Saturday, September 18, 2021, 7:30pm
Preconcert talk at 6:45 PM
Sunday, September 19, 2021, 2:00pm Homecoming, Reflection, and Celebration Adam Flatt, Conductor Casey Bozell, Violin PROGRAM William Schuman (1910-1992)
"When Jesus Wept" from New England Triptych
George Walker (1922-2018)
Lyric for Strings
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Rondo for violin and orchestra in B flat major, K. 269 Casey Bozell, Violin
INTERMISSION Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Symphony no. 43 “Mercury”
Allegro Adagio Menuetto & Trio Finale. Allegro
Programs and artists subject to change.
George Walker, Lyric for Strings was performed in the Great Music and Intimate Evenings string quartet Zoom performance event in September 2020 during the COVID –19 shut down. William Schumann, When Jesus Wept was performed November 2015 with Adam Flatt, conducting.
"When Jesus Wept" from New England Triptych by William Schuman New England Triptych is an unusual and affecting piece, filtering the 18thcentury hymnody of William Billings through a hundred and fifty years’ worth of subsequent history and musical development. “When Jesus Wept,” the central piece of the trilogy, begins and ends with soft side-drum taps and poignant solo writing for bassoon and then oboe; in between, the strings sweep through the hymn with increasing passion and reverence. The means are simple; the effect, peculiarly profound. Lyric for strings by George Walker George walker was a composer of remarkable stylistic breadth, writing music influenced by everything from hymnody to jazz to dodecaphony, and ultimately winning a Pulitzer in 1996 for his Lilacs, for voice and orchestra. The Lyric for strings, though, remains his best-known work, and deservedly so – a tender and almost Mahlerian melody that seems to gain strength as it grows, then subsides again into calm and quiet. The piece began life as the slow movement of a string quartet, written a full half-century before that Pulitzer, in 1946, and (like Samuel Barber’s Adagio from only a few years earlier) deftly repurposed for string orchestra. Rondo for violin and orchestra in B flat major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart The concertante violin works of Mozart extend beyond the five “canonical” concertos and the Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola; besides the miniviolin-concertos hidden within several of the big serenades and divertimenti, there are a few isolated movements for violin and orchestra. The B-flat Rondo, K. 269, is one of these – not (as was originally thought) a rejected movement from a missing concerto, but an independent piece. The lilting tune returns in between episodes both joyous and fierce, with much vim but little vain virtuosity. Symphony no. 43 "Mercury" by Franz Joseph Haydn The early 1770s were a time of ferocious creative expansion for Joseph Haydn, who completed three sets of string quartets as well as a long string of impressive symphonies. Some of these were stern and grim, with nicknames to match – “Lamentatione,” “Trauer-Symphonie,” “La Passione.” But others were jocund, vivacious, splendidly full of light. The “Mercury” (No. 43 in the haphazard but now standard numbering; no one knows where the 19thcentury nickname comes from) is one of the latter. The opening movement begins quietly and almost meanderingly, but quickly bursts forth in bristling sixteenth notes and high horns. The slow movement – initially placid and a bit solemn but becoming deeper and graver with time – is succeeded by a stiffish minuet, and then by a finale that might really be called “mercurial,” since its theme lands on a deceptive cadence midway through, tinging the mirth with a kind of wistfulness.
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Saturday, November 6, 2021, 7:30pm
Preconcert talk at 6:45 PM
Sunday, November 7, 2021, 2:00pm Daybreak of Freedom Adam Flatt, Conductor Thomas Young, Tenor and Narrator PROGRAM William Grant Still (1895-1978)
Festive Overture
Cole Porter (1891-1964)
Two Medleys, arranged by Bill Holcombe
No. 1 ... Night & Day, I Concentrate On You, You’re The Top, I Get A Kick Out of You
No. 2… Let’s Fall In Love, Begin The Beguine, In The Still Of The Night, Just One Of Those Things Thomas Young, Tenor
INTERMISSION Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
“Be thou faithful unto death” from St. Paul
Joseph Schwantner (1943-)
New Morning for the World, "Daybreak of freedom" Texts from the works of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thomas Young, Narrator
Programs and artists subject to change.
