
Before the subscription season kicks o in October, we invite you to join us for two very special events on September 19 and 20, 2025.
“Pure Joy Opening Night: Magical Tchaikovsky & Maestro’s Dinner” will include a classical concert featuring the Madison Symphony Orchestra and guest pianist Olga Kern, conducted by John DeMain, at 6:00 p.m. in Overture Hall, followed by a cocktail reception and formal dinner in the Overture Hall Lobby on Friday, September 19. Combo tickets for the concert and dinner are $300 per person. Tickets for the concert only are $30–$100. Sponsorship packages, which include the concert, dinner, and recognition, are also available.*
“Soar with Cirque de la Symphonie & Party into the Night” will bring together the magic of circus arts and our orchestra in Overture Hall on September 20, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. In Cirque goes to the Cinema, Cirque acrobats will perform original choreographed acts while the Madison Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John DeMain, performs music from famous film scores, including Harry Potter and Star Wars (John Williams), Mission Impossible (Lalo Schifrin), The Sting (Scott Joplin), Gladiator (Hans Zimmer), West Side Story (Leonard Bernstein), and more! A lively after-party with food stations, a popular music DJ, and dancing follows the concert. Tickets for the concert only are $30–$100, and the after-party may be purchased for an additional $50. Sponsorship packages, which include the concert, after-party, and recognition, are also available.*
*25/26 symphony season subscribers will have the opportunity to add tickets for these two Centennial Celebration concerts and events to their subscription orders in April, before these events go on sale to the public (subject to availability, in July). As capacity is limited for these events, sponsors who commit before subscriptions go on sale will receive early access. To learn about sponsorship opportunities for the Centennial Celebration events, contact Casey Oelkers, Director of Development, (608) 260-8680 x228.
CENTENNIAL FESTIVAL WEEKEND
Following the conclusion of our 25/26 subscription season, join us for “A Community Gift and Dream — for the Love of Music” June 13-14, 2026
During this free, two-day open house celebration, MSO musicians and diverse community groups will perform on a rotating schedule throughout Overture Center for the Arts. Main stage performances include a Family Concert, and Overture Concert Organ performance on Saturday, and a Madison Symphony Orchestra concert on Sunday. The Sunday concert features some of the “greatest hits” of classical music and a special appearance by Julian Rhee, winner of the 2017 Bolz Young Artist Competition/The Final Forte who is now one of the top violinists in the world. This will be the final concert Maestro John DeMain conducts as our music director.
All performers will be paid for their services, and all performances will be presented free-of-charge to the public a gift to the city of Madison and surrounding areas for their support of the MSO now and into the future. Be
sponsors
thank you to our generous sponsors for supporting these performances
Diane Ballweg
Fred A. Wileman
Carla and Fernando Alvarado
Dr. Thomas and Leslie France
Ann Lindsey, in memory of Chuck Snowdon
Mary Lang Sollinger
with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts
Endowment support for the music library collection is the gift of John & Carolyn Peterson.
The Hamburg Steinway piano is the gift of Peter Livingston and Sharon Stark in memory of Magdalena Friedman.
WELCOME TO THE MSO!
Please silence your electronic devices and cell phones for the duration of the concert. Photography and video are not permitted during the performance. You may take and share photos during applause. Thank you!
program
John DeMain | Music Director 99th Season | Overture Hall | SubscriptionProgram No. 8 Fri., May 9, 7:30 pm | Sat., May 10, 7:30 pm | Sun., May 11, 2:30 pm
John DeMain, Conductor
Philippe Bianconi, Piano
Michelle Johnson, Soprano
Eric Greene, Baritone
Madison Symphony Chorus, Beverly Taylor, Director
GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898-1937) Cuban Overture
GEORGE GERSHWIN Concerto in F Allegro Andante Molto agitato
MR. BIANCONI
INTERMISSION
GEORGE GERSHWIN Porgy and Bess (Concert Versionarr. Robert Russell Bennett) Summertime
A woman is a sometime thing Gone, gone, gone Overflow, overflow My man’s gone now The Promise’ Land I got plenty o’ nuttin’ Bess, you is my woman now O I can’t sit down Ain’t got no shame It ain’t necessarily so There’s a boat dat’s leavin’ Lawd, I’m on my way
MS. JOHNSON
MR. GREENE
SCAN HERE
To access the digital program book for this concert!
MADISON SYMPHONY CHORUS
Philippe Bianconi piano
It is from Italy that he takes his name and the passion concealed within him, which gives him his vibrancy when he is on stage and the passion that overwhelms his audience. Italy sings in him with the colours of its language, so familiar to him, of its Mediterranean exuberance in which his childhood was bathed. But it was in Nice that Philippe Bianconi was born and raised, and it was France that moulded him. Which is why artist and man alike are a blend of poise and ardour, discretion and inner flame, clothed in an elegance and a luminosity that may be read in his presence, in his eyes, and can be savoured when he is at the piano.
As a young man, he progressed by leaps and bounds, propelled into international competitions by Pierre Cochereau as soon as he left the Nice Conservatoire. His career path was marked out from the day he entered the class of Simone Delbert-Février, a student of Marguerite Long and Robert Casadesus. ‘Sing!’, ‘Listen!’: even today, he can still hear the injunctions of that refined, enthusiastic woman, stirred by an inner fire, and he utters them in his turn to the students he trains at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. On the byways of those early years, he met Gaby Casadesus: with her he put the finishing touches to the purity of style, the clarity of musical expression he had cultivated since the start of his musical education.
With the Russian pianist Vitalij Margulis, he found that density of sound which is his alone, and drew from the innermost recesses of the text, from the depths of the harmonies, that expressiveness which he always places at the service of meaning. And then: two birds with one stone! Having won First Prize at the Robert Casadesus Competition in Cleveland, then Second Prize at the Van Cliburn Competition, he triumphed at Carnegie Hall, and his American career was launched Then came Europe, France, the world, in recital or alongside today’s most eminent musicians. And, still following in the footsteps of Gaby and Robert Casadesus, but also of Nadia Boulanger, it was only natural that he should succeed Philippe Entremont as artistic director of the American Conservatory of Fontainebleau for five years.
In concert, the vibration of the air when silence fills the hall is precious to him, liberating and inspiring. He sometimes takes on the most incredible challenges, such as playing the two Brahms concertos in one evening. When he returns to his corner of paradise somewhere in the south, between the sea and the mountains, he remembers his youth, his parents who took him to the opera, and the love for the voice that he felt at a very early age and that will never leave him. He remembers Hermann Prey, whom he met at the age of twenty-two, and Schubert, who brought them together on record and, for eight years, on the great stages of the world, the Wigmore Hall, La Scala, Munich, New York Then his piano sings, breathes, becomes body and soul. And Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, not to mention his beloved French masters, Debussy and Ravel, in sublime abandonment, confide the secrets of their treasures to this musician-poet.
Michelle Johnson
soprano
Michelle Johnson, a soprano of extraordinary talent and acclaim, has captivated audiences worldwide with her mesmerizing performances. As a Grand Prize Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, she has been hailed by critics as “a clear audience favorite,” lauded for her impeccable breath control and velvety voice that effortlessly transports listeners into a realm of musical splendor.
Michelle continued to grace prestigious stages with her exceptional talent in the 2023-2024 season. She enraptured audiences as Tosca with Madison Opera, returned to Chicago Opera Theater in Shostakovich’s The Nose, made her debut with Florentine Opera as Mimì in Labohème, and performed Love Songs for Valentine’s Day concert with Lyric Fest. Closing out the season she returned to the role of Turandot with Opera Delaware.
In the 2022-2023 season, her versatility and artistry was showcased through a series of stellar performances. She portrayed iconic roles such as Tosca with Opera on the James, Mimì in Labohème with Nashville Opera, and Serena in Porgy and Bess with North Carolina Opera and Opera Carolina. Her portrayal of Aida with Opera Grand Rapids and her role debut as Turandot with Opera Southwest further solidified her status as a leading soprano in the opera world.
During Ms. Johnson’s 2021-2022 season, she graced the stage of Boston Lyric Opera, enthralling audiences with her portrayal of Santuzza in CavalleriaRusticana, had a role debut with Opera Columbus as Tosca, portrayed the title role in Aida with Opera Carolina, performed as Mimì in La bohème with the Columbus Symphony, participated in Fort Worth Opera’s Evening of Black Excellence, and returned to Boston Lyric Opera to cover Emelda Griffith in Terence Blanchard’s Champion In the summer of 2022, Johnson ventured into new territory, captivating audiences at Des Moines Metro Opera with her portrayal of Bess in PorgyandBess
Ms. Johnson has also made a name for herself as one of the most in demand Aida’s in the opera world today, performing Verdi’s tragic heroine with Glimmerglass Music Festival, Opera Santa Barbara, Opera Columbus, Knoxville Opera, Opera Idaho, and Sarasota Opera, among others.
A favorite of many houses, past opera credits include Madame Lidoine in Poulenc’s DialoguesdesCarmélites, Santuzza in CavalleriaRusticana, Leonora in Iltrovatore, Minnie in LaFanciulladelWest, Élisabeth de Valois in Don Carlos, the title role in ManonLescaut, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, the title role in SuorAngelica, Zemfira in Aleko, Leonora in Oberto, the Countess in Capriccio, and Alice Ford in Falstaff Adept in verismo repertoire as well, Ms. Johnson performed the title roles in the rarely performed Sakuntala and Fedora with Teatro Grattacielo.
Beyond the opera stage, Michelle shines as a concert artist, captivating audiences with her luminous voice and emotive performances. Highlights include her renditions of Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Vaughan Williams’ Donanobispacem, and Strauss’ Vierletzte Lieder with esteemed orchestras worldwide. She has also collaborated with renowned conductors for special concerts, including an all-French Opera concert with Maestro Michel Plasson in Montpellier, France, and an all-Verdi concert with The Princeton Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Rossen Milanov.
A distinguished alumna of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Boston University Opera Institute, and New England Conservatory, Johnson’s talent has been recognized with prestigious awards from organizations such as the William Matheus Sullivan Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, and the Giulio Gari Foundation.
