2021 North Carolina Symphony Concert Program for Bernstein and Barber with Caroline Shaw

BERNSTEIN & BARBER WITH CAROLINE SHAW

FEATURING THE MUSIC OF AMERICAN COMPOSERS

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2020 | 8PM Filmed and recorded live from Meymandi Concert Hall Woolner Stage Raleigh

JESSIE MONTGOMERY

SAMUEL BARBER

CAROLINE SHAW

VALERIE COLEMAN

LEONARD BERNSTEIN

ERIC EWAZEN

The North Carolina Symphony, in grateful acknowledgment of its generous grant-in-aid, performs under the auspices of the State of North Carolina, the Honorable Roy Cooper, Governor.

The North Carolina Symphony gratefully acknowledges financial support from Wake County, the City of Raleigh, and the Town of Cary.

Thank you to the generous individuals, businesses, foundations, and community partners who support the North Carolina Symphony through contributions each season.

Our performances this season, along with our extensive music education program and community service across the state, are made possible by your support.

View North Carolina Symphony supporters here.

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2 • NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY

BERNSTEIN & BARBER WITH CAROLINE SHAW

FEATURING THE MUSIC OF AMERICAN COMPOSERS Saturday, November 21, 2020 | 8pm Filmed and recorded live from Meymandi Concert Hall Woolner Stage Raleigh Joseph Peters, host

Jessie Montgomery Strum

(b. 1981)

Karen Strittmatter Galvin, violin Erin Zehngut, violin Amy Mason, viola Elizabeth Beilman, cello Robert K. Anderson, double bass

Samuel Barber Summer Music, Op. 31

(1910-1981) Anne Whaley Laney, flute

Melanie Wilsden, oboe

Samuel Almaguer, clarinet

Aaron Apaza, bassoon

Rebekah Daley, horn

Caroline Shaw Valencia

(b. 1982)

Karen Strittmatter Galvin, violin Erin Zehngut, violin Amy Mason, viola Elizabeth Beilman, cello

Valerie Coleman Red Clay and Mississippi Delta

(b. 1970) Anne Whaley Laney, flute

Melanie Wilsden, oboe

Samuel Almaguer, clarinet

Aaron Apaza, bassoon

Rebekah Daley, horn

Leonard Bernstein Dance Suite for Brass Quintet and Percussion

(1918-1990) I. Dancisca, for Antony (Antony Tudor) II. Waltz, for Agnes (Agnes de Mille) III. Bi-Tango, for Mischa (Mikhail Baryshnikov) IV. Two-Step, for Mr. B (George Balanchine) V. MTV, for Jerry (Jerome Robbins)

Paul Randall, trumpet

Don Eagle, trumpet

Kimberly Van Pelt, horn

John Ilika, trombone

Seth Horner, tuba

Richard Motylinski, percussion

Eric Ewazen Frost Fire

(b. 1954) III. Tense and Dramatic

Paul Randall, trumpet

Don Eagle, trumpet

Kimberly Van Pelt, horn

Jonathan Randazzo, trombone

Matthew Neff, bass trombone NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY • 3

ABOUT THE MUSIC

Strum

Red Clay and Mississippi Delta

JESSIE MONTGOMERY • Violinist and composer Jessie Montgomery was raised in Manhattan by parents who worked in music and theatre.

• She earned her bachelor’s degree in violin performance from The Juilliard School and her master’s degree in composition for film and media from New York University.

She is currently a graduate fellow in composition at Princeton University.

• Montgomery is composer-in-residence with the Sphinx Virtuosi, a string ensemble of African-American and Latinx musicians; and is a member of the Catalyst Quartet, which premiered Strum in 2006.

• Turbulent and wildly colorful, Strum is notable for its heavy use of pizzicato (plucked and strummed strings), rhythmic vitality, and dance-like spirit.

• The work opens with a sense of nostalgia and grows more dramatic and joyous as it progresses.

• The Washington Post described Strum as “American folk melodies tossed into a strong wind, cascading and tumbling joyfully around one another.”

VALERIE COLEMAN • Flutist and composer Valerie Coleman is Performance Today’s 2020 Classical Woman of the Year.

• She holds a bachelor’s degree in theory/composition and flute performance from Boston University, and a master’s degree in flute performance from the Mannes School of Music.

• In 1996, while still in school, she founded the wind quintet Imani Winds; her goal was to seek out fellow AfricanAmerican woodwind players who might approach classical music from a similar cultural background.