The Newport Symphony Orchestra has not previously performed these pieces.
Festive Overture by William Grant Still Still was a remarkable composer, with a knack both for fine orchestration and for interesting and quirky melodies. Both are on display in the 1944 Festive Overture, which despite the grim times manages to keep up the festivities in a work where seemingly every instrument and every section (not excluding percussion) has a place to shine. It has not the usual “festive overture” bluster and drive; the rejoicing here ambles more than it shouts, but all the same the good cheer and the camaraderie are infectious. Songs by Cole Porter The beginnings of the “Great American Songbook” belong to a very few composers of (mostly) stage musicals, and Cole Porter is by many accounts the greatest of them all. He had the style, the wit, and the almost uncanny marriage of words to music that makes for greatness in popular song. Some of this may stem, of course, from his being his own lyricist, which was and remained rare for composers of standards; he never had to grope for music to match a phrase or words to match a melody, since both were intimately under his control. Moreover, his particular vein of caustic humor was unmatched by anyone of his time. In 1937, a horse-riding accident crippled Porter (who refused amputations). Nonetheless, he continued writing, including (in 1948) the show Kiss Me, Kate, generally acknowledged as his biggest success. But after the accident he was in constant pain, and his overall output decreased. "Be thou faithful unto death" from St. Paul by Felix Mendelssohn So popular did Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah become in England that it’s difficult to remember that it was the sequel, not the original; compositionally (though not chronologically), St. Paul came first. Perhaps it was the relative stasis of the tale that nudged it into comparative obscurity; at any rate, there is no equivalent here of the contest with the Priests of Baal, or the last ride in the fiery chariot. All the same, Mendelssohn’s infallible gift for melody and for intriguing textures stood him in good stead. In “Be thou faithful unto death,” styled a “Cavatina” in the score, the simple melody of the tenor is intertwined closely with a gentle cello obbligato that continually, softly enfolds it. New Morning for the World, "Daybreak of freedom" by Joseph Schwantner Joseph Schwantner is an American composer with a well-known gift for splashy orchestration, one put to good use in New Morning For the World: Daybreak of Freedom, a melodrama (spoken text over orchestral music) with the texts taken from the writings of Dr. Martin Luther King, (CONTINUED ON PAGE 20…)
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Wednesday, December 8, 2021, 2:00pm & Wednesday, December 8, 2021, 7:30pm
Preconcert talk at 6:45 PM
Baroque and Beyond for the Holidays Adam Flatt, Conductor Adrian Dee, Flute PROGRAM Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750 )
Brandenburg Concerto no. 3
Allegro Adagio Allegro assai William Grant Still (1891-1964)
Mother and Child
Adrian Dee (19??-)
Fantasy for Flute and Strings (World Premiere Performance)
Busy Day Lullaby Wild Dreams
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Fantasia on Greensleeves
INTERMISSION Lucas Richman (1964-)
A Hanukkah Celebration
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Concerto Grosso op. 6 no. 8, "Christmas Concerto"
Vivace - Grave, Arcate, sostenuto e como stà Allegro Adagio – Allegro – Adagio Vivace Allegro Largo. Pastorale ad libitum Programs and artists subject to change.
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Fantasia on Greensleeves, performed September 2009 with conductor Adam Flatt, and December 1994 when NSO was Yaquina Orchestra.
Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 by J. S. Bach Of the Brandenburg Concertos, that magnificent set of six wildly colorful works which Bach sent to the Margrave of Brandenburg in an apparent bid for employment. No. 3 is perhaps the most beloved, being one of two for strings alone, and the one of those involving only modern-form strings (No. 6, with its two violas da gamba, seems more archaic in its mere sound). The piece is, nonetheless, unique, with its trios of violins, violas, and violoncellos (with bass and keyboard continuo). There are only two movements, unless you count the two chords separating them, which have been replaced with everything from a short cadenza to an entire interpolated movement. Both are miracles of ritornello construction; the highlights are the long descent in the first movement all the way through the instruments until the cellos must find a means to dig their way out, and the massive pileups of violins and then violas in the finale, culminating in a triumphant first-viola solo. Mother and Child by William Grant Still Mother and Child isn’t exactly a piece about the Christ-child, but rather about mothering as such; there is throughout the feeling of closeness, of serenity, of peace and plenitude. The piece is an arrangement of a movement of a work for violin and piano from 1943, but in the string-orchestra version there’s an expansion, a suggestion of higher things. Fantasy for Flute and Strings by Adrian Dee (World Premier) By Adrian Dee…“Fantasy” was inspired by a concert I attended in Portland in the Spring of 2019. The program was all local living composers. They were holding a raffle at intermission as a fundraiser; for the grand prize, one of the composers would write a short piece for the winner. I thought, “what would I want if I win? Something with flute… and I love the sound of flute and strings together…” I didn’t win. I had only recently begun composing but I decided, heck, I’ll write my own piece for flute and strings. I wanted something slow and mellow and ended up with this lovely “Lullaby.” When I showed it to a friend he said, “Nice, sounds like you’re on your way to writing a concerto.” That got me thinking, OK, what comes before the Lullaby? The busy day – running around doing errands, pick up the kids, get dinner on the table. And after the Lullaby? The wild dreams. I do not think of the piece, however, as “program” music which tells a specific story. These ideas were merely the spark for my creative process. The first movement opens with, and makes continuous use of, a four-note theme that includes a lowered seventh. I love this slightly exotic “modal” sound and use it throughout the piece. In the Lullaby, the strings weave together in a gentle meditative rocking motion while the flute floats above. The final movement alternates 6/8 and 3/4 rhythms in a rollicking minor key, eventually landing back in our home key of G major. The four-note theme appears again at the very end as the bow that ties up the package. The piece is joyful, rhythmic, tonal, and very accessible. I hope you enjoy it. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 20…)
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Newport Symphony Orchestra at the Ocean
MUSICIANS Music Director & Conductor, Adam Flatt VIOLIN Casey Bozell, Concertmaster Irene Gadeholt,
Associate Concertmaster Ken Combs, Principal 2nd Cathy Page, Asst. Principal 2nd Yvonne Hsueh Alberta Barnes Tricia Bevans Rita Brown Marya Kazmierski Alistair Kok Cindy Petty Sara Pyne Lori Porter Stole VIOLA Shauna Keyes, Principal John Leuthauser Toby Loftus Shelley Mathewson CELLO Barbara Johnston, Principal Sherill Roberts Erik Velasquez Adrienne Welsh
STRING BASS Karl Blaeuer, Principal Robert Busey
TRUMPET Katherine Evans, Principal Bradley Capshaw
FLUTE Erin Adair, Principal Adrian Dee
TROMBONE Greg Scholl, Principal Ryan Chaney
OBOE Pablo Izquierdo, Principal Kris Klavik
BASS TROMBONE Glenn Griffith
CLARINET Colleen White, Principal Alicia Charlton BASSOON Danielle Goldman,
Acting Principal
HORN Scott King, Principal Justin Stanley Jon Holloway Margarite Waddell
TUBA Jay Steele, Principal TIMPANI Craig Johnston, Principal Rachel Dobrow Stone PERCUSSION Rachel Dobrow Stone,
Acting Principal
HARP Martha Griffith, Principal
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Saturday, January 15, 2022, 7:30pm
Preconcert talk at 6:45 PM
Sunday, January 16, 2022, 2:00pm Piano Spectacular Adam Flatt, Conductor Clayton Stephenson, Piano PROGRAM –Rákóczy March from
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
The Damnation of Faust Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1922-2018)
Symphony No. 2
Allegro Presto Andante Presto Three Latin American Dances
Gabriela Lena Frank (1972-) Introduction: Jungle Jaunt Highland Harawi The Mestizo Waltz
INTERMISSION Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Piano Concerto no. 1 B-flat major, Op.23
Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso Andantino semplice Allegro con fuoco
Programs and artists subject to change.