Eric Greene baritone
Grammy award-winning American baritone Eric Greene’s current and future engagements include Benny “Kid” Paret in Terence Blanchard’s Champion at the Metropolitan Opera, Escamillo in Carmen at theLiceu Barcelona, return to London as Nicholas Lofte in Itch, a new opera by Jonathan Dove, as well as join the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden for Rigoletto on tour to Japan. In concert, current projects include Porgy and Bess at theMusikfest Bremen and at the Quincena Musical of San Sebastian, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at theLa Fondazione Arturo Toscanini with Fabio Luisi conducting, Dallapiccola’s Il prigioniero (title role) with the London Symphony Orchestra with Mo. Pappano conducting, and The Word/Voice of God in Dett’s Ordering of Moses with theCincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and at Carnegie Hall.
Most recent engagements include Wotan in Das Rheingold with theCity of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Rigoletto (title role) at the Opera North, Porgy in Porgy and Bess at the Theater an der Wien and the English National Opera, Monterone in Rigoletto at theRoyal Opera House, Covent Garden (debut),Richard Nixon in Nixon in China at the Scottish Opera, Amonasro in Aida at the Opera North, Mozart’s Requiem with theCincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with theCBSO, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, the leading role of Oberon in Hans Gefors‘
Der Park at theMalmö Opera, Trinity Moses in Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny at theSalzburger Landestheater, BILL in Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny at theTeatro dell’opera di Roma, Henry Davis in Weill’s Street Scene at theTeatro Real, the leading role of Janitor in Tansy Davies’ Between Worlds (world premiere) at the English National Opera at the Barbican, Donner in Das Rheingold and Gunther in Götterdämmerung at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Crown in Porgy and Bess at theLyric Opera of Chicago, the Atlanta Opera, the Sydney Symphony and the Spoleto Festival, Porgy and Bess Suite at theTeatro Nacional de São Carlos Lisbon, The Knife of Dawn (world premiere) at the Roundhouse, Ivan Khovansky in Khovanshschina, Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas and Segismundo in Jonathan Dove’s Life is a Dream (world premiere) at the Birmingham Opera, Billy Bigelow in Carousel at theOpera North at the Barbican, Gunther in Götterdämmerung at the Opera North, Esxamillo in Carmen at thePortland Opera, Queequeg in Moby Dick at theWashington National Opera, Melot in Tristan und Isolde at theCasals Festival with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra.
Additionally, Eric Greene made debuts around the world with noted companies such as Opéra Comique, the Granada International Festival, Grand Théâtre Luxembourg, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos Lisbon, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Washington National Opera, Santa Fe Symphony, and the Los Angeles Opera as Jake in Porgy and Bess
Other performances have included Escamillo in Carmen at the Virginia Opera, Robert Garner in Danielpour’s Margaret Garner (world premiere) at the Michigan Opera Theater, the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Opera Carolina, Escamillo in La Tragédie de Carmen at theAugusta Opera, Soloist in Kirke Mechem’s Songs to the Slave and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem at theBel Canto Chorus Milwaukee, and Soloist in Richard Danielpour’s Pastime at Northwestern University.
program notes
May 9-10-11, 2025
program notes by J.
Michael Allsen
Our 99th season closes with an all-Gershwin program. During the summer of 1932, George Gershwin took a vacation in Havana, where he fell in love with the vivacious dance music of the Cuban capital. His Cuban Overture uses a rumba rhythm throughout, as a background to his own irrepressible musical themes. Over the course of six previous performances in Madison, pianist Philippe Bianconi has forged a special relationship with Maestro DeMain and the orchestra. Works he has played here include the Fauré Ballade and Ravel ConcertoinG Major (2001), Prokofiev Concerto No. 3 (2003), Rachmaninoff Rhapsody onaThemeofPaganini (2010), Beethoven Concerto No. 4 (2012), Brahms Concerto No. 2 (2013), and Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3 (2017). At this program he performs Gershwin’s masterful Concertoin F. To close, we have a wonderful concert version of PorgyandBess, with singers Michelle Johnson and Eric Greene and the Madison Symphony Chorus. Porgy andBess is, of course, something of a “signature piece” for John DeMain: he estimates that since 1976, he has conducted it on stage over 400 times!
From Tin Pan Alley to the concert hall George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York, into a RussianJewish family. When the family bought a piano in 1910, young George was immediately smitten, and began to teach himself to play. By 1914, he quit school and went to work in Tin Pan Alley, New York’s famous songwriting district. Gershwin worked as a pianist and a “song-plugger” for a successful publisher, recording player piano rolls of the latest hits. Before long, he was writing his own songs, and in 1919 scored a huge hit with Swanee, which was popularized by the ruling
King of Broadway, Al Jolson. George began to make a name for himself as a Broadway composer, and beginning in 1921, collaborated frequently with his brother Ira, a successful lyricist. Gershwin loved celebrity, and would seek the center of attention in any group. There are many stories about how, at any party, he would sit at the piano as soon as he arrived, and play brilliant improvisations on his own songs for hours.
Though he was becoming famous as a musician, Gershwin also realized the limitations of his own largely self-taught musical background, and continued to seek out formal lessons on piano and composition. He was well aware of the gulf between Popular and Classical styles and wrote several early pieces that went beyond the standardized popular song form. His first public attempt at what he referred to as “serious” music was Blue Monday, a short opera produced as part of George White’s Scandalsof 1922. The Scandals shows were fairly typical 1920s Broadway revues—lots of feather-light music and even lighterclad showgirls, and very little plot. BlueMonday, inspired in part by the literature of the burgeoning Harlem Renaissance (though it was presented in blackface), was a rather depressing little story about a gambler’s hard luck. It was presented at the opening performance of Scandals, to mixed reviews, and was promptly yanked from the show. Despite this early frustration, Gershwin continued a career that had two tracks. He was best known in his day for his popular work on Broadway, and later in Hollywood, but continued to write “serious” musical works throughout his career. The three works on our program are a cross-section of “classical” Gershwin, showing his development as a composer in the most productive decade of his life, 1925-1935.
The Cuban Overture, one of Gershwin’s finest orchestral pieces, dates from 1932, when he was at the peak of his fame.
George Gershwin
Born: September 26, 1898, Brooklyn, New York.
Died: July 11, 1937, Los Angeles, California.
Cuban Overture
Composed: 1932.
Premiere: It was performed for the first time at an all-Gershwin concert at Lewison Stadium in New York on August 16, 1932.
Previous MSO Performance: 1963, 1993, 1996, and 2012.
Duration: 10:00.
Background
For much of the early 20th century, particularly during the years of Prohibition, Havana served as a playground for wealthy Americans. Gershwin’s Cuban Overture was inspired by his vacation there in 1932.
By 1932, Gershwin was at the pinnacle of his popularity. He and his brother Ira were among the most successful composer/lyricist teams on Broadway, and he had earned respect from classical musicians with concert works like Rhapsody in Blue and the Concerto in F. During the early summer of 1932, he took a vacation in Havana, staying for a few weeks of parties and good times. Gershwin was fascinated by the vivacious dance music of the Cuban capital, and came back to New York with a suitcase full of Cuban percussion instruments—maracas, bongos, claves, and guiros. It was perfectly natural that he would absorb this Cuban influence in a concert work. In August, he completed a brief orchestral work titled Rumba, now universally known as the CubanOverture. The rumba rhythm, or clave, the basis of most AfroCuban dance music, appears here in a simplified form, as the musical basis of this composition.
What You’ll Hear
Underlying much of this work is the rumba, an African-derived rhythm that is the heartbeat of most Afro-Cuban music.
Prior to composing the Cuban Overture, Gershwin spent a few months studying composition and musical form with Joseph Schillinger. His studies with Schillinger—a precise, mathematically-minded music theorist—may explain the rather dry, academic tone Gershwin adopts in the program note he wrote for the first performance:
“The first part (Moderato e Molto Ritornato) is preceded by a (forte) introduction featuring some of the thematic material. Then comes a three part contrapuntal episode leading to a second theme. The first part finishes with a recurrence of the first theme combined with fragments of the second. A solo clarinet cadenza leads to a middle part, which is in a plaintive mood. It is a gradually developing canon in a polytonal manner. This part concludes with a climax based upon an ostinato of the theme in the canon, after which a sudden change in tempo brings us back to the rumba dance rhythms. The finale is a development of the preceding material in a stretto-like manner. This leads us back again to the main theme. The conclusion of the work is a Coda featuring the Cuban instruments of percussion.”
Despite the tone of Gershwin’s description, there is nothing dry or academic about the music. The introduction and first main section are dominated by the trumpets and even more prominently by the percussion. In a note to the score, Gershwin directs that the “Cuban instruments of percussion” are, quite literally, to take center stage—right in front of the conductor. Gershwin’s quieter and “more plaintive” middle section has sensuous woodwind and string lines. At the conclusion, Gershwin turns up the heat and volume a bit further, returning to the opening theme, and bringing the percussion even more to the fore.
Writing this work on the heels of his tremendously successful Rhapsody in Blue, Gershwin
clearly had something to prove: that he was to be taken seriously as a classical composer.
Concerto in F
Composed: 1925.
Premiere: Gershwin was the soloist at the premiere in New York City’s Carnegie Hall on December 3, 1925.
There were sour notes from critics and others, but as always, the best answer to critics is success: the Concerto in F has become one of the most popular of all American piano concertos.
The premiere of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in February 1924 was a career-making event for the young composer. Gershwin was successful as a songwriter, and he and his lyricist brother Ira were already recognized as a great Broadway team. The Rhapsody was played on part of a lengthy concert staged by bandleader Paul Whiteman, and was clearly the hit of the concert. Among the musical notables present was Walter Damrosch, conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra. Damrosch almost immediately approached Gershwin with a commission for a new work to be titled NewYorkConcerto. Gershwin accepted of course, but the prospect of writing a concerto was daunting. In particular, he was inexperienced in orchestration—this was something that he nearly always delegated in his Broadway scores, and Whiteman’s staff arranger Ferde Grofé had done nearly all of the orchestration for Rhapsody inBlue. But Gershwin, who worked all his life for respectability in the world of what he termed “serious” music, had something to prove, later writing: “Many persons had thought that the Rhapsody was only a happy accident.
Well, I went out, for one thing, to show them that there was more where that came from.” Gershwin worked on the concerto through the summer and fall of 1925, spending as much time on it as he could afford. (He was also writing two different Broadway shows at the same time.) Among other things, he was determined to orchestrate the piece himself.
