Pacific Orchestras
Sebastián Serrano-Ayala, conductor
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
7:30 pm
Faye Spanos Concert Hall
Kenji Bunch (b. 1973)
Andante moderato (1929)
Solitude (1934)
Invincible Summer (2004) View
Florence Price (1887–1953)
arr. Peter Stanley Martin
Duke Ellington (1899–1974)
arr. Morton Gould
Holberg Suite, op. 40 (1884)
Praelude
Sarabande
Gavotte: Musette Air
Edvard Grieg (1843–1907)
Rigaudon
20′
PROGRAM NOTES
All program notes by Sebastián Serrano-Ayala
Invincible Summer opens the season with music of resilience and warmth.
This all-strings program opens the season with a journey from quiet reflection to radiant celebration. Titled Invincible Summer, it features works that embody hope, soulful lyricism, intimacy, and exuberance. From Kenji Bunch’s hopeful Invincible Summer to Florence Price’s soulful Andante moderato, Duke Ellington’s intimate Solitude, and Edvard Grieg’s spirited Holberg Suite, each piece contributes to an uplifting narrative of resilience and warmth.
Bunch: Invincible Summer
Contemporary American composer Kenji Bunch (b. 1973) wrote Invincible Summer in 2020 as a tribute to enduring hope during challenging times. In fact, Bunch drew inspiration from Albert Camus’ famous quote, “in the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer,” reflecting the idea of irrepressible hope even amid hardship. The piece was commissioned by a consortium of high school and youth orchestras and dedicated “to the children of the pandemic era, in admiration of their unbreakable resilience”, underlining its message of optimism. Musically, Invincible Summer unfolds like a cinematic journey: it opens with ominous, brooding tones and gradually blossoms into uplifting, radiant passages before reaching a resolute, triumphant conclusion. Throughout the work, the harp’s ethereal textures and the warmth of the string orchestra combine to create an atmosphere that is by turns ominous, uplifting, and ultimately hope-filled, embodying the triumph of summer-like warmth over the darkest winter (Kenji Bunch himself described his goal for this piece as “something ultimately triumphant, or positive” in spirit).
Price/Martin: Andante moderato
Florence Price (1887–1953) was a path-breaking African-American composer celebrated for her lyrical fusion of European classical forms with AfricanAmerican musical idioms. In 1933, she became the first Black woman composer to have a large-scale work performed by a major American orchestra, when the Chicago Symphony premiered her Symphony No. 1. After decades of neglect, a trove of her manuscripts was rediscovered in 2009, sparking a renaissance of interest in her music. Among these rediscovered works was her String Quartet in G major (1929), a twomovement piece that “effortlessly joins together European classical and American spiritual traditions.” The Andante moderato we hear tonight is
PROGRAM NOTES
the second movement of that quartet, arranged for string orchestra by Peter Stanley Martin (2020).
In this gentle Andante moderato, one can immediately appreciate Price’s soulful lyricism and heartfelt style. The movement sings with a warm, singing melody that evokes the spiritual influence in her writing, set against lush string harmonies. Its structure is in a ternary form (slow–fast–slow): it opens at a moderate, singing pace with a tender, hymn-like theme, then transitions into an “animated and exotic middle section” that provides a brighter, lively contrast. This faster central episode has a dancing, slightly playful character (marked by faster rhythms and folk-like exuberance) before the music gently returns to the opening slow theme, ending softly and poignantly. Price’s Andante moderato is often described as modest and heartfelt, and in this arrangement for strings it offers a full measure of her talent, combining dignified classical poise with the soulful warmth of African-American folk melody. It serves as a quiet testament to resilience and grace—qualities reflected both in Price’s life story and in the yearning, elegant phrases of this music.
Ellington/Gould: Solitude
Duke Ellington (1899–1974) was one of America’s greatest jazz composers and bandleaders, known for his rich harmonies and unforgettable melodies. Solitude is one of Ellington’s signature songs—a jazz standard composed in 1934 almost on the spot (Ellington famously said he wrote Solitude in just 20 minutes, scribbling down the tune while waiting for a recording session). Originally published as In My Solitude and presented as a slow foxtrot, the song surprised listeners with its unmistakable melancholy and heartfelt mood, quite unusual for a dance number. With lyrics by Eddie DeLange and Irving Mills, the song poignantly expresses loneliness and longing. It has since been recorded by countless artists from Billie Holiday to Louis Armstrong, attesting to its enduring emotional impact.
In this program we hear Solitude in a lush instrumental arrangement for string orchestra, harp, and celesta by American composer/arranger Morton Gould (1913–1996). Gould, a classical composer who often bridged popular and classical music, arranged Solitude (among other Ellington tunes) in the mid-twentieth century to bring the elegance of Ellington’s music to the concert hall. His arrangement cloaks Ellington’s gentle blues melody in shimmering strings, with the harp and celesta adding delicate, dreamy accents. The result is a “lush, beautiful, slow” rendition (as our program note hints) that retains the intimacy of the original song. Long, singing lines
PROGRAM NOTES
in the violins and violas echo the human voice’s plaintive quality, while soft harp arpeggios and the bell-like celesta enhance the atmosphere of wistful introspection. Ellington’s Solitude, in this classical guise, becomes an intimate nocturne for strings—a moment of quiet reflection and beauty before the program moves on to its joyful finale.
