PROGRAM NOTES

ARAGONAISE, FROM "CARMEN" - GEORGES BIZET (1838-1875) ARR. RICHARD MEYER

Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death at the age of 36, French composer Georges Bizet achieved early musical success at the Paris Conservatoire, and won the Prix de Rome, but then struggled to win critical acclaim. His final work, Carmen, initially was considered a scandal, but after his death became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire. Set in Spain, "Carmen" is a violent, colorful tale of love and jealousy between an amoral gypsy woman and a weak-willed soldier. The "Aragonaise" (literally a person or thing from Aragon, a region in Spain) is the orchestra's interlude that introduces the opera's 4th act. Bizet 's realistic approach to storytelling influenced the verismo school of opera at the end of the 19th century.

THESYNCOPATEDCLOCK-LEROYANDERSON(1908-1975)

Two differently pitched woodblocks mimic the sound of a ticking clock throughout this lighthearted piece. By establishing a perfectly regular "tick-tock" at the opening, it draws attention to brief moments of syncopation, or placement of rhythmic stresses where they wouldn't normally occur, creating a whimsical and comic effect that reflects the composer's sense of humor. American composer Leroy Anderson was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts to first-generation Swedish immigrant parents. Leroy was given piano lessons by his mother, entered the New England Conservatory at age 11 and by the age of 22 had earned a BA and MA in music from Harvard University. Skeptical that his career in music held much promise, Leroy considered becoming a language teacher, and began working on a PhD in German and Scandinavian languages which would later come in handy while he served in the U.S. Army. Arthur Fiedler of the Boston Pops noticed his compositions, and conducted hits like Sleigh Ride and Blue Tango. The Syncopated Clock was composed in Arlington, Virginia, while Anderson was serving in the military during WWII. Its 1950 debut recording hit No. 12 on the Billboard chart. When asked about the piece, Anderson said he thought of the title first and then worked the music so that it reflected the rhythm of a syncopated clock.

CAROUSEL WALTZ - RICHARD RODGERS (1843-1907) ARR. CALVIN CUSTER

Richard Rodgers was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. His writing partnerships with lyricist Lorenz Hart and later with Oscar Hammerstein II gave rise to 43 Broadway musicals. Rodgers was one of the most well-known American composers of the 20th century. As one critic put it, "Probably not a day goes by without a show of his being performed somewhere in the world." Instead of opening with a traditional overture, the musical (and movie) "Carousel" begins with a musical waltz suite. Originally choreographed by Agnes de Mille, the wordless ballet sets the scene for Carousel with characters interacting at the bustling fair, all set to Rodgers’ music, now known as "Carousel Waltz." From the opening section where the carousel is "warming up" with dissonant chords, to its sweeping waltz tune, you can imagine a carnival ride from start to finish.

THEMES FROM MARCH SLAV - PYOTR I. TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) ARR. CHRIS BERNOTAS

Pyotr Tchaikovsky, one of the most famous Russian composers of the Romantic era, was commissioned to write this piece for a concert to benefit Serb soldiers wounded while fighting, with help from Russian volunteers, against the Ottoman Empire Hence the title (March Slav) declared it was for all Slavs rather than simply for Russians. The piece includes a number of distinct moods; bright, festive passages contrast with ominous ones. At several moments, different sections of the orchestra carry their own melodies at the same time, creating a layered effect. As the march progresses toward its triumphant conclusion, the intensity of the music builds. Tchaikovsky's emotional use of national and folk tunes and his brilliant orchestration ensured that the piece enjoyed immediate success.

PROGRAM NOTES CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE.

Meet The Composers

scan here for extended program notes!