Gershwin was the soloist at the premiere performance on December 3, 1925, in Carnegie Hall. A name change—from NewYorkConcerto to the more academic Concerto inF—was Gershwin’s idea and seems to have reflected his desire for acceptance as a Classical composer. Reviews ranged from enthusiastic to condescending to hostile, and Gershwin suffered a brutal post-concert snub by Russian composer Alexander Glazunov, whose fifth symphony was on the same program. They met backstage and Gershwin enthusiastically expressed a desire to study orchestration with Glazunov. Glazunov frostily replied (through a translator) that Gershwin hadn’t even mastered the basics of counterpoint. However, Damrosch was delighted with the piece and so were audiences. The ConcertoinF, a far more ambitious work than the Rhapsody, has become the most successful of all American piano concertos.
What You’ll Hear
The concerto is laid out in three movements:
• An opening movement set in sonata form.
• A bluesy slow movement.
• A fierce finale, which brings back reminiscences of the previous two moments
Many critics immediately placed the label “jazz concerto” on the work, but Gershwin resisted this, arguing that the work used “...certain jazz rhythms which are worked out in a more or less symphonic manner.” There are certainly moments that refer
to 1920s jazz—the muted trumpet in the second movement or the dance rhythms of the first—but the concerto’s musical form owes more to the classical concerto than to jazz. The opening movement (Allegro) is in a rigorously classical sonata form, beginning with an exposition that carefully lays out the main thematic material. The themes themselves are clearly influenced by jazz, however: a syncopated melody that uses the rhythm of the Charleston—the most popular dance of the day—and a lighter, highly syncopated theme. In the development section, strings introduce a lush new idea that is given a broad treatment by the piano and orchestra. The main themes of the opening return, now with flashy piano ornamentation, and the movement ends with a brilliant coda.
Gershwin, who was occasionally a bit pedantic in writing about his more “classical” works described the mood of the second movement (Andante) as “...a poetic nocturnal atmosphere which has come to be referred to as the American blues.” The opening of this “night music” is given over to a muted trumpet, which lays out a long bluesy melody, before the piano plays a more animated version of the same theme. The rest of the movement develops rather freely, with a passionate string theme acting as a kind of refrain. In the end, there is a grand climax before the opening theme returns, now in the flute.
Gershwin called the finale (Molto agitato) an “orgy of rhythm.” It follows directly on the heels of the second movement with a cymbal crash and an aggressive rhythmic burst from the orchestra. This highly percussive music is quickly picked up and developed by the piano. There are reminiscences of the first two movements worked into the texture, but they now have a more heavily rhythmic character. The climax of the movement is signaled by an enormous gong crash and a grand reprise of the first movement’s string theme. It ends with a final statement of the aggressive music of the opening.
For the first time, we are using a newlypublished (2021) critical edition from the Gershwin Initiative at the University of Michigan, edited by Gershwin scholar Timothy Freeze. According to the Initiative:
“While readily accessible in print and recordings, the work of George and Ira Gershwin too often circulates in scores and performance parts that contain notational errors, inconsistencies, and even well intended but heavy handed editorial ‘improvements’ that cannot be distinguished from the Gershwins’ own performance instructions.”
We are proud to present this new, more authentic version of the Concertoin F at these concerts.
Porgy and Bess is arguably Gershwin’s masterpiece: not only was it a skillful blend of opera, Broadway, and several Black styles, and it also treated its Black characters as fullyfleshed individuals, among the first sympathetic portrayals of African Americans on the American stage.
Porgy and Bess (Concert Version - arr. Robert Russell Bennett) Composed: The score for Porgy and Bess was completed in September of 1935. The “concert version” heard here was prepared in 1956 Premiere: The stage premiere took place in Boston, on September 30, 1935. The version heard here was first performed in New Haven, CT, on June 26, 1956.
Previous MSO Performance: 2002 and 2012. Duration: 40:00.
Background
Gershwin collaborated closely with author DuBose Heyward, and ultimately with his brother Ira to create the opera.
The beginnings of Porgy and Bess date to 1926, when Gershwin read DuBose Heyward’s Porgy—a novel inspired by characters and situations Heyward observed in the Black community of his home town, Charleston, SC. The title character was based directly on Goat Sammy, a disabled Black man who got around on a goat-drawn cart. The setting for the novel, Catfish Row, was a fictionalized version of Cabbage Row, a cluster of shabby tenements in Charleston. Gershwin—who had already tried to create an opera with Black characters in his unsuccessful BlueMonday—quickly wrote to Heyward proposing a collaboration. Heyward was politely interested, but it would be nearly six years before Gershwin would return to the work. In the meantime, in 1927, Heyward and his wife Dorothy produced a successful stage version of Porgy that ran for some 369 performances in New York. Their play included several spirituals and other musical material, but Gershwin had something much more elaborate in mind.
Gershwin and Heyward renewed their correspondence in 1932, but work did not begin until the end of 1933. Heyward was uncomfortable in New York, and Gershwin was too busy to leave, so much of their collaboration was carried on by mail and telegram. Eventually Ira Gershwin was brought into the project. Ira was responsible for the majority of the song lyrics, though Heyward was solely responsible for one of the show’s finest songs, Summertime Eventually, George did make a trip to Charleston in the summer of 1934 to try to get the local flavor right and to hear the Gullah dialect that is so much a part of Heyward’s novel and libretto. Gershwin and the Heywards spent a few weeks together on Folly Island, one of the Barrier Islands outside Charleston. He had to return to New York in the fall, but their longdistance collaboration continued, and Gershwin began to create a score for Heyward’s libretto.
By the end of 1934, Gershwin was looking for a producer and beginning to cast the production. Both Gershwin and Heyward agreed that Porgy andBess was to be a serious work, produced with an all-Black cast, dealing in a sympathetic and realistic way with its characters. At the time, African American singers were excluded from the operatic stage: Marian Anderson, possibly the finest alto of the day, had not appeared on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera. African American characters were also largely absent from Broadway, and when they were there, it was still routine for these characters to be played in blackface, the ugly legacy of the old minstrel show tradition. Broadway star Al Jolson—who made Gershwin a star years earlier singing Swanee in blackface—at one point tried to leverage Heyward’s Porgy as a star vehicle for himself. All-Black shows like InDahomey and Shuffle Along had occasionally made it on to Broadway, but these were far from the mainstream. Kern & Hammerstein’s ShowBoat of 1927 was one of the only hit musicals to feature an integrated cast and realistic Black characters.
Rehearsals went well, though there were some troubles with John W. Bubbles, the vaudeville dancer chosen for the shady Sporting Life— Bubbles seems to have more or less typecast for the role. According to the usual practice for musicals, Porgyand Bess was given a tryout performance in Boston before settling in on Broadway, though the cast did give an unstaged run-through at Carnegie Hall first. Reaction to these preliminary performances was everything they could have hoped for. One Boston reviewer wrote that Gershwin: “… has travelled a long way from Tin Pan Alley. He must now be accepted as a serious composer.” There had been some rumors of a place for Porgyand Bess at the Metropolitan Opera, but when it was produced in New York it was on Broadway, at the Alvin Theater, where it opened on October 10. The New York audience was just as
enthusiastic as the Boston audience had been, but the reviews ran from lukewarm to savage: the Kiss of Death for a Broadway production. Porgy andBess closed after a respectable, but hardly profitable run of 124 performances. Though several of the individual songs quickly became wellknown, Gershwin did not live long enough to see his proudest creation universally acclaimed as one of the masterworks of American music.
Gershwin seems to have been a bit uncomfortable about Porgyand Bess’s “operatic” nature: he described it as “folk opera.” Several critics charged that Gershwin had simply created a somewhat dressed-up and pretentious Broadway show, grouped around a series of popular-style songs. Gershwin answered by stating: “It is true that I have written songs [as opposed to arias] for PorgyandBess. I am not ashamed of writing songs at any time so long as they are good songs.” His use of recitative and his sophisticated use of the orchestra were certainly closer to the operatic world than anything else on Broadway at the time. Like Bernstein’s WestSide Story some twenty years later, Porgy andBess was a sophisticated blend of both traditions.
What You’ll Hear
Bennett’s “concert version” of Porgy and Bess heard here closely follows the original story and the music.
The great Broadway/Hollywood orchestrator—and frequent Gershwin collaborator—Robert Russell Bennett prepared the standard “concert version” heard here. By 1956, Bennett had already created a frequentlyprogrammed orchestral “Symphonic Picture” on the opera, but here he leaves Gershwin’s score largely intact, bringing together the best-known moments of Porgy and Bess with a few connective passages and edits. In this concert version, the main female roles (Clara, Serena, and Bess) will be sung by Ms. Johnson and the male roles (Porgy, Jake, and Sporting Life) will be
sung by Mr. Greene.
Synopsis
After a brief introduction, a young mother named Clara sings a lullaby, Summertime, to her baby boy. Her husband, Jake, is nearby shooting craps, and he takes the baby and sings his own sarcastic lullaby, A womanis a sometime thing. Tempers flare at the game, and a fight between Crown and Robbins ends in Robbins’s death. Crown and his girlfriend Bess go into hiding. The only person on Catfish Row who will take in Bess is Porgy, who secretly loves her. The next scene is in the home of Serena, Robbins’s widow, where mourners are paying their respects (Gone, gone, gone). There is a conflict between Serena and Bess, who shows up with Porgy. When Porgy urges everyone to help the widow, the mourners sing Overflow, overflow, trying to drum up more money for the collection plate. After a detective arrives to investigate the murder, Serena sings a heartfelt lament about her husband’s death, Myman’sgonenow. The act closes as Bess leads the community in a spiritual, The Promise’ Land.
Act II begins with preparations for a church picnic, and Porgy cheerfully singing I gotplenty o’ nuttin’ at his window. Sporting Life, a pimp and cocaine dealer shows up, and tries to convince Bess to come to New York with him. Porgy overhears and chases Sporting Life away, and then he and Bess sing the opera’s great love duet, Bess,youismywomannow Everyone on Catfish Row except for Porgy boats to Kittiwah Island for the picnic, and the community sings and dances to a couple of spirituals, OI can’tsitdown and Ain’tgotnoshame. Sporting Life then puts a damper on the party when he makes fun of their beliefs in the brilliantly sarcastic Itain’t necessarilyso. As everyone leaves for home that evening, Crown, who has been hiding out on the island, comes out of the bushes, and forces Bess to stay with him. She makes it back to Catfish Row a few days later, and begs for Porgy’s help. The act ends with a
disastrous hurricane. At the height of the storm, Crown appears. He beats Porgy and boasts about his hold over women before leaving.