• Coleman was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. Her mother’s family hails from the Mississippi Delta region, which inspired this work.

• Red Clay and Mississippi Delta combines the traditional idea of a scherzo—a playful and fast-paced classical music form—with Southern culture.

• Bluesy solos are heard throughout the work—some of which had very specific inspirations attached to them. The clarinet solo at the beginning represents the matriarch of the family, while the bassoon solo, heard about two minutes into the piece, is a “Bible-thumping” relative.

• With Red Clay and Mississippi Delta, Coleman says that she wanted to capture juke joints, casino boats lining the river, and the skin tone of her relatives—“a dark skin that looks like it came directly from the red clay.”

Summer Music, Op. 31 SAMUEL BARBER • Essentially crowd-funded by patrons of the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, Samuel Barber’s commission for Summer Music was originally intended to be a septet for three winds, three strings, and piano.

• As Barber spent time observing the New York Wind Quintet in rehearsals, he became more drawn to the idea of creating a wind quintet work instead. He took in everything he could from the New York Wind Quintet—learning about the instruments’ techniques, limitations, and the way the instrumental textures blended together.

• Premiered in 1956, Summer Music was Barber’s only chamber composition for wind instruments.

• The introduction is bluesy, almost evoking Gershwin; this bluesy theme returns at various points throughout the work.

• A long, gentle theme is spun by the oboe following the introduction. Barber was trained as a singer, and long, lyrical lines characterize much of his music; he is sometimes referred to as “the last of the American Romantics.”

• Despite the title, Barber did not have a particular scene or story in mind. He explained, “It’s supposed to be evocative of summer—summer meaning languid, not killing mosquitoes.”

• Barber aimed to create a relaxed atmosphere with Summer Music, yet complained that it was often performed too slowly.

4 • NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY

Valencia CAROLINE SHAW • Violinist, singer, and composer Caroline Shaw grew up in Greenville, North Carolina. (She remembers the North Carolina Symphony performing an Education Concert at her elementary school when she was in third grade.)

• Shaw earned her bachelor’s degree in violin performance from Rice University and her master’s degree in violin performance from Yale University.

• In 2013, she became the youngest-ever winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music for Partita for 8 Voices—a work she composed for her vocal ensemble, Roomful of Teeth.

• Shaw often writes music to perform with her friends; Valencia was written in 2012 for a concert she was giving with friends at a bookstore in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts.

• The common Valencia orange was the inspiration for this string quartet work. Shaw writes, “There is something exquisite about the construction of an ordinary orange.

Hundreds of brilliantly colored, impossibly delicate vesicles of juice, ready to explode. It is a thing of nature so simple, yet so complex and extraordinary.”

• The architecture of the orange is revealed musically through billowing harmonics and what Shaw calls

“somewhat vicious chords and melodies.” Short, melodic fragments are layered over extended, brooding figures.

Popping pizzicatto figures seem to evoke the fruit’s exploding juices.

• Shaw writes that Valencia “is also a kind of celebration of awareness of the natural, unadorned food that is still available to us.”

Dance Suite for Brass Quintet and Percussion LEONARD BERNSTEIN • Leonard Bernstein’s Dance Suite for Brass Quintet and Percussion was composed in 1989 and premiered in 1990 at the American Ballet Theater’s 50th anniversary gala.

• The music was not danced, although that had been the original intention; the choreographer who began work on it felt that the movements were too short to create dances.

• Each movement is dedicated to a choreographer friend of the composer.

• Each movement also has a secondary layer of meaning, as they all had origins in earlier works: “Dansisca” was first a piano piece for Bernstein’s granddaughter; “Waltz” was first Bernstein’s ironic “NEA Forever March,” written when he refused the National Endowment for the Arts Award from President Bush in 1989; “Bi-Tango” is based on a birthday serenade Bernstein composed for his violinist friend Paul

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Woodiel; “Two-Step” was first “A Spiky Song,” written for his newborn grandson; and “MTV” was originally written for Bernstein’s daughter Jamie, inspired by an episode of the television show Miami Vice.

Tense and Dramatic from Frost Fire ERIC EWAZEN • Composer Eric Ewazen holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School, and has been on faculty at The Juilliard School since 1980.

• He is particularly known for his music for brass instruments.

• His three-movement brass suite Frost Fire was written in 1990, commissioned by and dedicated to the American Brass Quintet in honor of their 30th anniversary.

• The third movement of the suite, Tense and Dramatic, is performed on this program. It is turbulent and frenetic, ultimately leading to a heroic conclusion.