ABERTURAEMRE[OVERTUREIND]-FATHERJOSÉMAURICIONUNESGARCIA(1767-1830)

Pe. José Mauricio Nunes Garcia was an Afro-Brazilian composer, musician, Catholic priest, and music teacher. The majority of his compositions are sacred works, but he also wrote some secular pieces, including an opera and the Tempest Symphony, as well as the Overture in D performed today The Overture is in a short fast sonata form, following a slow introduction Garcia sang and played the harpsichord, performing his compositions as well as those of other composers; Garcia is also believed to have conducted the first performance of Mozart's Requiem in Brazil. The departure of the Portuguese court, financial and personal difficulties, and health problems made Nunes Garcia's life challenging especially at its end. He was remembered and appreciated after his death for his contributions to classical composition, but most of his work was assumed lost Over the past decades, more research and discovery about his work and life has been published He was honored on a Brazilian postage stamp in 1973

THE PHOENIX RISING - STELLA SUNG (B. 1959)

From the composer: "The Phoenix Rising was commissioned by Jonathan May and the Florida Young Artist’s Orchestra for the orchestra’s 10th Anniversary season (2008). The composition reflects the tale of a mythical bird, the phoenix, which is considered a powerful symbol in many cultures throughout the world. The story tells of the phoenix which, when nearing its death, builds a funeral pyre for itself. From the ashes of the fire is then born the new phoenix that lives on for another 500 years in complete and total peacefulness, drinking only dewdrops for its sustenance. Compositionally, the work is through-composed. I later discovered that I had inadvertently referenced a favorite work of mine, Richard Strauss's tone poem, Death and Transfiguration. The Phoenix Rising is dedicated to my dear friend, Mr. Jonathan May, who suddenly passed away in 2010. May his love of music live on forever." Composer Dr. Stella Sung has won numerous awards and is presently director of the Center for Research and Education in Arts, Technology, and Entertainment (CREATE) at the University of Central Florida, College of Arts and Humanities.

SPARK! - JACOB SHAY (B. 1999)

Jacob Shay is a young American composer from Minnesota. He is currently nishing his senior year, earning a bachelor’s degree in Music Theory and Composition at Concordia College, Minnesota. Over the short period of his young career so far, Jacob has had the opportunity to write commercial music for companies and been a nalist in composition competitions. In the winter of 2022, Dr. Kevin Sütterlin commissioned Jacob Shay to write a piece for his Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra. This gave way to the creation of “Spark!” The piece is fast, and bursting with life across all ends of the orchestra. Despite the swift nature of the piece, Jacob’s sense of harmony and orchestration allows for a thorough and cohesive sound world for melodies to develop.From the composer: "Spark! features the influences which shaped the composer that I am today. It stands for my Spark of inspiration, and the piece tries to pay as much homage as I can to some of my own favorite composers!"

March 5 2023

• Empire Arts Center, Grand Forks North Dakota

PLEASE SILENCE ELECTRONIC DEVICES • NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY OR VIDEO RECORDING.

Note: out of respect to the performers and other audience members, please do not talk during the performance.

If you must leave, please exit or enter only during applause, between pieces

KARA HARTTEN, CONDUCTOR KATIE SVENDSON, ASSISTANT PHILHARMONIC

Aragonaise, from "Carmen"

The Syncopated Clock

Carousel Waltz, from "Carousel"

Themes from March Slav

Georges Bizet (1838-1875) arr. Richard Meyer

Leroy Anderson (1908-1975)

Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) arr. Calvin Custer

Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) arr. Chris Bernotas

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR RECOGNITION • ANNOUNCEMENT OF BOARD ELECTION RESULTS

SYMPHONY

Abertura em Re [Overture in D]

DR. KEVIN SÜTTERLIN, CONDUCTOR SARAH HARLOW, ASSISTANT

José Mauricio Nunes Garcia (1767-1830) ed. Sarah Harlow

The Phoenix Rising Stella Sung (b. 1959)

Spark!

Jacob Shay (b. 1999)

Following today's performance please join us for a reception in the lobby. Raffle tickets and tickets to our Music in Bloom fundraiser are also available!

Coaches/side by side mentors this season include: Dr Simona Barbu, Claire Barhite, Tamara Bertram, Dr Lisa Bost-Sandberg, Ana Castro. Juanita Caballeros Casas, Samuel Chen, Ren Crowder, Erin Cummings, Cory Driscoll, Ligia Feo, Matthew Fowler, Sarah Harlow, Christopher McGill, Mary Morales, Mark Nelson, Devon Tucker

THANKS TO: Empire Arts Center & staff

Nix Bumble Creative

• Grand Forks Central & staff • Behls Photography

• Schmitt Music and UND Music for the use of "A" clarinets

Gabrielle Helfrich & Larimore Public Schools; Olivia Schlotman & Northwood Public Schools; Misti Koop & Minto Public Schools; Triangle Coach Service; these wonderful students & their school & private instructors the many supporters, sponsors, donors, and grantors listed in this program.