The final act begins with a devastated community cleaning up in the aftermath of a hurricane and trying to soothe Clara, whose husband was one of several fishermen killed in the storm. Crown appears once more, and sneaks towards Porgy’s house, intending to murder him, but Porgy reaches out of the window and strangles Crown. A day later, the detective arrives to investigate, and takes Porgy away. While Porgy is gone, Sporting Life again tries to talk Bess into coming to New York (There’s a boat dat’s leavin’). While she is insulted by Sporting Life’s insinuations, she eventually follows him. Porgy returns a week later, having beaten the charge, to find that Bess is gone. He gets into his
goat cart, and resolves to head north to rescue Bess and bring her home. The opera closes as he and the entire community sing Lawd, I’m on my way.
Complete program notes for the 2024-25 season are available at madisonsymphony.org.
Piano Specialists
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Join us for an exciting summer benefit for the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Education and Community Engagement Programs. A reception begins at 5:00 p.m. with passed hors d’oeuvres and cash bar, followed by a 50-minute “HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD” concert at 6:00 p.m. by members of the Madison Symphony Orchestra led by Maestro John DeMain. The program features selections from beloved Hollywood music and a youth guest artist. An elegant plated dinner will follow the concert. Participate in a live auction and end the evening with a cocktail in hand as you enjoy a lovely sunset over the lake! Learn more: madisonsymphony.org/sunset
MADISON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA LEAGUE
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The Madison Symphony Orchestra and our affiliate organizations rely on generous donor support to fund the fulfillment of the Symphony’s mission each year. We gratefully acknowledge all individual donors for their gifts and sponsorships to the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Symphony Orchestra League, and/or Friends of the Overture Concert Organ. Donors are listed according to the total amount of their monetary donations supporting the 2024-2025 Season* as of February 17, 2025.
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Charlotte & Claude Woods
Todd Wurth
George A. Zagorski
Six Anonymous Friends
$250–$499
Julius & Hildegard Adler
Derek Aimonetto & Glenn Rowe
Lyle J. Anderson
Sally E. Anderson
George Austin & Martha Vukelich-Austin
Dennis & Beverly Ball
Charles & Elizabeth Barnhill
Rose Barroilhet
Christine K. Beatty
Jim & Eugenia Beecher
Linda & Howard Bellman
James & Sharon Berkner
Patricia Bernhardt
Michael Betlach
Robert & Donna Betzig
Terry Bloom & Prudy Stewart
Dorothy A. Blotz
Miriam & Brian Boegel
Daniel & Stacey Bormann
Robert & Mary Brod
Claudia & David Brown
Charles & Joanne Bunge
Mary & Ken Buroker
Larry & Mary Kay Burton
Margaret Butler & Dennis Lloyd
David & Sarah Canon
Alexis M. Carreon
Bryan Chan
Evonna Cheetham
Birgit Christensen & Paul Rabinowitz
Sam Coe
Linda Cohn & Gary Miller
Bonnie Conway
James Conway & Kathy Trace
Ruth N. Dahlke
James & Edith Davison
Daniel & Lavonne Dettmers
Geke de Vries & Herman Felstehausen
Carla & Michael Di Iorio
Russell & Janis Dixon
Paula K. Doyle
Eve Drury & Peter Beatty
Katrina Dwinell & Jane Oman
Timothy & Mary Ellestad
John Emanuel
David Falk & JoAnne Robbins
Victoria Fine
Marshall & Linda Flowers
Bobbi Foutch-Reynolds & Jim Reynolds
Mary Frantz
Paul Fritsch & Jim Hartman
Alan & Kathy Garant
Fr. C. Lee & Edith M. Gilbertson
Chuck & Joyce Grapentine
Dianne Greenley
Joel & Jacquie Greiner
Vicki & Alan Hamstra
Eileen Hanneman & Larry Sromovsky
Margaret Harrigan
John Hayward & Susan Roehlk
John & Sarah Helgeson
Allan Hins
Les & Susan Hoffman
James & Cindy Hoyt
Barbara S. Hughes
Margaret & Paul Irwin
Paul Kent
Vance & Betty Kepley
Charlene Kim
Patricia King
Connie Kinsella & Marc Eisen
Robert Klassy
Chris & Marge Kleinhenz
Sharon Klietsch
Doug Knudson & Judith Lyons
James Krikelas
Polly & Jim Kuelbs
Roger & Sherry Lepage
Peggy Lescrenier
Gary Lewis & Ken Sosinski
Leon Lindberg
Richard & Jean Lottridge
Richard & Judy Loveless
Joan Lundin
John & Mary Madigan
Cheryl Mahaffay
Garrick & Susan Maine
Karl & Vel Marquardt
Keith McDonald
Julie McGivern & Tom Smith
Douglas & Linda McNeel
Doris Mergen
Ken Mericle & Mindy Taranto
Janet E. Mertz & Jonathan M. Kane
Kathleen & Richard Miller
Wendy Moeller
Carla Moore
Lauri D. Morris & James R. Cole
Ann & David Moyer
Margaret Murphy
Bill & De Nelson
Ron & Jan Opelt
David Parminter
Zachary Picknell
Sue Poullette
Gary & Lanette Price
Stephen Pudloski & Elizabeth Ament
Donald & Roz Rahn
Sherry Reames
Jane Reynolds
Josann Reynolds
John K. Rinehart
John Rose & Brian Beaber
Fred & Mary Ross
Madeline Sall
Matthew & Linda Sanders
Don & Barb Sanford
Gary & Barbara Schultz
Ann & Gary Scott
Daniel & Gail Shea
Victoria L. Sheldon
Carolin Showers
John Sims
Curt & Jane Smith
Kathy & Gabor Speck
Carol Spiegel
Chris & Sara Staszak
James & Christina Steinbach
Andrew & Erika Stevens
Karla Stoebig
David Stone
Elaine Strassburg
Kurt Studt
Ulrika Swanson
Martha Taylor & Gary Antoniewicz
Karen & Russell Tomar
Janet Vetrovec
Nancy Vedder-Shults & Mark Shults
Arnold & Ellen Wald
John & Janine Wardale
Scott Weber & Martha Barrett
Cleo & Judy Weibel
Urban Wemmerlöv & Mary Beth Schmalz
John Wendt & Kathryn Kleckner
Mark Westover
Willis & Heijia Wheeler
William White
Judy Whitemarsh
Patricia Hable Zastrow
Thomas & Karen Zilavy
Debra Zillmer & Daniel Leaver
Four Anonymous Friends
$50–$249
Joe Aas & Nancy Morris
Jonathan Accola
Jason & Erin Adamany
Simeon Alder
Stuart & Bonnie Allbaugh
Steve & Jan Alpert
Barbara Anderson
Scott Anderson
Reed & Jan Andrew
Helene Androski & Larry Gray
Rita Applebaum
SAVE THE DATES FOR OUR 25/26 ORGAN
Thursday, October 2
Tuesday, November 18 2025
2026
Tuesday, February 24
Tuesday, March 31
Discover more: madison symphony .org/ 25-26organ
Love great music. Find it here.
FREE HUNT QUARTET PERFORMANCE ARTS + LITERATURE LABORATORY
THURSDAY, 7:00 PM
The Hunt Quartet is the resident string quartet of the MSO’s nationally-recognized Up Close & Musical® program, designed to bring the power and beauty of classical music into elementary school classrooms throughout Dane County. Discover more about this program! The quartet, consisting of violinists Paran Amirinazari and Hillary Hempel, violist Jennifer Paulson, and cellist Trace Johnson, also performs recitals that are free and open to the public.nd violinist Laura Burns. United in mission, the members of the quartet create a fusion of talent, passion, and heart in their performances. Discover more: madisonsymphony.org/hunt
Celebrating 20 Years of the MSO’s
Hamburg Steinway Piano
The Gift of Peter Livingston & Sharon Stark in memory of Magdalena Friedman
In anticipation of the opening of Overture Hall in 2004, first-time MSO donors Peter Livingston and Sharon Stark agreed to underwrite the cost of a new nine-foot Steinway grand, selected from the Steinway factory in Hamburg, Germany. Music Director John DeMain, his wife Barbara and the donors traveled to the Steinway factory in Hamburg in March 2004 to select the new piano. During the trip, renowned German pianist Matthias Kirschnereit assisted DeMain in selecting the perfect instrument. The donors gave this special gift to the MSO in memory of Peter’s mother, Magdalena Friedman.
Adapted from J. Michael Allsen’s “A Century of the Madison Symphony Orchestra”
We are ever grateful to Peter (d. 2023) and Sharon for this magnificent instrument that our audiences have heard played so beautifully in Overture Hall for the past 20 years.