• The challenging mixed-meter rhythms require the players to have a detailed understanding of all of the other parts in order to stay precisely together as an ensemble.

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NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY • 5

ABOUT THE ARTISTS Karen Strittmatter Galvin, violin A frequent soloist with the North Carolina Symphony, Assistant Concertmaster Karen Strittmatter Galvin has performed chamber music with various ensembles and is an artist faculty member of Brevard Music Center in Brevard, North Carolina. She is curator of New Music Raleigh and maintains an active teaching studio.

Erin Zehngut, violin The J. Felix Arnold Chair Before joining the North Carolina Symphony first violin section in 2016, Erin Zehngut was a member of the New World Symphony in Miami. She is a member of the Oak City String Quartet, has served on faculty at the Eastern Music Festival, and teaches privately in Raleigh.

Amy Mason, viola The J. Sidney Kirk Chair In addition to performing in the North Carolina Symphony viola section and with Wisconsin’s Peninsula Music Festival in the summers, Amy Mason is a member of the Oak City String Quartet and the Aurora Musicalis String Quartet, teaches viola at the UNC-Chapel Hill, and has a private studio.

Elizabeth Beilman, cello The Sarah Carlyle Herbert Dorroh Chair A member of the North Carolina Symphony since 1988, Associate Principal Cello Elizabeth Beilman is also Co-Founder and Executive Director of the North Carolina Chamber Music Institute and performs with the Aurora Musicalis String Quartet.

Robert K. Anderson, double bass The Dr. and Mrs. Preston H. Gada Chair Associate Principal Double Bass Robert Anderson is enjoying an unusual 50th season with the North Carolina Symphony.

He has performed with the Eastern Music Festival, Skaneateles Chamber Festival, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, and more, and serves on the executive board of Local 500 of the American Federation of Musicians. An instructor of double bass at UNC-Chapel Hill, he also has a private studio.

Anne Whaley Laney, flute The Mr. and Mrs. George M. Stephens Chair Principal Flute Anne Whaley Laney’s tenure with the North Carolina Symphony has included a memorable 1987 concert in Carnegie Hall, performing at The Kennedy Center in 2017, and various appearances as soloist. She had previously been Principal Flute with the Canton Symphony and piccoloist with the Aspen Festival Orchestra.

Melanie Wilsden, oboe The Hardison and Stoltze Chair After serving as Associate Principal Oboe with the San Francisco Symphony, Melanie Wilsden joined the North 6 • NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY

Carolina Symphony as Principal Oboe in 1989 and has appeared as a soloist and in chamber music programs. She has a private teaching studio and has taught at local institutions including UNC-Chapel Hill and Meredith College.

Samuel Almaguer, clarinet The Mr. and Mrs. J. Christopher Walker, II Chair Principal Clarinet Samuel Almaguer was a Vandoren Emerging Artist in 2013 and has served as second clarinet with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Since joining the North Carolina Symphony, he has been featured as a soloist and chamber musician and has appeared on WUNC – North Carolina Public Radio.

Aaron Apaza, bassoon The Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald S. Hudson Chair Before joining the North Carolina Symphony as Principal Bassoon in 2020, Aaron Apaza held the positions of Principal Bassoon with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and Lecturer of Bassoon at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, as well as acting Assistant Principal positions with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Colorado Symphony.

Rebekah Daley, horn The Mary T. McCurdy Chair Rebekah Daley won her position as North Carolina Symphony Principal Horn while pursuing her graduate work. NCS has featured her as a soloist and in chamber music concerts, and she has appeared at a variety of music festivals, including the Marlboro Music Festival for several summers.

Kimberly Van Pelt, horn The James Marion Poyner Chair After engagements in Los Angeles and three-and-a-half years with South Africa’s Cape Town Symphony, Kimberly Van Pelt joined the North Carolina Symphony in 1993 and was appointed Associate Principal Horn in 2003. She has appeared as a soloist with NCS and in chamber music performances throughout the state.

Paul Randall, trumpet The George Smedes Poyner Chair At age 17, Paul Randall won his first-ever audition and joined the New Orleans Symphony in 1973. Four years later he became Principal Trumpet, and went on to win the same position at the North Carolina Symphony in 1988. In addition to performing as an orchestral soloist, he has toured with Capital Brass, comprised of NCS colleagues.

Don Eagle, trumpet Anonymously Endowed Don Eagle teaches trumpet at Duke University and has appeared as soloist with the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra, Raleigh Civic Symphony, North Carolina Bach Festival, Elon University Chamber Orchestra, North Carolina State University Band, and Triangle Brass Band, among others.

