Message from the Premier Congratulations to the esteemed Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra on their 2023-2024 season. The NSO is a cultural arts institution in Newfoundland and Labrador. Its ambitious and varied programming each year attracts regular audience members, and new fans alike. Over the last number of years, their inclusion of performances based on iconic pop culture have been met with enormous popularity and have drawn audiences of all ages. The NSO has a strong commitment to community partnerships, reaching over 10,000 students in 2022-23 with their in-school, virtual and interactive programs and providing online concerts, free of charge, to more than 80 senior’s homes. Congratulations, as well, to Marc David, now in his final full season as Music Director, on his outstanding artistic achievements during his long career with the NSO The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is a proud supporter of the NSO and values its contributions to our province’s arts and cultural sector. All the best for a successful season.
Hon. Andrew Furey, Premier
Message from the Mayor On behalf of Council, it is my pleasure to congratulate the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra on its 61st Anniversary, Celebrating the year of the Arts. The City of St. John’s is a proud supporter of the arts and of this vibrant organization. With multiple performances every season, the educational experiences and entertainment provided to all ages is amazing. This season promises to entertain like no other and we are extremely fortunate to have talented musicians as the heartbeat of our musical community whom are there to share their talent and love of music with us all. The NSO board, staff, volunteers and sponsors work diligently each and every year to bring these shows to our community. Allow me to express my appreciation for your hard work and dedication and thank you for the significant contributions you make to the truly unique culture of our City. Best wishes –
Danny Breen, Mayor
Message from the Lieutenant Governor As Patron of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, I welcome you to the 2023-24 season as we celebrate the Year of the Arts. As always, the NSO collaborates with the local arts community to deliver exciting programs. NSO performances consistently provide outstanding entertainment, and showcase some of the most talented musicians and performers not only in our province but our country and beyond. Undoubtedly, people of all ages will enjoy the myriad of excellent performances which the orchestra is offering this season. As an advocate of the arts, I congratulate the NSO. It has shown itself to be a cultural tour de force in our community, rivaling the best in Canada. I have no doubt you will continue to entertain and delight your audiences.
Judy M. Foote P.C., O.N.L. Lieutenant Governor
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MASTERWORKS 2 November 10, 2023 | St. John’s Arts & Culture Centre
Valérie Milot, harp; Juan Carlos Lomonaco, conductor PROGRAMME Carmen Suite no. 1 - G. Bizet (12 min.) I. Prélude
II. Aragonaise
III. Intermezzo
IV. Séguedille
V. Les dragons d’Alcala
VI. Les Toréadors
Concierto de Aranjuez - J. Rodrigo (22 min.) I. Allegro con spirito
II. Adagio
III. Allegro gentile
Sones en la Giralda - J. Rodrigo (10 min.)
INTERMISSION Danzón no. 2 - A. Márquez (10 min.) Three-Cornered Hat, Suites no. 1 and 2 - M. de Falla (23 min.) Part I I. La tarde (The Afternoon) II. Danza de la molinera (Dance of the Miller’s Wife) (Fandango) - El corregidor - La molinera III. La uvas (The Grapes) Part II I. La noche (At Night): Danza de los vecinos (Dance of the Neighbors) (Seguidillas) II. Danza del molinero (Dance of the Miller) (Farruca) - Escena (Allegretto) Las coplas del cuco (The Cuckoo Couplets) (Nocturno) III. Danza del corregidor (Dance of the Magistrate) (Minué) - Allegro IV. Danza final (Final Dance) (Jota)
NSO Board NSO Staff Marc David, Music Director/Conductor Hugh Donnan, CEO Lynn Ann Pye, Patron Relations Manager Jennifer Brennan, Education & Outreach Coordinator Maria Penney, Marketing & Development Manager Dominic Greene, Personnel Manager Steve Power, Production Manager/Video Production/Editing Jenny Griffioen, Librarian Kyle McDavid, Graphic Designer
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Tom Hickey(Chair) Margaret Allan (Vice-Chair) Karen Bulmer Jessica Chapman Amy Collyer-Holmes Michelle Davis Aimee Letto Paul McDonald Heather McKinnon Ian Penney Andrea Rose Conor Stack Alana Walsh-Giovannini Douglas Wright Elizabeth Wright Jing Xia
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Valérie Milot (harp) is is a musician and entrepreneur who walks an unconventional career path. Championing her instrument into the spotlight, she reinvents the harp and its clichés, putting forth its powerful sound and astonishing colours. A sought-after soloist, Valérie regularly performs a rich solo repertoire with prestigious orchestras (Les Violons du Roy, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal) and with reputed conductors (Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Bernard Labadie, Nicolas Ellis, Mathieu Lussier, Jean-François Rivest, amongst others). An active musician online, her YouTube channel boasts over three million views. For her complete bio, visit her website at valeriemilot.com.
Juan Carlos Lomonaco (conductor) is in his ninth season as Music and Artistic Director of the Yucatan Symphony Orchestra in the historical city of Merida. He graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in conducting with Otto-Werner Muller. He also studied with Charles Bruck at The Pierre Monteux School, Enrique Diemecke and Marc David at the Montreal University. He has been music director of the Carlos Chavez Symphony, IPN Symphony, National Conservatory Symphony, the Ollin Yoliztli Symphony in Mexico and The Mexico-Philadelphia Ensemble, in the USA. He is founder and conductor of Ensamble Iberoamericano in Madrid. The repertoire and versatility of Maestro Lomonaco’s conducting covers diverse areas such as opera, ballet, symphonic music, chamber music, and multimedia performances. For his complete bio, visit his website at juancarloslomonaco.com.