Photo credit: Peter Rodgers
Harry & Linda Argue
Joshua Arnold
Livia Asher
Gary Bakken
Leigh Barker Cheesebro
Elizabeth Barnum
Allan Beatty
Pat Behling & Ginger Anderle
Bruce Bengtson
Niles & Linda Berman
Kerry Berns & Joseph Rossmeissl
Lynn & Cheryl Binnie
Jake & Philip Blavat
Bruce & Gwen Bosben
Yvonne Bowen
Betty Braden
Steven Braithwait
Judith E. Brauer
Waltraud Brinkmann
Lou & Nancy Bruch
Bob & Virginia Bryan
Alexis Buchanan & James Baldwin
Kevin & Tracey Buhr
Tim & Val Burland
Walter Burt & Deborah Cardinal
Julie Buss
Heather Butler & Mark Zipperer
Ronald & Elizabeth Butler
Robert Butz & Susan Alexander
Ann Campbell
Stephen P. Carlton & Virginia L. Carlton
Jeanne & Uriah Carpenter
David & Vicki Cary
Mary Caulfield
Rick Chandler & Heidi Pankoke
Susan Christensen
Randall & Pamela Clouse
Richard & Virginia Connor
Jane Considine
Barbara Constans
Thomas Corbett
The Corden Family
Ed & Vicki Cothroll
Sheila Coyle
Kathy Cramer & John Hart
Stan & Debbie Cravens
Randall Crow & Patricia Kerr
John Daane
Nanette Dagnon
Beverly Dahl
Gary Davis & James Woods
Suzanne Davis
Sally A. Davis
Dr. Lucy Dechene
Gina Degiovanni
Laura & Erik Dent
Jeannine & Edouard Desautels
Danielle & Jeanette Devereaux-Weber
Zach DeVries
Joel Diemer
Ulrike Dieterle
Donalea Dinsmore
Dan & Carole Doeppers
James Donahue & Maria Mascola
Meranda Dooley
Rosemary M. Dorney
Sue Dornfeld
John & Molly Dowling
Sabine Droste
Richard & Doris Dubielzig
Katy & Edward Dueppen
Adrienne & Luke Eberhardy
Kenneth Edenhauser
Barbara G. Eggleston
Alan & Ramona Ehrhardt
Susan E. Eichhorn
Ann Ellingboe
Phyllis Ermer
Jane Esser
Johanna Fabke
Elizabeth Fadell
Douglas & Carol Fast
Phillip & Deborah Ferris
Lorna Filippini & Clyde Paton
Peter Fisher & Cyndy Galloway
Emily & Milton Ford
John & Signe Frank
Raelene & LisaAnn Freitag
Janet & Byron Frenz
Dena & Casey Frisch
James Fromm
Greg & Clare Gadient
Kenneth & Molly Gage
Susan Gandley
Russell & Suzanne Gardner
Jill Gaskell
Laurie Gauper
Charles & Janet Gietzel
Pauline Gilbertson & Peter Medley
Joan Gilbertson
Lynn & Peter Gilbertson-Burke
Carl & Peggy Glassford
William & Sharon Goehring
Michael G. Goldsberry
Raj & Parvathi Gopal
William & Marilyn Gorham
Jane & Paul Graham
Barbara Grajewski & Michael Slupski
Sam Gratz
Philip Greenwood
David Griffeath & Catherine Loeb
Courtney Grimm
Dale & Linda Gutman
Magdalene Hagedorn
Bob & Beverly Haimerl
Jan Benjamin Hall & Jane E.L. Hall
Thomas & Vicki Hall
Jane Hallock & William Wolfort
William Hansen
Mary & Donald Harkness
Paul Haskew & Nancy Kendrick
Bob & Dianna Haugh
H. William & Susan Hausler
Dan Hayes
Betty B. Hayward
Gregg Heatley & Julie James
Cheryl Heiliger
Nona Hill & Clark Johnson
William & Sara Lee Hinckley
Michael Hinden & Betsy Draine
Bill & Andrea Hixon
Michael Hobbs & Sherry Boozer-Hobbs
Jennifer Hockers
Seth Hoff
Ryan Hoffland & Heidi Bardenhagen
Paul & Debra Hoffman
Kurt Hornig & Alfredo Sotomayor
Roger & Glenda Hott
Peter & Candace Huebner
Robert & Ellen Hull
Linda & Jeff Huttenburg
John & Karen Icke
Frank Iltis
Mark & Catherine Isenberg
Anna January
Karen Jeatran
Kathleen Jeffords
Greg & Doreen Jensen
Paul & Sarah Johnsen
Aaron & Sarah Johnson
Dan & Janet Johnson
Doug & Kathy Johnson
Jill Johnson
Theresa & Pell Johnson
Conrad & Susan Jostad
Corliss & Bill Karasov
Estelle Katz
Virginia Kaufman
Joseph Kay
Arlan Kay
Delwyn Keane & Michael Livesey
Kristine Kennedy
Duane & JoAnn Kexel
Melissa Keyes & Ingrid Rothe
Bruce & Rita Kilmer
Noël Marie & Steven Klapper
James Kleeman
Robert & Judy Knapp
Daniel Knepper
Laurie & Gus Knitt
Mary Jo Kopecky
Steven Koslov
Kevin & Theresa Kovach
Eric Kramer
Joanna Kramer Fanney
Mark Kremer
Keith & Mary Krinke
Ann Kruger
Kathleen K. & Richard R. Kuhnen
Merilyn Kupferberg
Pierre & Laurie La Plante
Ann Lacy
John & Marie LaFontaine
Paul Lambert & Anne Griep
William Lane
Robert Lang
Mary & Steve Langlie
Jim Larkee
Mark Larson
Carl & Jerilyn Laurino
Laurie Laz & Jim Hirsch
Lewis & Judy Leavitt
Richard & Lynn Leazer
Julius Lee
Jane & Benny Leonard
Steve & Karen Limbach
Carol M. Lorenz
Judith A. Louer
Cynthia & Richard Lovell
Doug & Mary Loving
Kathy Luker
Gloria Lundquist
Ross & Kathy Lyman
Frank & Nancy Maersch
Erica & Kinjal Majumder
Grigori & Anna Manouilov
Richard Margolis
James & Eileen Marshall
Jeanne Marshall
Barbara C. Martin
Ruth & Bob Martin
Bruce Matthews & Eileen Murphy
Gordon & Janet McChesney
Jan L. McCormick
Paul & Jane McGann
Cecile McManus
Tracy Melin & Stephen Klick
Lori J. Merriam
Dale Meyer
Charlotte M. Meyer
Keith Meyer & Emily Auerbach
Roberta Meyer
Mark Micek & Sarah Bahauddin
Sigurd Midelfort
James & Mary Miedaner
Marilyn & Peter Meiss
Linda Miller
Margaret & Paul Miller
Mark Miller & Terry Sizer
Thomas Miller
Wendy Miller
Rolf & Judith Mjaanes
R. Patrick & Laura Morelli
Jennifer Morgan
Terry Morrison
Gary & Carol Moseson
Bruce Muckerheide & Robert Olson
Charles Mueller
Lynn Hallie Najem
Raymond Nashold
Jack & Carol Naughton
Donald & Krista Nelson
Lana Nenide & Jonathan Rosenblum
Jeff Nickols
Ron Nief & Joanna Kutter
Rick Niess & Laurie Elwell
Mary Lou Nord
Madeline & Tim Norris
Andrew Nowlan
Denim Ohmit
Richard & Mary Ann Olson
Richard & Marcia Olson
Bonnie Orvick
James & Joan Parise
Barbara Park
Mitchell L. Patton
Phillip & Karen Paulson
Edward & Dianne Peters
Ernest J. Peterson
Roger & Linda Pettersen
Tom Pierce
Luke & Linda Plamann
Brian & Jackie Podolski
Ann Pollock & James Coors
Tom Popp
Steve & Robin Potter
Ellen & Kenneth Prest
Paula Primm
Robert Przybelski & Jana Jones
Mark E. Puda & Carol S. Johnston
Thomas & Janet Pugh
Peter Putz & Lori Olson-Putz
Susan Ramsey
Kathleen Rasmussen
Sheila Read
Luke & Michelle Rehrauer
Timothy Reilly
Richard & Donna Reinardy
Linda Reivitz
Drs. Joy & David Rice
Lucy Richards
Rick & Sara Richards
Bill & Joan Richner
Diane & Will Risley
Sarah Roberts & Carolyn Carlson
Howard & Mirriam Rosen
John Ross
Richard A. Rossmiller
John & Rachel Rothschild
Carol Rounds
Robert & Nancy Rudd
Carol Ruhly
Janet Ruszala-Coughlin
& Tim Coughlin
Dean Ryerson
Steven & Lennie Saffian
Sinikka Santala & Gregory Schmidt
Mae Saul
Dennis & Janice Schattschneider
Iva Hillegas Schatz
Jeffrey & Gail Schauer
John & Susan Schauf
Thomas & Lynn Schmidt
Phillip Schneider
Steven & Debra Schroeder
Andreas & Susanne Seeger
Vicki Semo Scharfman
Sandy Shepherd
Jackson Short
Lucy Sieber
Thomas & Myrt Sieger
Daniel & Cheryl Siehr
J.R. & Patricia Smart
Karen Smith
Eileen M. Smith
Terrell & Mary Smith
Tricia & Everett Smith
Steve Somerson & Helena Tsotsis
Lynne & Kenneth Spielman
Gary & Jackie Splitter
Barbara & Dennis Spurlin
Robert & Barbara Stanley
Joanne Stark
Chuck Stathas
Gareth L. Steen
Pat & John Steffen
Franklin & Jennie Stein
Peter Steinhoff
Michael Stemper
Gary & Karen Stephens
Joe & Phyllis Stertz
Bruce & Carol Stoddard
Taylor Stofflet
John & Mary Storer
Eric Strauss
JoAnne & Ken Streit
Mary & Robert Stroud
David & Shirley Susan
Jerry & Georgie Suttin
Janet S. Swain
Ryan Maxwell Talvola
Pete & Ruthie Taylor
Cheri Teal
Howard & Elizabeth Teeter
David & Meg Tenenbaum
Gerald & Priscilla Thain
Glen Thio
Barbara J. Thomas
Gary & Louise Thompson
Linda Thompson & Allen May
Stephen Thompson
Tom & Dianne Totten
Andrew Trampf
Margaret Trepton
Judith Troia
Colleen & Tim Tucker
Doris J. Van Houten
John & Shelly Van Note
John & Bonnie Verberkmoes
Rebekah Verbeten
Ingrid Verhagen
Elena Vetrina & Wallace Sherlock
Angela Vitcenda
& Jerry Norenberg
Liz Vowles
Dr. Grace Wahba
& Dr. David Callan
Marty Wallace
Jeremy & Sarah Watt
Nancy Webster
Mary Webster
Jim Werlein & Jody Pringle
Karl & Ellen Westlund
William & Sally White
Dorothy Whiting
Wade W. Whitmus
Steven & Ellen Wickland
Nancy & Tripp Widder
Rebecca Wiegand
Joan Wiersma
Eve Wilkie
Bambi Wilson
Scott & Donna Wilson
Bill & Jackie Wineke
Rick Wirch
Scott & Jane Wismans
Brad Wolbert & Rebecca Karoff
Celeste Woodruff & Bruce Fritz
Nancy Woods
Marcia Wright
David Wuestenberg
Keith & Natalie Yelinek
John Young & Gail Snowden
Steven & Patty Zach
Camille Zanoni
Gretchen Zelle
Ron Zerofsky
Joan N. Zingale
50 Anonymous Friends
We also thank 339 donors for their contributions of $1 to $49.