Philharmonic

Violin 1

Arienne Caoili, Grand Forks - homeschool

Eva Danielson, Thompson - homeschool/Schroeder

Austin Hardersen, Grand Forks - South MS

*Kinley Maszk, Grand Forks- Schroeder MS

CJ Leroux Peters, Grand Forks - EGF Sacred Heart

Elaine Liu, Grand Forks - South

Ella Pratt, Cummings - Quest Academy

Clarissa Sturlaugson, Grand Forks - South MS

Violin 2

Micah Benavides, Grand Forks AFB - Twining MS

Clara Borsvold, Grand Forks - homeschool

Isaac Bui, Grand Forks - South MS

All musicians are important to the ensemble, and are listed alphabetically..

*string principal

Annie Eberhardt, Grand Forks - homeschool/Schroeder

*Grace Lee, Grand Forks - Viking

Cali Lindseth, Grand Forks - Valley MS

Irvin Ju, Grand Forks - South MS

Lilliana Paintner, East Grand Forks - homeschool

Amaa Wijetunga, Grand Forks - South

Corey Zhang, Grand Forks - South MS

Viola

Brody Belcourt, Grand Forks - Valley MS

*Eliot Miller, Grand Forks - Schroeder MS

Surya Srivastava, Grand Forks- Lake Agassiz

Cello

*Emerson Eastman, Grand Forks - South MS

Elsie Kyle, GFAFB - Twining MS

Sebastian Lesmeister, Grand Forks - online

Sean Ocel, Grand Forks - Schroeder MS

Vedant Srivastava, Grand Forks - Schroeder MS

Angie Zaruba, Northwood - Northwood HS

Caleb Zerr, Grand Forks - South MS

Casey Zhang, Grand Forks - South MS

Bass: *Isaac Dafoe, Grand Forks - Schroeder MS

Flute

Lee Cable, Grand Forks - Red River HS

Nivanthi Wijetunga, Symphony mentor

Oboe

Logan Hartze, Grand Forks - South MS

Grace Smith, Crookston - Crookston HS

Clarinet: Raya Rothenbacher, Grand Forks - South MS

Trumpet

Mairi Ferguson, Grand Forks- Schroeder MS

Gage Heffernan, Grand Forks- South MS

William Sickler, Grand Forks- EGF Sacred Heart

Trombone : Marren Bremer, Grand Forks - South MS

Tuba : Hayden Mercil, Grand Forks - EGF Sacred Heart

Percussion

Irvin Ju, Grand Forks - South MS

Volodymyr Kapustianskyi, Grand Forks- South MS

Dani Ganyo, Grand Forks - Valley MS

Symphony

Violin 1

+Seoyeon Ahn, Grand Forks - Red River

Cami Antonenko, Grand Forks - Red River

Synje Peterson, Grand Forks - Red River

Gabe Sagini, Grand Forks - Red River

Megan Schill, Grand Forks - Central

Violin 2

Jasmine Hardersen, Grand Forks - South MS

Katelyn Hur, Grand Forks - South

Gretta Pratt, Cummings - Quest Academy

Selena Wu, Grand Forks- Red River

Briley Zhang, Grand Forks - Red River

Viola

Calista Eliazer, Grand Forks - Red River

Gillian Hoffmann, Grand Forks- Central

Matthew Moe, Grand Forks - Red River

James Smith, Grand Forks - Central

Cello

Isaac Hong, Grand Forks- South

Garett Peterson, Grand Forks - Central

Travis Middleton, Grand Forks - Red River

Elianna Moen, Grand Forks - Red River

Eli Zerr, Grand Forks - Red River

Bass

Ryan Nordhagen, Grand Forks- Red River

Flute

Keira Irving, GFAFB - Central

Nivanthi Wijetunga, Grand Forks - Red River

Clarinet

Aidan Fiala, Grand Forks - Central

Kaytlen Fitterer, Fargo - UND/CMP

Horn

David Threatt, Crookston - Crookston HS

Christopher McGill, guest

Trumpet

Reid Campani, Grand Forks - Central

All musicians are important to the ensemble, and are listed alphabetically

Sam Goldberg, Lake Bronson, MN - Heritage Christian

Liam Medbery, Minto - Minto HS

Trombone

Juanita Caballero Casas, guest

Elias David-Schill, GF - UND/CMP @

Percussion

Blake Anderson, GF - UND/CMP

Mirko Drago, GF - Central

Issac Pifer, Larimore - Larimore HS

Maisy Lindseth, GF - UND/CMP @

+ Concertmistress @ NVYO alumni photos courtesy class of 2023 and Behl's Photography website: behls.net

CMP: College Mentor-Performer, a program for university students to gain symphonic performance training and mentoring experience.