Grieg: Holberg Suite, op. 40
Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843–1907) brings our program to a festive close with his spirited Holberg Suite. Composed in 1884 to celebrate the 200th birth anniversary of the Danish-Norwegian humanist playwright Ludvig Holberg (1684–1754), this suite (originally titled From Holberg’s Time) is a loving tribute to the Baroque era. Grieg wrote it first as a piano suite and later arranged it for string orchestra, the version which became one of his most enduring and popular works. Subtitled “Suite in olden style,” the Holberg Suite consists of five movements based on eighteenth century dance forms, filtered through Grieg’s nineteenth century Romantic sensibility. In essence, it is an early example of neoclassicism: Grieg uses elegant Baroque dance styles (akin to those of Bach or Handel) and infuses them with the rich harmonies and folk spirit of Norway, yielding music that is at once archaic in form and Romantic in expression.
The suite’s five movements provide a delightful tour of Baroque dance forms, each with its own character, progressing from lively celebration to gentle reflection and back to exuberance at the end. The movements are:
Praeludium (Allegro vivace)—An exuberant and buoyant opening prelude, serving as a joyous musical “call to order.” This energetic introduction immediately showcases the brilliance of the string ensemble with rapid passage work and spirited rhythms.
Sarabande (Andante)—A serene and intimate dance. Slower and in a minor key, the Sarabande offers gentle, nostalgic elegance (enhanced in Grieg’s string version by the warm voice of the cellos). Its graceful melody and stately triple meter evoke the dignified mood of an old Baroque court dance, inviting a moment of calm introspection.
Gavotte (Allegretto)—A stately yet sprightly French dance. This Gavotte has a courtly cheerfulness with its lilting rhythm. Midway it features a contrasting Musette (a folk-like interlude over a droning bass, reminiscent of rustic bagpipes) before the Gavotte melody returns. The interplay of these sections brings a charming rustic color to the suite.
PROGRAM NOTES
Air (Andante religioso)—A lyrical, reflective Air, often considered the emotional heart of the suite. In the tradition of Bach’s famous Air on the G string, Grieg’s Air is a flowing, song-like movement that sings with heartfelt Romantic feeling. The strings play softly and sweetly, creating an atmosphere of reverence and warmth. This movement’s long phrases and rich harmonies give a soulful, singing voice to the string orchestra, providing a moment of tender warmth (and a touch of melancholy beauty) before the joyful finale.
Rigaudon (Allegro con brio)—A jubilant finale in the form of a quick French folk dance. The Rigaudon is a “fun-loving romp,” bursting with lively energy and folk-like tunes. Notably, partway through this movement, Grieg writes a charming duet for solo violin and solo viola, who play a gentle interlude in the middle of the otherwise rollicking dance. After this brief reflective duet, the full string ensemble returns with the opening dance theme, driving the piece to a rousing conclusion. In these closing pages, the music’s spirited reels and robust rhythms bring the suite—and our concert—to a radiant celebration.
Grieg’s Holberg Suite thus ends the program on a decidedly uplifting note. Its blend of old-style dances and Romantic vitality symbolizes a connection between past and present, and its cheerful final bars seem to echo the program’s overarching message: that after moments of solitude and reflection, the invincible summer of joy and hope will always return.
Sebastián Serrano-Ayala is an assistant professor of practice in orchestral conducting at University of the Pacific.
Recognized for his inclusive leadership, international reach, and innovative, fresh programming, Colombian-born conductor SerranoAyala has led professional and student orchestras across the U.S., Latin America, the Philippines, and the Netherlands, blending cultural perspective with artistic excellence.
Serrano-Ayala is an active conductor and guest artist, with recent engagements including the Saratoga Orchestra and Skagit Symphony, and fellowships with Symphony Tacoma, Cabrillo Festival, the National Orchestral Institute, the Allentown Symphony, and the Mostly Modern Festival. He has premiered and recorded new works with the American Modern Ensemble in New York and served as cover conductor for the Seattle Youth Symphony and Yakima Symphony Orchestra.
At the University of New Mexico, he served as director of orchestral studies, conducting the UNM Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia, teaching graduatelevel conducting, and facilitating guest residencies with Michael Sanderling, Colonel Jim Keene, Sérgio Azevedo, and others. He frequently collaborates with regional honor ensembles and educational programs across Washington and New Mexico.
Serrano-Ayala holds a DMA from CCM and has trained with Marin Alsop, Mei-Ann Chen, and JoAnn Falletta. His competition honors include finalist distinctions from The American Prize and the Denver Philharmonic, and a semi-finalist award at the World Music Contest.
The Pacific Orchestras perform an inclusive range of contemporary and historically significant works. The ensemble provides performers with a variety of sizes and settings to explore an exciting range of repertoire. Pacific faculty, students, and guest artists perform with the ensemble as concerto and aria soloists and as guest conductors. Participation in the ensemble is open to all Pacific students by audition.
Violins
Lizzie Mendoza*
Carissa Lee
Alizon Lopez
Alyssa Yen
Yihan Yoon
Violins 2
Izzy Knittle**
Yaretzi Castro Rios
Rafael Marinas
Julianna Ramirez
Violas
Erick Sariles**
Angela Arroyo
Tom Pham
Cellos
Nicholas Trobaugh**
Tyler Chang
Megan Chartier†
Hope Lee
Jiangshuo Ma
Benedict Ventura
Double Basses
Elijah Atchley**
Victor Camacho
Emiko Hernandez
Wes Shafer
Celesta
Michelle Han
Harp Amy Ahn‡
* concertmaster ** principal † faculty member/mentor ‡ community member
Faculty Coaches
Ann Miller, violin, viola
Megan Chartier, cello
Kathryn Schulmeister, double bass
Natsuki Fukasawa, piano
Jonathan Latta, ensembles program director
Breanna Daley, ensembles librarian