*Total includes gifts supporting: MSO’s 2024-2025 Annual Campaign; MSOL 2024-2025 Events & General Support; 2024-2025 Organ Concerts; Friends of the Overture Concert Organ’s 2024-2025 Annual Campaign. MSOL and FOCO basic membership dues and fundraising event ticket purchases are not included. Giving thresholds listed here do not correspond to giving levels within specific campaigns included. We have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this list. If you believe an error has been made, please contact our development department at (608) 257-3734.
Join us for the MSO Friday April 11 “Yearnings” concert at 7:30 PM with guest conductor Joseph Young featuring guest artists Time For Three. Connect with other classical music lovers ages 21-40 and enjoy an exclusive post-concert event in the Overture Center’s Wisconsin Studio. Meet musicians of the MSO, eat, drink, and participate in a 3-round LEGO Building Contest for the chance to win some prizes! Tickets are $55 and include a Circle-level concert ticket and post-concert event access with food and drink tickets provided. Or, if you’ve already purchased concert tickets, event-only tickets are $35. You are welcome to participate in the contest as an individual builder or as a group!
Learn more and RSVP by Friday, March 28th at madisonsymphony.org/dark . Discover more about the concert: madisonsymphony.org/yearnings .
WITH SUPPORT FROM:
Includes a Circle-level ticket to the MSO’s “Gershwin!” concert!
OATS RSVP by Sunday, April 28,2025
We’re excited to end the season with our first Out at the Symphony Drag Brunch! This will take place in the Overture Lobby before the doors open to the concert on Sunday, May 11. You will get access to a discounted concert ticket, brunch food, drinks, drag performances, and chance to meet musicians and soloists! We’re excited to feature Kendra Banxs and three other Wisconsin drag queens for this event. (21+)
More at madisonsymphony.org/out . WITH SUPPORT FROM:
BUSINESS, FOUNDATION AND GOVERNMENT DONORS
Madison Symphony Orchestra
Madison Symphony Orchestra League Friends of the Overture Concert Organ
The Madison Symphony Orchestra and our affiliate organizations rely on generous donor support to fund the fulfillment of our mission each year. We gratefully acknowledge all companies, foundations and government agencies for their grants, sponsorships, general contributions, and gifts-in-kind.
Organizations that have contributed to the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Symphony Orchestra League, and/or Friends of the Overture Concert Organ are listed according to the total amount of their donations supporting the 2024-2025 Season* as of March 1, 2025.
$100,000 or more
Madison Symphony Orchestra Foundation
Madison Symphony Orchestra League
WMTV 15 News
$50,000–$99,999
Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation
$25,000–$49,999
American Printing
Irving and Dorothy Levy Family Foundation, Inc.
The Madison Concourse Hotel & Governor’s Club
Madison Magazine
Madison Media Partners
$15,000–$24,999
An Anonymous Foundation
Capitol Lakes
The Evjue Foundation, Inc.
Fiore Companies, Inc.
National Endowment for the Arts
Nimick Forbesway Foundation
Walter A. and Dorothy Jones Frautschi Charitable Unitrust
Wisconsin Arts Board with additional funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts
$10,000–$14,999
BMO
Boardman Clark Law Firm
Lake Ridge Bank
Madison Gas & Electric Foundation, Inc.
Marriott Daughters Foundation
PBS Wisconsin
University Research Park
U.S. Bank Foundation
$5,000–$9,999
Dane County Arts, with additional funds from the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation, The Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation
The Burish Group at UBS
DeWitt LLP
Exact Sciences
Fields Auto Group
Hooper Corporation
Kenneth A. Lattman Foundation, Inc.
Livable Communities by Don Tierney
Qual Line Fence Corp.
Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.
Richman & Richman LLC
Sub-Zero Group, Inc.
SupraNet Communications, Inc.
von Briesen & Roper, s.c.
West Bend Insurance Company
Wisconsin Public Radio
Woodman’s Food Markets
$2,500–$4,999
Alliant Energy Foundation Matching Gifts Program
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Godfrey & Kahn, S.C.
Green Bay Packers Foundation
Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin
J.H. Findorff & Son Inc.
Madison Arts Commission
Midwest Patrol & Investigative LLC
Stafford Rosenbaum LLP
UW Health & Unity
Health Insurance
$1,000–$2,499
BRAVA Magazine
Capitol Bank
Farley’s House of Pianos
Festival Foods
Herb Kohl Charities
Johnson Financial Group
Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation
Michael F. Simon Builders, Inc.
Robert W. Baird & Co.
Sold with Faith Real Estate, Restaino & Associates
The Suby Group
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.
Waunakee Rotary Club
Up to $999
Badger Bus
Bank of America
The Capital Times Kids Fund
Catalent Pharma Solutions LLC
Choles Floral
Costco Wholesale Corporation
Fuhrman & Dodge, S.C. Hartmeyer Ice Arena
Heid Music and Heid Music Family Charitable Fund
NVIDIA
Promega Corporation
*Total includes donations that support 2024-2025 Madison Symphony Orchestra Concerts, 2024-2025 Organ Concerts, 2024-2025 Education and Community Engagement Programs; Madison Symphony Orchestra League’s 2024-2025 Events and Activities including Symphony at Sunset 2024; and Friends of the Overture Concert Organ’s 2024-2025 Annual Campaign. Fundraising event ticket purchases are not included. We have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this list. If you believe an error has been made, please contact our development department at (608) 257-3734.
PLANNED GIVING: THE STRADIVARIUS SOCIETY
The individuals listed below have informed the MSO that they have included gifts for the Symphony in their estate plans. If you have remembered the Symphony in your will, living trust, or have made other arrangements for a future gift, we would love to know so we can thank you! We honor all requests for anonymity. Contact Casey Oelkers at (608) 260-8680 x228 for more information.
Fernando & Carla Alvarado
Emy Andrew
Dennis Appleton & Jennifer Buxton
Judy Ashford
Diane Ballweg
Margaret B. Barker
Chuck Bauer & Chuck Beckwith
Dr. Annette Beyer-Mears
Rosemarie & Fred Blancke
Shaila & Tom Bolger
Michael K. Bridgeman
Alexis Buchanan & James Baldwin
Scott & Janet Cabot
Clarence Cameron & Robert Lockhart
Martha & Charles Casey
Elizabeth A. Conklin
James Dahlberg & Elsebet Lund
Barbara & John DeMain
Robert Dinndorf
Audrey & Philip Dybdahl
Jim & Marilyn Ebben
Endo Family Trust
George Gay
Tyrone & Janet Greive
Terry Haller
Robert Horowitz & Susan B. King
Dr. Stanley & Shirley Inhorn
Richard & Meg LaBrie
Steven Landfried
David Lauth & Lindsey Thomas
Ann Lindsey & Charles Snowdon
Claudia Berry Miran
Elaine & Nicholas Mischler
Stephen D. Morton
Margaret Murphy
Reynold V. Peterson
David & Kato Perlman
Judith Pierotti
Michael Pritzkow
Gordon & Janet Renschler
Joy & David Rice
Joan & Kenneth Riggs
Harry & Karen Roth
Edwin & Ruth Sheldon
Dr. Beverly S. Simone
JoAnn Six
Mary Lang Sollinger
Sharon Stark & Peter D. Livingston
Gareth L. Steen
Jurate Stewart
John & Mary Storer
Richard Tatman & Ellen Seuferer
Marilynn Thompson
Ann Wallace
Richard & Barbara Weaver
Carolyn & Ron White
John Wiley & Andrea Teresa Arenas
Mary Alice Wimmer
Helen L. Wineke
Ten Anonymous Friends
ESTATE GIFTS RECEIVED
Elizabeth S. Anderes
Donald W. Anderson
Helen Barnick
Norman Bassett
Nancy Becknell
DeEtte Beilfuss-Eager
Theo F. Bird
Marian & Jack Bolz
Kenneth Bussan
Margaret Christy
Frances Z. Cumbee
Teddy Derse
Dr. Leroy Ecklund
Mary J. Ferguson
Linda I. Garrity
Maxine A. Goold
Beatrice B. Hagen
Martin R. Hamlin
Sybil A. Hanks
Elizabeth Harris
Julian E. Harris
Jane Hilsenhoff
Carl M. Hudig
Martha Jenny
Lois M. Jones
Shirley Jane Kaub
Helen B. Kayser
Patricia Koenecke
Teddy H. Kubly
Arno & Hazel Kurth
James V. Lathers
Renata Laxova
Stella I. Leverson
Lila Lightfoot
Jan Markwart
Geraldine F. Mayer
Mr. & Mrs. Frederick W. Miller
Janet Nelson
Sandra L. Osborn
Elmer B. Ott
Ethel Max Parker
Josephine Ratner
Mrs. J. Barkley Rosser
Harry D. Sage
Joel Skornicka
Chalma Smith
Marie Spec
Charlotte I. Spohn
Evelyn C. Steenbock
Harry Steenbock
Virginia Swingen
Gamber F. Tegtmeyer, Jr. & Audrey Tegtmeyer
Katherine Voight
William & Joyce Wartmann
Sally & Ben Washburn
Sybil Weinstein
Mr. & Mrs. J. Wesley Thompson
Glenn & Edna Wiechers
Elyn L. Williams
Margaret C. Winston
Jay Joseph Young
Two Anonymous Friends
A Legacy of Music
The Madison Symphony Orchestra is a grateful recipient and faithful steward of planned gifts from individuals who have remembered the Symphony in their estate plans. Through a planned gift, you can help preserve MSO’s legacy of great music for generations to come. All planned gifts qualify for Stradivarius Society recognition, and requests for anonymity will be honored.
Learn more madisonsymphony.org/stradivarius
“We have included the MSO in our wills because we want future generations to enjoy and benefit from it as we have.”
– Martha and Charles Casey, Stradivarius Society Members
Tributes
The Madison Symphony Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the following donors for their contributions honoring family & friends.