Hector Berlioz’s Rákóczy March from The Damnation of Faust was performed by the Newport Symphony with conductor, Adam Flatt in March of 2009. Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no. 1 performed October 2005 with Marlan Carlson conductor, Alexander Tutunov, piano.
Rákóczy March from The Damnation of Faust by Hector Berlioz In Damnation de Faust, the “Rákóczy March” is just a bit-part – a passing army, pressing Faust to think of what he still desires of life. On its own, though, it’s a snapshot of Hungary, seen through the eyes of a Frenchman. The general gait and tempo are like all marches, but there is a faint “otherness” to the cast of the music. Symphony No. 2 by Joseph Bologne Joseph Bologne was born in the French colony of Guadeloupe, to a wealthy planter and his wife’s Black slave – a parentage that fell to a great many descendants of Frenchmen in the Caribbean. Far from hiding this relationship, though, Georges de Bologne Saint-Georges took his natural son to France and had him educated; Joseph became not only a fine violinist, composer, and conductor, but also a renowned fencer. He was popularly known as the “Chevalier de Saint-Georges,” a name that persists today. His compositions included several sets of string quartets, several operas (all but one lost), and many violin concertos and Symphonies concertantes. The symphony on this program doubles as the overture to the opera L’Amant anonyme (The Anonymous Lover) and has the tripartite layout typical of opera overtures at that time: a fast and bristly first movement; a slow movement with strings alone, near-canonic between upper and lower strings throughout; and a breakneck Presto with a minore middle section. Gabriela Lena Frank’s Three Latin American Dances are not the pieces of musical ethnography the title might lead one to expect, but rather quasihumorous comments on the land and its peoples. “Jungle Jaunt,” the first, for example, is a cheery landscape full of simulated birdsong, and owes something of its swing and energy to Leonard Bernstein. “Highland Harawi,” much the longest of the three, is close kin to the third movement of Bartók’s Music for Strings Percussion, and Celesta; there are the jagged viola lines, the high percussion (not xylophone here, but claves), the low, churning untuned percussion. “Mestizo Waltz,” finally, is defiantly polyglot, evoking not only the mix of blood in the mestizo community but the strange mix of musical influences that come of such a mashup of cultures. Piano concerto no. 1, B-flat major Op.23 by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 is one of a handful of towering works for piano and orchestra of the later 19th century, a rival of Liszt and Brahms and Grieg, a forerunner of Rachmaninov, a thing against which Prokofiev and Ravel could define themselves. The piece itself has its weirdnesses – what other concerto, of any era, spends only a couple of bars in its ostensible home key before dashing off into the relative major for some minutes? But the grandeur of the themes (yes, including that first one) and the thunderous demonstrations of technique required of any executant are unforgettable. The hell-raising runs in double octaves in the outer movements are only part of it; alongside them are delicate, intricate bits of filigree decorating one or another of the work’s many fabulous tunes. If it’s the former that overwhelm, it’s the latter that beguile.
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Saturday, March 19, 2022, 7:30pm
Preconcert talk at 6:45 PM
Sunday, March 20, 2022, 2:00pm Latin Fireworks Adam Flatt, Conductor Mónica Abrego, Soprano PROGRAM Blas Galindo (1910-1993)
Sones de Mariachi
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
El Salón México
María Greever (1885-1951)
Despedida*
Manuel M. Ponce (1882-1948)
Estrellita*
Arturo Márquez (1950-)
Danzón no. 2
INTERMISSION Juventino Rosas (1868-1894)
Sobre las Olas
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
“O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi *
Agustín Lara (1897-1970)
Arráncame la vida*
Alfonso Esparza Orteo (1894-1950)
Dime que si*
Agustín Lara
Granada*
Grever
Júrame*
José Pablo Moncayo (1912-1958)
Huapango
* Mónica Abrego, Soprano
Programs and artists subject to change.