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Violin 1 Heather Kao Dominic Greene Andy Kao Ilyas Duissen Daniel Fuchs Natalie Finn Zhongli Hu Lauren Smee Violin 2 Nancy Case-Oates Carole Bestvater Elena Vigna Whit Fitzgerald Cathy Anstey Stewart Gillies Karen Hawkin Viola Kate Read Ema Shiroma-Chao Rosaura Aguilar Mahina Graham-Laidlaw Jonathan Stevenson
Chantelle Jubenville Norma Noseworthy
Cello Nathan Cook Sandra Pope Amy Collyer-Holmes Laura Wakeman Nancy Bannister Katherine Shipley Nulibeth Ortiz Bass Frank Fusari Denise Lear Mario Miranda Nick Howlett Matthew Hardy Flute Michelle Cheramy Sarah Comerford Shayan Haseli Oboe/English Horn Annie Corrigan Kathy Conway-Ward Valerie Holden Clarinet Glenn Rice Brenda Gatherall Bassoon Grant Etchegary Nicole Hand Horn Emily Dunsmore Doug Vaughan Libby Philpott Mara Pellerin Trumpet Katie Sullivan Jill Dawe Hannah Boone Trombone Darren McDonald Erin Sullivan Bass Trombone Andrew Cooper Tuba Olive MacPhail Percussion Rob Power Etienne Gendron Amy Parsons David Kerr Liam Robbins Andrew Dunsmore Harp Sarah Veber Keyboard/Celeste Jenny Griffioen
Special thanks to our accommodations partner:
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Now one of the most performed operas in the world, George Bizet’s Carmen received a hostile reception at its premiere in March 1875. Audiences found the titular character too immoral for the operatic stage—a world where heroines were generally chaste and virtuous—and reviewers were confused by Bizet’s music. Bizet tragically died several months after the premiere, never knowing the ultimate success of his final opera. This success was at least partially owed to his friend Ernest Guiraud. Carmen originally contained spoken dialogue, making it inappropriate for many operatic stages. Guiraud composed music for the dialogue, turning it into sung recitatives, and it was this version of Carmen, first performed in Vienna in October 1875, that would become popular. Guiraud would go on to publish Carmen Suite No. 1 in 1882, a work which celebrated the music that critics had originally found so uninspired. Inspired by the Gardens at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez (1939) catapulted Rodrigo into fame as one of Spain’s leading composers. His journey was a tenacious one. Blinded by diphtheria at a young age, Rodrigo composed his music in braille, later dictating his music to a copyist. Despite this concerto being seen as emblematic of Spanish guitar style and a cornerstone of the classical guitar repertory, Rodrigo himself never learned to play the instrument. The concerto’s popularity extends beyond guitarists, with interpretations by a wide variety of classical and pop musicians including Miles Davis, André Rieu, and Spinal Tap. Rodrigo transcribed the work for harp in 1974 at the request of Spanish harpist Nicanor Zabaleta, which is the version performed tonight. Rodrigo’s Sones en la Giralda (1963) is a fantasia celebrating the Spanish city of Seville. The title, literally translated as “Sounds of the Giralda” references the bell tower of the city’s cathedral, originally built as a minaret of the former mosque when the city was under the control of the Almohad Caliphate in the 12th Century. The first half of the fantasia suggests the shadowed mysteries of Seville at night, but as the dawn breaks, the city comes to life, full of driving rhythms and suggestions of traditional Spanish dance. Arturo Márquez’s Danzón 2 (1994) mimics the characteristics of the Latin American danzón, a slow partner dance whose unique feature is the lengthy virtuoso solo passages in which the dancers pause to listen to the music. Márquez’s piece evokes this through the contrast of sombre dance sections with exuberant passages that feature solos from the woodwind, brass, and string instruments. One has the impression of a ballroom dance that repeatedly breaks out into frenetic dancing only to be brought back to a more proper tempo and style by the rhythm of the claves. In his ballet The Three-cornered Hat, Manuel de Falla had the fortune to work with some of the leading artistic luminaries of the early 20th century: produced by Serge Diaghilev of the Ballets Russes, it was choreographed by Léonide Massine (the choreographer of Stravinsky’s infamous Rite of Spring) with set and costumes by Pablo Picasso. Relying heavily on Andalusian folk music, the ballet was notable for featuring Spanish-styled dances rather than classical ballet. The ballet tells the story of a miller and his wife who outsmart the lecherous town magistrate. Falla would extract the music of his ballet into The Three Corned Hat Suites no. 1 & no. 2 (1919) almost immediately after the ballet’s London premiere. - Notes courtesy of Dr. Annalise Smith
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WAYS TO SUPPORT THE NSO You don’t have to be a musician to play your part in the NSO. NSO supporters make an investment in one of this province’s most important educational, musical, and cultural resources. The NSO performs nearly 20 times each season and reaches over 20,000 people across all demographics. This would not be possible without the support of the community, local businesses and people like YOU! There are many different ways to support your NSO and help us continue to grow orchestral music in Newfoundland and Labrador.
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A STANDING OVATION FOR ALL OUR SUPPORTERS
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Photo: Alick Tsui
P.O. Box 23125 St. John’s, NL A1B 4J9 709-722-4441