In honor of Emy Andrew
Janet Renschler
In honor of Chuck and Elizabeth Barnhill
Lois H. McDonald
In honor of Barbara Berven
Barbara Peterman
In honor of Professor Ed Feige
The Dove Family
In honor of Olin Martis James
Charles James
In honor of Barb Karlen
Ann Kruger
In honor of Nick and Elaine Mischler
José Madera and Kimberly Santiago
In honor of Casey Oelkers
Doug and Norma Madsen
In honor of Elspeth Stalter-Clouse
Randall and Pamela Clouse
In honor of Lynn Stathas
Steve and Jan Alpert
In memory of Paul Aas
Joe Aas and Nancy Morris
R. Patrick and Laura Morelli
In memory of Bert Adams
Diane Adams
In memory of Tom Anderson
Anonymous
In memory of John Barker
Bela and Ruth Sandor
In memory of Adolph and Eugenie Bolz
Cathy and Eric Wilson
In memory of Jack and Marian Bolz
Joan Bolz Cleary and Jeff Cleary
In memory of Marian Bolz
Samuel C. Hutchison
In memory of Jim & Betty Bruce
Samuel C. Hutchison
In memory of Roman Bukolt
Susan Vergeront
In memory of Clarence Porter Cameron
Alfred Andreychuk and Allan Deptula
In memory of Deri Cattelino
Janet Renschler
In memory of Jean and Stan Druckenmiller
Grace Homb
In memory of Clela Duemler
John C. Duemler
In memory of Mary Esser
Jane Esser
Jane Harberg
In memory of Douglas J. Fritsch
Brian Fritsch
In memory of Rev. Shirley Funk
Samuel C. Hutchison
In memory of Esther Hedfield
Wayne Blodgett
Shirley Hanson
Thomas & Cynthia Lerdahl
Carol Ruhly
In memory of Paul J. Heiser
Alfred Andreychuk and Allan Deptula
In memory of Tony Holt
Tyrone and Janet Greive
Ann Manser
Claudia Berry Miran
Jacklyn O’Brien
Phillip and Karen Paulson
Robert A. Reed
John N. Santeiu Jr.
In memory of Sam and Mary Hutchison
Samuel C. Hutchison
In memory of Shirley Inhorn
David and Vicki Cary
In memory of Stan and Shirley Inhorn
Harry and Linda Argue
Patricia Bernhardt
William and Sara Lee Hinckley
Stan and Nancy Johnson
Valerie Kazamias
In memory of Robert “Bob” Lockhart
Alfred Andreychuk and Allan Deptula
Valerie and Andreas Kazamias
Melissa Keyes and Ingrid Rothe
Laurel Kinosian
Andrew and Jolyon Maier
Robert A. Reed
Don and Barb Sanford
In memory of Connie Maxwell
Samuel C. Hutchison
Valerie and Andreas Kazamias
Elaine and Nicholas Mischler
In memory of Sandra Osborn
Samuel C. Hutchison
In memory of Margaret Elizabeth McEvilly
Victoria Fine
In memory of Lillian Porcaro
Alexis M. Carreon
Valerie and Andreas Kazamias
In memory of Rev. Dr. Terry A. Purvis-Smith, PhD.
Samuel C. Hutchison
In memory of Tim Reilley
Elaine and Nicholas Mischler
In memory of Jean Reuhl
Valerie and Andreas Kazamias
In memory of Harley Richard
Catherine Richard
In memory of Jeanette Ross
John Ross
In memory of Jim Ruhly
Carol Ruhly
In memory of Dorothy Schroeder
Anonymous
In memory of Anne Stanke
Alexis M. Carreon
In memory of John Lloyd Straughn
Alexis M. Carreon
Andrea and Bill Hixon
John Wendt and Kathryn Kleckner
Rod and Jo MacDonald
Susan Ramsey
Robert A. Reed
Mary Ellen Straughn
The Family of John Straughn
Two Anonymous Friends
In memory of Patricia D. Struck
Larry Bechler
In memory of William Allan Winkle
Sharol Hayner
In memory of Margaret C. Winston
John W. Erickson
According to his not-so-little black book, Don Giovanni has seduced thousands of women across Europe. Over the course of a scandalous few days, his misadventures come back to literally haunt him, as Mozart’s brilliant score whirls people in and out of the Don’s midst.
Don Giovanni has thrilled and scandalized audiences from its rst note to its last for centuries. Come nd out why in Mozart’s captivating masterpiece!
Endowment Donors
The Madison Symphony Orchestra is deeply grateful to these generous donors who have contributed $1,000 or more to the Symphony’s endowment. These gifts are invested in perpetuity to ensure the MSO’s continuing fiscal stability and its legacy of great music for generations to come. Learn more at madisonsymphony.org/endowment.
Alliant Energy Foundation
Altria Group, Inc.
Carla & Fernando Alvarado
American Family Insurance
Dreams Foundation, Inc.
American Girl, Inc.
Anchor Bank
Mel Anderes
Brian & Rozan Anderson
Ron & Sharon Anderson
Estate of Donald W. Anderson
Emy Andrew
George Austin & Martha Vukelich-Austin
Jim & Sue Bakke
Helen Baldwin
Diane Endres Ballweg
Estate of Betty J. Bamforth
Estate of Helen Barnick
Jeffrey & Angela Bartell
Nancy Becknell
Chuck Bauer & Chuck Beckwith
DeEtte Beilfuss-Eager & Leonard Prentice Eager, Jr.
Barbara & Norman Berven
Ed & Lisa Binkley
Robert & Caryn Birkhauser
Tom & Shaila Bolger
Marian & Jack Bolz
Anne & Robert Bolz
Ernest & Louise Borden
Daniel & Stacey Bormann
Carl & Judy Bowser
Patricia Brady & Robert Smith
Nathan Brand
Jim & Cathie Burgess
Frank & Pat Burgess
Mary P. Burke
Capital Newspapers
Capitol Lakes
Thomas & Martha Carter
Tony & Deri Cattelino
Lau & Bea Christensen
Estate of Margaret Christy
Marc & Sheila Cohen
Mildred & Marv Conney
Pat & Dan Cornwell
James F. Crow
Culver’s VIP Foundation, Inc.
Frances Z. Cumbee Trust
CUNA Mutual Group
Corkey & Betty Custer
Teddy Derse
Dorothy Dittmer
Ruth & Frederick Dobbratz Estate
William & Alexandra Dove
Philip & Audrey Dybdahl
Dr. Leroy Ecklund
Jim & Marilyn Ebben
Crystal Enslin
John & Michele Erikson
Richard & Frances Erney
Eugenie Mayer Bolz
Family Foundation
Ray & Mary Evert
The Evjue Foundation, Inc.
The Charitable Arm of
The Capital Times
David Falk & Joanne Robbins
Thomas A. Farrell
Janet Faulhaber
First Business Bank of Madison
First Weber Group
Flad & Associates
John & Colleen Flad
Rockne Flowers
Foley & Lardner
Jean & Werner Frank
W. Jerome Frautschi
Walter A. & Dorothy Jones Frautschi
Friends of the Overture
Concert Organ
Clayton & Belle Frink
Paul Fritsch & Jim Hartman
William & Jane Hilsenhoff
Samuel C. Hutchison
Linda I. Garrity
John & Christine Gauder
Candy & George Gialamas
The Gialamas Company, Inc.
Albert Goldstein, in memory of Sherry Goldstein
Dr. Robert & Linda Graebner
Anthony & Linda Granato
Fritz & Janice Grutzner
Terry Haller
Betsy and Bezalel Haimson
Dorothy E. Halverson
Jane Hamblen & Robert Lemanske
Estate of Martin Hamlin
Julian & Elizabeth Harris
Curtis & Dawn Hastings
Ann & Roger Hauck
Peggy Hedberg
Roe-Merrill S. & Susan Heffner
Jerry M. Hiegel
Tom & Joyce Hirsch
Hooper Corp./General Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.
Carl M. Hudig
J. Quincy & Carolyn Hunsicker
Dr. Stanley & Shirley Inhorn
J.H. Findorff & Son Inc.
Ralph & Marie Jackson
Allen Jacobson
Kris S. Jarantoski
Peter & Ellen Johnson
Marie & Hap Johnson
Stan & Nancy Johnson
Rosemary B. Johnson
Johnson Bank
Estate of Lois M. Jones
JPMorgan Chase
Darko & Judy Kalan
Carolyn Kau & Chris Hinrichs
Shirley Jane Kaub
Valerie & Andreas Kazamias
Terry & Mary Kelly
Kenneth R. Kimport
Charles & Patricia Kincaid
Joan Klaski & Stephen Malpezzi
James & Andrea Klauck
Robert & Judy Knapp
Patricia G. Koenecke
Patricia Kokotailo & R. Lawrence DeRoo
William Kraus & Toni Sikes
Estate of Theodora H. Kubly
Estate of Arno & Hazel Kurth
Michael G. Laskis
Estate of James Victor Lathers
Renata Laxova
Lee Foundation
Estate of Stella I. Leverson
Ronald L. & Jean L. Lewis
Gary E. Lewis
Robert Lightfoot
Laura Love Linden
Madison Gas & Electric Foundation, Inc.
Madison Investment Advisors, Inc.
Madison Symphony Orchestra League
Madison Symphony Orchestra
New Year’s Eve Ball 2003
Douglas & Norma Madsen
Margaret Christy Revocable Trust
Estate of Jan Markwart
Marshall & Ilsley Foundation, Inc.