Blas Galindo, Sones de Mariachi performed September 2011 with Adam Flatt, conductor. Aaron Copland, El Salón México performed February 2018 with Adam Flatt, conductor. Arturo Márquez, Danzón no. 2 performed September 2011 with Adam Flatt, conductor. José Pablo Moncayo, Huapango performed August 2004 with Louis Frémaux, conductor, July, 2012 with Adam Flatt, conductor and July 2019, Adam Flatt, conductor.
Sones de Mariachi by Blas Galindo Sones de Mariachi is, as the name suggests, a celebration of mariachi music, heavy on the brass and glittering with vibrant color and rhythm. Other instruments briefly take over the lead, but this is really one for the trumpets, whose bright sound runs through the entire work.
El Salón México by Aaron Copland This is a valentine to our southern neighbor, a complement to his explicitly American works like Billy the Kid and Appalachian Spring. Though Copland visited the actual Salón México (a famous nightclub in Mexico City), the music he folded into his depiction of it came from printed music bought back in the United States. The tunes shift from fairly simple and mellifluous to raucous to literally earthy (one of the club’s three rooms was reserved for the barefoot), and the constant shifts in meter and crossrhythms keep the entire band, as it were, on its toes. Danzón no. 2 by Arturo Márquez One of Mexico’s best-known living composers, with a protean and wide-ranging style. Prominent among his compositions are the many variations on the dance called danzón, originally Cuban but later imported to Veracruz. Danzón no. 2 begins with the simplest of textures, but even at the opening the characteristic rhythm of the claves sets the scene; later there are all manner of lines, sinuous and sturdy and brusque, the leading role given to woodwind and brass and strings by turns as the music progresses. Twice, a piccolo emerges from the rest to perform a spectral duet with the piano.
Sobre las Olas (Over the Waves) by Juventino Rosas This is a waltz-set so familiar to American audiences that it would startle most of them to learn that it’s the work of a young Mexican indigene. Juventino Rosas, a street fiddler in Mexico City, composed the work in 1888, when he was barely twenty years old; he died just six years later, after falling ill on a tour of Cuba. The work follows the usual design of a series of linked waltz-tunes, the first of which has oddly entered the American vernacular as the inevitable accompaniment to cartoons, funfairs, skating rinks, trapeze acts, and the like.
Huapango by José Pablo Moncayo This is the standout orchestral work of, a leading Mexican nationalist composer and friend of Galindo and of Carlos Chávez. This work also draws on the folk music of Veracruz, but a different strain from Márquez’s danzónes. In the beginning, the rhythms and harmonies are repeated over and over, almost like a ciaccona or bergamasca of the Italian Baroque; then the piece starts shifting gears and wider prospects open up, including sudden shifts of key and of meter.