John Ilika, trombone The Thomas Warwick Steed, Jr. Family Chair North Carolina Symphony Principal Trombone since 2001, John Ilika has been a member of many musical organizations including the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Pennsylvania Ballet Orchestra, and the Eastern Music Festival. Since 2010 he has also been Artist Faculty Trombone at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Seth Horner, tuba The Governor and Mrs. James G. Martin, Jr. Chair Seth Horner joined the North Carolina Symphony as Principal Tuba in 2017. He was Acting Principal Tuba of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for three seasons, where he performed on two recordings. He has held principal positions with several other orchestras throughout the U.S., and has been featured widely as a soloist and chamber musician.

Jonathan Randazzo, trombone The Frances Armour Bryant Chair Jonathan Randazzo was appointed Assistant Principal Trombone of the North Carolina Symphony in 2010, while pursuing a bachelor’s degree at the New England Conservatory of Music. Jonathan is also Second Trombone with the Santa Fe Opera and teaches as an Adjunct Professor at North Carolina State University.

Richard Motylinski, percussion The Margery and Earl Johnson, Jr. Chair Principal Percussion Richard Motylinski joined the North Carolina Symphony in 1974 after playing in the percussion sections of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra. He founded the Raleigh Consort, a group which has performed Renaissance music since 1979.

Matthew Neff, bass trombone Anonymously Endowed Prior to winning the position as bass trombonist in the North Carolina Symphony, Matthew Neff was a Master Chief Musician in the United States Navy Band in Washington, D.C., from 1992 to 2019. A graduate of Penn State University and the Catholic University of America, he has also had an extensive career as a freelance musician and educator.

Joseph Peters, host The Lizette T. Dunham Chair The Bruce and Margaret King Chair Joseph Peters has been NCS Associate Principal Oboe and English Horn since 2018, and previously held Principal Oboe chairs with the Minnesota Orchestra and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. NCS audiences may also know him as a 2019 Holiday Pops conductor! To his role as host, Joseph brings a great love for teaching.

Thank you to the members of the Lamar Stringfield Society who support the future of your North Carolina Symphony with estate gifts and endowed funds. Their generosity will help the orchestra share the power of music for generations to come.

Want to make music part of your legacy?

To learn more about including the Symphony in your estate plans, contact Rebecca Watkins, Director of Major Gifts & Planning Giving, rwatkins@ncsymphony.org or 919.789.5497

NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY • 7

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL Grant Llewellyn, Music Director Laureate The Maxine and Benjamin Swalin Chair

Suzanne Kelly

Wesley Schulz, Associate Conductor The Lucy Moore Ruffin Chair

Anton Shelepov

VIOLIN I Brian Reagin, Concertmaster The Annabelle Lundy Fetterman Chair Dovid Friedlander, Associate Concertmaster** The Assad Meymandi and Family Chair To Be Filled, Assistant Concertmaster The Anne Heartt Gregory Chair Karen Strittmatter Galvin, Assistant Concertmaster

Oskar Ozolinch

Jeanine Wynton VIOLA Samuel Gold, Principal The Florence Spinks and Charles Jacob Cate and Alma Yondorf and Sylvan Hirschberg Chair Kurt Tseng, Associate Principal The Betty Ellen Madry Chair To Be Filled, Assistant Principal Petra Berényi

DOUBLE BASS Leonid Finkelshteyn, Principal The Martha and Peyton Woodson Chair Robert K. Anderson, Associate Principal The Dr. and Mrs. Preston H. Gada Chair Craig Brown The Mark W. McClure Foundation Chair Erik Dyke The Harllee H. and Pauline G. Jobe Chair Bruce Ridge The John C. and Margaret P. Parker Chair FLUTE Anne Whaley Laney, Principal The Mr. and Mrs. George M. Stephens Chair

Robert Anemone**

Paul Malcolm

Emily Rist Glover The Jessie Wyatt Ethridge Chair

Christine Martin

Mary E. Boone, Assistant Principal The Dr. and Mrs. Shaler Stidham, Jr. Chair

Amy Mason The J. Sidney Kirk Chair

Elizabeth Anderton Lunsford The Jack and Sing Boddie Chair

Paul Goldsberry The Richard and Joy Cook Chair So Yun Kim The Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. Chair Marilyn Kouba The Phyllis (“Pat”) Conrad Wells Chair Eric McCracken The James C. Byrd and Family Chair Maria Meyer The Tom and Mary Mac Bradshaw Chair Eileen Wynne The Harvey At-Large Chair Erin Zehngut The J. Felix Arnold Chair VIOLIN II Jacqueline Saed Wolborsky, Principal The Nancy Finch Wallace Chair