Seoyeon Ahn, violin, graduates from Red River High School after 2 years of NVYO Symphony. She says every NVYO rehearsal is a fun memory: "the laughs, flying batons, forgotten pencils and hard work make every rehearsal a new favorite " Her favorite piece was Mephisto Masqué Advice to younger musicians: "It may sound cliche, but have fun. Step out of your comfort zone and you’ll find yourself making music, not just playing notes Oh, and, don’t send your bow flying out of your hand when you shake the conductor’s hand (totally not speaking from experience) " Seoyeon hopes to study cognitive science at a to-bedetermined liberal arts college in the fall. She thanks Dr. Sütterlin and Mr. Seabloom, because "their support in the past two years has been beyond anything I could have wished for I am so grateful to have met such incredible mentors not only in music but also in life

Reid Campani, trumpet, graduates from Grand Forks Central High School after 2 years of Symphony. Next year Reid plans to attend University of Minnesota to major in math, with a music minor. Favorite piece? Firebird. Favorite memory? Also Firebird - apparently involving the quietest moment in the Berceuse being accidentally interrupted by a coach's phone playing a Youtube video during rehearsal. (Whoops!) Reid offers younger musicians this advice: "don’t just run through everything and call it practice," and wants to thank Ms Harlow for "making band actually fun "

Gillian Hoffmann, viola, graduates from Grand Forks Central High School following four years of NVYO experience, including Philharmonic, Symphony, Dal Segno. Favorite piece - Dance of the Yao People, and favorite thing about NVYO is "the adults are all very friendly and made me feel welcomed." Future plans for Gillian include attending UND next year and turning 18! She would like to thank her family for always encouraging her love of music. Gillian's advice? "Practice your music and you will get better "

Matthew (Matti) Moe, viola, graduates from Red River after 5 years of Dal Segno, Crescendo, Philharmonic and Symphony He says " having an ensemble that I can meet with regularly and that I can depend on has always been my favorite. I’ve met so many amazing people that I would have never gotten the chance to play with "NVYO helped me reach out and improve as a person and a musician " Matti's advice to younger musicians is "Don’t put it away no matter how busy or difficult things might get." He is enjoying "Spark!" because of its movie-esque sound and the fun melodies Matti thanks all his present and past music teachers, saying that there are too many to list and they have all kept him going Next year he plans on studying Mechanical Engineering at UND and continue to play viola somehow.

Ryan Nordhagen, bass, graduates from Red River High School after three years of NVYO Ryan is glad to be part of NVYO because "there are not a lot of opportunities to play in symphony orchestras in this town and it's a great way to come together as musicians." He adds, "I would like to thank my friends that have surrounded me and my music over the past years Those that supported my personal music and those that supported my journey playing double bass As well as the countless hours I've spent watching the late Rinat Ibragimov's many performances as one of the greatest people to touch the instrument." His advice for younger musicians is: Treat yourself like a professional and have high standards for your craft despite how taboo or overbearing it may come off to others " Ryan is deciding between computer science and music, and still determining a college destination Favorite pieces have included Firebird and Phoenix Rising.