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Adam Flatt continues to lead the Newport Symphony in a dynamic period of growth that began when he became Music Director in 2007. Recognizing his decade of leadership, in January of 2018 the mayor of Newport proclaimed "Adam Flatt Day" in his honor. Adam first led the NSO as a guest in 1998, and after a subsequent appearance in 2006 was invited to assume the leadership of the Orchestra after a search process that involved over 150 candidates. As the NSO’s profile has risen to the top rank of coastal cultural organizations, sold-out audiences at home in the Newport Performing Arts Center and elsewhere along the Oregon Coast have extravagantly praised Adam’s exciting and committed musical leadership and compelling programming. After beginning his professional career in Oregon as apprentice conductor of the Oregon Symphony, Adam went on to lead over 250 performances of the Colorado Symphony in five years at associate conductor. He has also previously held positions with two of America’s most prominent youth orchestras: the Portland Youth Philharmonic and the Denver Young Artists Orchestra. Now Adam enjoys a very busy career that reflects his versatility and demand. In addition to his presence in Newport, Adam is devoted to Tuscaloosa, Alabama where he has been Music Director of the Tuscaloosa Symphony since 2011, and his home in Denver where he holds the same position with the Colorado Ballet. As time allows, he is also a guest conductor for orchestras, opera, and ballet companies across the United States. Adam brings not only musicianship but a tireless artistic advocacy everywhere he works. A native of Sacramento, Adam has his bachelor’s degree in music with honors from the University of California at Berkeley, and his master’s in conducting from the Indiana University School of Music. He also studied in Austria, in Germany, and at the Aspen Music Festival. Adam, his wife Jenny and their two children live in Denver. www.adamflatt.com
Casey Bozell, Newport Symphony Concertmaster is a diverse and energetic performer based in Portland, Oregon. This is her 2nd performance as a soloist with the Newport Symphony, She is an active solo, chamber, and orchestral player. She also holds positions with the Portland Opera Orchestra and Oregon Ballet Theater, Beaverton Symphony, Linfield Chamber Orchestra, Corban University Orchestra, and the Central Oregon Chamber Orchestra. Casey has served on the faculty of the Young Musicians and Artists summer camp since 2010 and is a founding member of the Portland-based piano trio Hammers and Bows. Casey received her Bachelors of Music Performance from the University of Northern Colorado, and her Master of Music Performance from Northwestern University. Adrian Dee is the second chair flutist with the Newport Symphony. He says he “has been with the NSO for about a hundred years and I love it. They are my second family.” He plays in the Allegro con Flauto flute quartet and the Rose City Flute Choir in Portland, OR, and is active with flute clubs on the local and national level. Adrian composes and arranges music for flute and flute ensembles. He has published works that are available on Sheet Music Plus. Adrian says, “I feel called to bring joy into the world wherever possible. I like to write music that is rhythmic and uplifting.” Adrian workshopped the third movement of "Fantasy" (with piano accompaniment) in a composers' forum at the National Flute Association's annual convention in August 2019. Today’s performance is the World Premier of the full piece.
Mónica Ábrego is one of Mexico’s most outstanding sopranos. She has performed on stages around the world with a diverse r e pe rt oi re which includes opera, lied, oratorio, folk, and popular music. Ms. Ábrego has performed with many orchestras in America as well as Mexico and Bulgaria symphony orchestras. Founder and Executive director of the Baja Musical Arts Initiative a nonprofit, whose mission is to improve the lives of children and young adults in NY City and Mexico through musical education and performances. Ms. Abrego develops the program Sharing Notes, an academic exchange program between Mexico and the US, for musicians with a passion for teaching and interest in community work, using music as an instrument to promote values such as discipline, solidarity but also be part of a social project where music, culture, language, and inspiration is promoted.Her debut recording includes Bossa nova, Méxican music, musical theater, and tango. Clayton Stephenson, Piano. Admitted into the Juilliard PreCollege at age ten, Clayton Stephenson was named the 2017 U .S . Pre si de n tial Scholar in the Arts and Lang Lang Music Foundation Young Scholar. He went on to win the 2016 Cooper International Competition and 2015 Van Cliburn Junior International Competition and the Jack Kent Cooke scholarship. Currently a dual degree major in economics at Harvard and Master of Music major in Piano at New England Conservatory, Stephenson's burgeoning career include recitals at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, Beethoven Fest in Bonn, and Weill Recital at Carnegie Hall. Orchestral performances include Chicago Sinfonietta Season Opening Concert at Chicago’s Symphony Center, Chicago’s Millennium Park
Pritzker Pavilion, and the International Youth Orchestra for the 69th United Nations Day. Appearing at “Grammy Salute to Classical Music” Concert, Stephenson was also the featured solo artist with the Tuscaloosa Symphony September 2019 and the Augusta Symphony January 2020. Immediate future engagements for Stephenson include the Duluth Superior and Meridian Symphonies. Fluent in the Mandarin Chinese language, Stephenson's extracurricular study is Jazz at the Boys’ Club of New York where he devotes himself to underprivileged children in East Harlem.