Sandra Schwarcz The Samuel H. and Anne Latham Johnson Viola Chair CELLO Bonnie Thron, Principal The Herman and Marga Roberg Chair Elizabeth Beilman, Associate Principal The Sarah Carlyle Herbert Dorroh Chair Peng Li, Assistant Principal Anonymously Endowed Yewon Ahn Anonymously Endowed Sunrise Kim The William Charles Rankin Chair David Meyer The Nell Hirschberg Chair

PICCOLO Elizabeth Anderton Lunsford The Jean Dunn Williams Chair OBOE Melanie Wilsden, Principal The Hardison and Stoltze Chair Joseph Peters, Associate Principal The Lizette T. Dunham Chair Sandra Posch The Clarence and Alice Aycock Poe Chair ENGLISH HORN Joseph Peters The Bruce and Margaret King Chair

To Be Filled, Associate Principal The Blanche Martin Shaw Chair

Lisa Howard Shaughnessy The Sara Wilson Hodgkins Chair

CLARINET Samuel Almaguer, Principal The Mr. and Mrs. J. Christopher Walker, II Chair

David Kilbride, Assistant Principal

Nathaniel Yaffe The Secretary of Cultural Resources Betty Ray McCain Chair

To Be Filled, Assistant Principal The Kathryn Powell and Green Flavie Cooper Chair

Qi Cao Janet Gayer Hall

8 • NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL BASSOON Aaron Apaza, Principal The Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald S. Hudson Chair Wenmin Zhang, Assistant Principal The Beethoven Chair FRENCH HORN Rebekah Daley, Principal The Mary T. McCurdy Chair Kimberly Van Pelt, Associate Principal The James Marion Poyner Chair Christopher Caudill The Roger Colson and Bobbi Lyon Hackett Chair Rachel Niketopoulos The Paul R. Villard and Gabriel Wolf Chair To Be Filled The Mary Susan Kirk Fulghum Chair TRUMPET Paul Randall, Principal The George Smedes Poyner Chair To Be Filled, Associate Principal The Henry and Martha Zaytoun and Family Chair Don Eagle Anonymously Endowed

continued

TROMBONE John Ilika, Principal The Thomas Warwick Steed, Jr. Family Chair Jonathan Randazzo, Assistant Principal The Frances Armour Bryant Chair BASS TROMBONE Matthew Neff Anonymously Endowed TUBA Seth Horner, Principal The Governor and Mrs. James G. Martin, Jr. Chair HARP Anita Burroughs-Price Vonda Darr TIMPANI Colin Hartnett, Principal The Patricia R., Steven T. and George F. Hackney III Chair PERCUSSION Richard Motylinski, Principal The Margery and Earl Johnson, Jr. Chair Rajesh Prasad, Assistant Principal The Abram and Frances Pascher Kanof Chair

SHARE YOUR SYMPHONY EXPERIENCE

ORGAN To Be Filled The Albert and Susan Jenkins and Family Organ Chair LIBRARY Stephanie Wilson, Principal The Mary Colvert and Banks C. Talley Chair *Acting position **Leave of absence Named musician chairs are made possible through very meaningful gifts to the Symphony’s endowment. As such, these donor families are also members of the Lamar Stringfield Society.

Learn more.

All string players rotate stands on a periodic basis in each section with the exception of titled players: Principals, Associate Principals, and Assistant Principals.

The North Carolina Symphony is a member of the League of American Orchestras and the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians.

The North Carolina Master Chorale is the Resident Chorus of the North Carolina Symphony.

The North Carolina Symphony Foundation gratefully acknowledges the generous gift of the Lupot violin from Arnold and Zena Lerman.

Show us how you’re spending Symphony night! Are you hosting a “watch party” with the family? Enjoying dinner with a friend beforehand? Mixing a special cocktail to accompany the music?

Snuggled up with a pet as you listen?

Tag us in your posts! @ncsymphony #ncsymphony #TheMusicWillPlayOn NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY • 9

CORPORATE SUPPORT 2020/21 SEASON The North Carolina Symphony is grateful for the generous support of the many corporations across the state that have partnered with us to sustain and advance the mission of the orchestra. With their help, the music WILL play on.

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NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY • 10