Connie Maxwell
Oscar G. & Geraldine Mayer
Hal & Christy Mayer
Clare & Michael McArdle
Richard & Mary McGary
Elizabeth McKenna
Michael & Cynthia McKenna
Richard & Jean McKenzie
Howard & Nancy Mead
Gary & Lynn Mecklenburg
Gale Meyer
Michael Best & Friedrich LLP
Susanne Michler
Claudia Berry & David E. Miran
Nicholas & Elaine Mischler
Dan & Ellyn Mohs
Fred & Mary Mohs
Tom & Nancy Mohs
Alfred P. Moore & Ann M. Moore
Katharine Morrison
Mortenson Family Foundation
Stephen D. Morton
Walter Morton Foundation
Jeanne Myers
Stephen & Barbara Napier
National Guardian Life
Insurance Company
Janet Nelson
Vicki & Marv Nonn
Norman Bassett Trust
Daniel & Judith Nystrom
Casey & Eric Oelkers
Sandra L. Osborn
John & Carol Palmer
Park Bank
Estate of Ethel Max Parker & Cedric Parker
Catherine Peercy
John L. Peterson
Reynold V. Peterson
Larry & Jan Phelps
E. J. Plesko
Thomas & Janet Plumb
Potter Lawson Architects
Martin & Lynn Preizler
Marie B. Pulvermacher
Quarles & Brady LLP
Estate of Josephine Ratner
David Reinecke
Douglas & Katherine Reuhl
George & Jean Reuhl
Dr. Joy K. Rice
Thomas & Martha Romberg
Mrs. J. Barkley Rosser
Dan Rottier & Frankie Kirk Rottier
Patrick M. Ryan
Rhonda & Bill Rushing
Harry Sage
Douglas Schewe
Stephen & Marianne Schlecht
Richard and Barbara Schnell
Donald K. Schott
Margaret & Collin Schroeder
William & Pamela Schultz
Marti Sebree
Joe & Mary Ellyn Sensenbrenner
Millie & Irv Shain
Twila Sheskey
Terry & Sandra Shockley
Paul & Ellen Simenstad
JoAnn Six
Lise Skofronick
Joel Skornicka
Eileen Smith
Estate of Chalma Smith
Hans & Mary Lang Sollinger
Glenn & Cleo Sonnedecker
Marie Spec
Spohn Charitable Trust
Mike & Sandy Stamn
Karen & Jacob Stampen
Harriet Statz
Estate of Evelyn Carol Steenbock
Estate of Harry & Evelyn Steenbock
Steinhauer Charitable Trust
Joseph & Jamie Steuer
Peg Gunderson Stiles
John & Janet Streiff
Virginia Swingen
W. Stuart & Elizabeth Sykes
John & Leslie Taylor
Gamber & Audrey Tegtmeyer, Jr.
Terrance & Judith Paul
Advised Fund
Tom Terry
Marilynn Thompson
Estate of Mr. & Mrs. J.
Wesley Thompson
Jeff & Barbara Ticknor
Todd & Elizabeth Tiefenthaler
Harry & Marjorie Tobias
Nick & Judy Topitzes
John & Carol Toussaint
U.S. Bank Foundation
Jon & Susan Udell
Virchow, Krause & Co.
Katherine & Thomas Voight
W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation
Thomas & Rita Walker
Ann Wallace
Walter A. & Dorothy Jones
Frautschi Charitable Trust
William & Joyce Wartmann
Sally & Ben Washburn
Estate of Sybil Weinstein
Jeff & Cindy Welch
Edwenna Rosser Werner
Bob & Lu Westervelt
John & Joyce Weston
Jerry & Enid Weygandt
Carolyn & Ron White
Wiechers Survivor’s Trust
Thomas & Joyce Wildes
John Wiley & Andrea Teresa Arenas
Elyn L. Williams
Bill Williamson
Dave Willow
Margaret C. Winston Wisconsin Energy Corporation Foundation
Kathleen Woit
Anders Yocom & Ann Yocom Engelman
Jay J. Young Five Anonymous Friends
We also thank the donors who have made endowment gifts up to $999.
Endowment Giving: The Century Society
We gratefully acknowledge our Century Society donors, who have made commitments of $100,000 or more to the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s endowment through outright or planned gifts, as of February 2025. Their gifts create a solid financial foundation upon which the MSO can realize its vision to be a leader in classical music performance, education, community engagement, and artistic innovation for generations to come.
As the Madison Symphony Orchestra approaches its centennial in 2025-2026, we hope to welcome new Century Society donors who make endowment commitments of $100,000 or more through outright or planned gifts. Visit madisonsymphony.org/ endowment to learn more about endowment giving.
Carla and Fernando Alvarado
Dennis Appleton and Jennifer Buxton
Diane Ballweg
Chuck Bauer and Chuck Beckwith
Barbara and Norman Berven
Rosemarie and Fred Blancke
Eugenie Mayer Bolz Family Foundation
Jim and Cathie Burgess
Martha and Charles Casey
Margaret Christy
Pat and Dan Cornwell
James F. Crow
James Dahlberg and Elsebet Lund
William and Alexandra Dove
The Evjue Foundation, Inc.
Linda I. Garrity
George Gay
George and Candy Gialamas
Tyrone and Janet Greive
Terry Haller
Carl M. Hudig
Dr. Stanley and Shirley Inhorn
Patricia Kokotailo and R. Lawrence DeRoo
Arno and Hazel Kurth
Myrna Larson
James Victor Lathers
Peter Livingston and Sharon Stark
Madison Symphony Orchestra League
Claudia Berry and David E. Miran
Nicholas and Elaine Mischler
David and Kato Perlman
John L. Peterson
A Gift of Music Thank you for attending this Madison Symphony Orchestra concert!
Sheila Read
The Reuhl Family
Pleasant T. Rowland
Harry D. Sage
JoAnn Six
Gareth L. Steen
Harry and Evelyn C. Steenbock
Steinhauer Charitable Trust
Thomas E. Terry
Marilynn Thompson
Katherine and Thomas Voight
William and Joyce Wartmann
Elyn L. Williams
Margaret C. Winston
Six Anonymous Friends
Did you know that ticket sales cover less than half the costs of presenting our concert season?
Contributions from dedicated MSO patrons help bridge this gap, allowing people from all walks of life to experience thrilling live orchestral performances in Overture Hall. Make a gift to the MSO Annual Fund today and take pride in knowing you have helped share these magnificent concerts with others in your community.
giving levels and donate at madisonsymphony.org/individual
Overture Hall Information
RESTROOMS
Women’s and men’s restrooms are located on each level of Overture. Family assist/gender inclusive restrooms, available to persons of any gender identity and expression, are available in the following areas:
• Lower-Level Rotunda: to the right of the stairway.
• First floor lobby / Overture Hall: near coat check.
• Second floor: Gallery 2—second door to the left off the elevators.
Amenities at gender-inclusive restrooms include:
• Lockable door to provide privacy for individual users
• Ample room for an assistant/family member, if needed
• Accessible sink, stool and urinal (floor level)
• Changing stations
• Power-assist doors (Level 1 restrooms only)
ACCESSIBILITY
Overture Center is fully accessible to persons with mobility, hearing, and visual impairments. Ushers are available at each concert to assist you. Wheelchair or transfer seating is available; please notify the Overture Center Box Office when purchasing your ticket. If you require an assistive-listening device, please alert an usher at the concert. Braille programs are also available upon request. Please contact Heather at hrose@madisonsymphony.org at least three weeks prior to the concert you wish to attend.
GUEST CONSIDERATIONS
The musicians and your fellow audience members thank you!
• Please arrive early to ensure plenty of time to get through security and to be seated. If you arrive late, you will be seated during an appropriate break in the music at the discretion of the house staff. If you need to leave during the concert, please exit quietly and wait to be reseated by an usher at an appropriate break.
• Please feel free to take photos before and after the concert, and during intermission! Once the lights dim, please turn off all cell phones and electronic devices.
• Please do not wear perfumes, colognes or scented lotions as many people are allergic to these products.
• Smoking is not permitted anywhere in Overture Center for the Arts.
• The coat-check room is open when the weather dictates and closes 20 minutes after the performance ends.
• Food and beverages are available at bars and concession stands in the Overture Lobby. Beverages are allowed in Overture Hall, but please enjoy food in the lobby. Please unwrap cough drops and candies before the concert begins.
Please take note: We will adhere to all public health guidelines and cooperate with Overture Center for the Arts to ensure your safety. We invite you to visit madisonsymphony. org/health for more information on health and safety. Overture Center safety information can be found at overture.org/health
Boards & Administration
MADISON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC. BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 2024-2025
OFFICERS
Michael Richman, Chair
Janet Cabot, Secretary
Doug Reuhl, Treasurer
Ellsworth Brown, ImmediatePastChair
José Madera, Member-at-large
Kay Schwichtenberg, Member-at-large
Derrick Smith, Member-at-large
Lynn Stathas, Member-at-large
DIRECTORS
Lynn Allen-Hoffmann
Brian Anderson
Ruben Anthony
Rosemarie Blancke
Ellsworth Brown
Janet Cabot
Martha Casey
Bryan Chan
Elton Crim
James Dahlberg
Bob Dinndorf
Audrey Dybdahl
Marc Fink
David Harding
Paul Hoffmann
Mark Huth
Mooyoung Kim
David Lauth
Rob Lemanske
Ann Lindsey
José Madera
Oscar Mireles
Rick Morgan
Jon Parker
Cyrena Pondrom
Margaret Pyle
Michael Richman
Carole Schaeffer
Monique Scher
Kay Schwichtenberg
John Sims
Derrick Smith
Tamera Stanley
Lynn Stathas
Todd Stuart
Anna Trull
Jasper Vaccaro
Eric Wilcots
Michael Zorich
ADVISORS
Elliott Abramson
Michael Allsen
Carla Alvarado
Jeffrey Bauer
Ted Bilich
Camille Carter
Laura Gallagher
Tyrone Greive
Jane Hamblen
Michael Hobbs
Stephanie Lee
Joseph Meara
Gary Mecklenburg
Larry Midtbo
Paul Norman
Kevin O’Connor
Abigail Ochberg
Greg Piefer
Jacqueline Rodman
Mary Lang Sollinger
Judith Topitzes
Ellis Waller
Carolyn White
Anders Yocom
Stephen Zanoni
LIFE DIRECTORS
Terry Haller
Stanley Inhorn
Valerie Kazamias
Elaine Mischler
Nicholas Mischler
Douglas Reuhl
HONORARY DIRECTORS
TBA, President Madison College
Kathy Evers, FirstLadyofthe State of Wisconsin
TBA, DaneCountyExecutive
DIRECTORS EMERITUS
Helen Bakke
Wallace Douma
Perry A. Henderson
Fred Mohs
Stephen Morton
Beverly Simone
John Wiley
EX OFFICIO DIRECTORS
Barbara Berven
Mark Bridges
Rose Heckenkamp-Busch
William Steffenhagen
EX OFFICIO ADVISORS
Josh Biere
Dan Cavanagh
Daniel Davidson
MADISON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FOUNDATION INC. BOARD, 2024–2025
OFFICERS
Douglas Reuhl
President
Nicholas Mischler
Vice President
Robert A. Reed
Secretary-Treasurer
DIRECTORS
Ellsworth Brown
Joanna Burish
Beth Dettman
Jill Friedow
Juan Gomez
Jane Hamblen
Jon Parker
Gregory Reed
Michael Richman
MADISON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA LEAGUE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 2024–2025