T h om a s Y ou n g , Grammy, and Cleoaward winning lyric tenor has appeared as a principal soloist in the major concert halls and opera houses of some 30 countries, and under the baton of, among others, Zubin Mehta, Roger Norrington, Simon Rattle, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. In addition to his distinguished performance career, Mr. Young serves as a tenured Professor of Music at Sarah Lawrence College and is in demand as a conductor, clinician, and master class specialist. Known for his unique dramatic and musical intelligence, as well as beauty of tone and exceptional technique, Mr. Young is recognized as today's foremost interpreter of tenor roles in contemporary opera and is part of many recordings, some of which were Grammynominated. Recent engagements include touring, recording, and performing as part of the well-known ensemble Three Mo' Tenors and now as Cook, Dixon & Young, Michael Tipett's A Child of our Time under the direction of Sir Roger Norrington. Mr. Young's own recordings include High Standards and Claire de Lune, Sister Moon on ESSAY Records; and A Star in the East, A Spiritual Christmas on Ocean Records.
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(Continued from page 9…) Jr. This is almost certainly Schwantner’s best-known work. The texts range widely across Dr. King’s oeuvre, ending ecstatically with the famous line about “the arc of justice,” but encompassing many other sources and many other moods; much of the music is vaguely martial. There are long stretches for orchestra alone, but always with the certainty that the narrator will return and take command of the music.
Continued from page 11…) Fantasia on Greensleeves by Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on ‘Greensleeves’ isn’t quite Christmas music either. It’s because the tune (attributed, dubiously, to Henry VIII) predates its appropriation as “What Child Is This?” Vaughan Williams scores this simply, for two flutes, harp, and strings. The piece is not originally an independent work, having been excerpted from Vaughan Williams’ 1928 opera Sir John in Love by Ralph Greaves. But the unobtrusive scoring and the simplicity of form (there is a brief middle section based on another English folksong, “Lovely Joan”) make it apt for the season. A Hanukkah Celebration by Lucas Richman Lucas Richman is a conductor (currently of the Bangor, ME Symphony) and composer of both sophisticated orchestral music and music for youth orchestras and festive events; he arranged Hannukah Celebration from several traditional Jewish folksongs. The arc of the piece – from minor-mode tunes to more buoyant ones in the major – is precisely that of the holiday itself, uncertainty resolving to joy. Concerto Grosso op. 6 no. 8, "Christmas Concerto” by Arcangelo Corelli. He may be credited with creating, in his 48 trio sonatas from the 1680s, an entirely new means of writing for trio, one that could be extended almost infinitely. The twelve Concertos, Op. 6, carry that means on to orchestral music, though beyond the addition of a viola part and of solo/tutti distinctions, there’s little difference. Eight of the concertos of Op. 6 are “da chiesa,” meaning intended for ecclesiastical use, while the other four are “da camera,” based on secular dances. The last piece in that first group is this one, which is headed “Fatto per la Notte di Natale” (“made for the night of [Christ’s] birth”). In most ways, it resembles the rest of the twelve; its distinguishing feature is the Pastorale with which it ends – a feature copied immediately by half a dozen or more other Italian composers. The Pastorale, literally “music for shepherds,” became the universal sign of the Nativity in music.
(Continued from page 17…) Latin Songs Provided by Mónica Abrego: The following set of songs are undoubtedly some of the most emblematic and representative musical jewels written in the 1900s by Mexican composers. Love and unrequited love is the main theme in most cases. From Agustin Lara, the tango “Arrancame la Vida” (Take my life), depicts his early years of playing in cabarets to “Granada” song about the Spanish city of Granada and which is a standard in music repertoire worldwide. M. Ponce’s “Estrellita” (Little Star) was written in 1912. His compositions are based on Mexican folklore themes combined with European romantic style. Estrellita became known internationally. Esparza Oteo’s “Dime que si” (Say yes) is one of the most popular composers of the 1920s. I cannot find a better way to describe it than to share the poetry with you:
“They say you don’t love me anymore, I’d like to hear it from you…. they say other kisses tremble on your dark skin, nothing else matters in this life without you…. say yes and a piece of heaven will be mine, and if you ask, my heaven and my life, are yours too” Last but not least, Maria Grever, a female composer who wrote over 1000 songs and had her own publishing company. Influenced by the French romantics as well as jazz and other American composers, her music is full of Mexican rhythms, cultural richness, and poetry. “Despedida” (Farewell) is part of the album Six Songs published in 1946 and “Jurame” (Swear to me) Habanero-bolero, became an international success in 1976 by tenor Jose Mojica and is still until this day, another standard in the music repertoire. Maria Grever was also the first Mexican female composer to achieve international acclaim. It is truly a delight and a gift for me to share these beautiful pieces with you. To share an epoch and style that describe through these sounds, the Mexico I love dearly.
SPECIAL THANKS: Newport Symphony Orchestra at the Ocean appreciates the major funding support from the Robert and Jeannette Hofer Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, Jeannette Hofer, Pat Lewis, Ken Combs, John and Melody Lavrakas, Bob and Karen Bennet, James F. and Marion L. Miller foundation, Georgia- Pacific, Oregon Coast Bank, The Ford Family Foundation, the Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Community Foundation, and all other individuals, foundations, and businesses.
Personnel: Music Director: Resident Conductor (Emeritus): Executive Director: Office Manager/Bookkeeper: Personnel Managers: Technical Manager: Librarian:
Adam Flatt David Ogden Stiers (1990-2018) Don Nelson Megan Miller-Morgan Kris Klavik, Shauna Keyes Brad Capshaw Alistair Kok
Board of Directors: President: Treasurer: Secretary:
Dr. Karen Gray Michael Meagher Adrienne Welsh
Board Members:
Ken Combs, Karen Gray, Brian Haggerty, William Hite, Michael Meagher, Betty Richard, Gavin Shumate, Joseph Swafford, Donald Taylor, Sioux Boston (on leave)
NSO Musician Rep. to Board:
Adrienne Welsh
Associate Board Members:
Paul Brookhyser, Richard Cutler, Thomas Hurst, Mark McConnell, Cindy McEntee, Fran Mathews, Nancy Steinberg
Honorary Board Members:
John Baker, Kathryn Heater, John Lavrakas, Melody Lavrakas, Mary Lee Scoville, Jess Smith
ADDITIONAL THANKS: Jason Holland, Justin Gleeson, Ron Miller, Brian Robrecht, and the rest of the PAC staff and volunteers; the families and individuals who house our musicians throughout the season; Yaquina Bay Broadcasting and its stations KNPT AM and KYTE FM; Lincoln County School District, Newport First Presbyterian Church, our generous patrons, donors, and volunteers who help classical music thrive on the central Oregon coast!
Credits:
The NSO receives support from the Oregon Arts Commission, a state agency funded by the State of Oregon and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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House Manager:
Charlotte Dinolt
Homestay Coordinator:
Dianne Trask
Hospitality Committee:
Christina Swafford, Chair; Joseph Swafford, Harlean Gregg, Karen Schille, Kathy Garner, JoAnn Failor, Jeanne Bailey Moe, Bill Schille, Gail Willett, Conrad Willett
Stage Managers:
Sharlei Malovoz, Barbara Perkins
Program Notes:
Michelle Dulak
Graphic Design:
Darcy Hogan
Special July 4 Event:
Paul Brookhyser and Tom Hurst