ONCE UPON A SYMPHONY A FREE FAMILY CONCERT
Saturday, February 1, 2025 | 11:00am Soka Performing Arts Center
PROGRAM
ORANGE COUNTY YOUTH SYMPHONY
Johannes Müller Stosch, music director/conductor Dr. Kristi Brown-Montesano, narrator
45-minute concert no intermission
Excerpt from Overture to Prince Igor BORODIN (1833
in Paris Suite
Excerpt from On the Beautiful Blue Danube, Op. 314
Excerpt from Tritsch-Tratsch Polka
1899)
Excerpt from Overture to Prince Igor BORODIN (1833 - 1887)
Love theme from Cinema Paradiso
Lee, violin
Highlights from Harry Potter
- 1887)
American
GERSHWIN (1898 - 1937) (arr. Whitney)
J. STRAUSS (1825 - 1899)
J. STRAUSS (1825 -
MORRICONE (1928 - 2020) Candice
WILLIAMS (b. 1932) (arr. Story)
ORANGE COUNTY YOUTH SYMPHONY & STRING ENSEMBLE
Founded in 1970, the Orange County Youth Symphony (OCYS) and String Ensemble (OCYSE) is one of Southern California’s finest youth symphony programs. The diverse roster represents student musicians from nearly 60 middle school, high school, and college programs from San Clemente to Fullerton and beyond.
In its 50+ year history, OCYS has traveled the world representing Orange County’s best young adult musicians presenting performances in Austria, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, and New York. It has appeared and participated in many prestigious performances and projects, including U.S. and West Coast premieres by composers such as Mark-Anthony Turnage and Kurt Schwetsik and a season-long project with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 culminating in a documentary entitled Beethoven’s Ninth: Journey to Joy that was selected by PBS SoCal for multiple broadcasts. Most recently, the orchestra was presented in a side-by-side concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, performing for a nearly sold-out audience.
Additional highlights of past seasons include masterclasses with Ray Chen, Midori, Hilary Hahn, and Sheku Kanneh-Mason, as well as a mini residency by the Kronos Quartet. An annual tradition, OCYS serves as the featured orchestra for the Philharmonic Society’s acclaimed Concerts for Fifth Grade at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. This concert series has provided music education for nearly a million students for more than thirty years. Additionally, OCYS and OCYSE appear in their own performances in prestigious venues across Orange County.
JOHANNES MÜLLER STOSCH, MUSIC DIRECTOR/OCYS CONDUCTOR
Currently, Johannes Müller Stosch serves as Director of Orchestral Activities at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach, as well as Music Director and Conductor of Holland Symphony Orchestra in Michigan. He has also held conducting positions with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Brockport Symphony in New York, Tri State Players in Ohio, and served repeatedly on the conducting and coaching staff at the Opera Theatre Festival in Lucca, Italy.
Müller Stosch keeps an active guest-conducting schedule both internationally and nationally, with recent engagements including concerts with Long Beach Symphony, Kunming Philharmonic in China, University Symphonies in Vancouver, Canada, and at the University of Oregon in Eugene. In 2009, he was a featured guest conductor with the Busan Sinfonietta in Korea in a concert that was broadcast on national TV (KBS).
An avid operatic conductor, he previously served as Music Director of the Museumsinsel-Operafestival in Berlin, Germany; has frequently guest conducted new opera productions at Cincinnati’s famous College-Conservatory of Music; and worked repeatedly as visiting opera conductor at the Opera Theater at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. Aside from his passion for conducting, Müller Stosch has a special interest in performance practice and early music. In Germany, he worked with
Hannover’s L’Arco, Bremer Ratsmusik, and Concerto Brandenburg. He also frequently appears on organ and harpsichord with the Pacific Symphony. Concert tours as a soloist and collaborative artist have taken him throughout the U.S., Germany, Italy, Chile, and Japan. Müller Stosch has several commercial recordings to his credit all of which have been played on public radio. Maestro Müller Stosch received his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Conducting from the Eastman School of Music. After winning the coveted Strader Organ Competition in Cincinnati, Ohio, he received two Master of Music degrees in organ performance and orchestral conducting from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
DR. KRISTI BROWN-MONTESANO, NARRATOR
Dr. Kristi Brown-Montesano approaches graduate seminars, adult-education classes, podcasts, and pre-concert lectures with the same philosophy: that offering context— rigorously researched, provocative, and humanistic—empowers listeners and musicians to make their own meaningful connections to classical music. A faculty member at the Colburn School Conservatory of Music from 2003–22, she served as Chair of Music History and helped shape the institution’s degree programs. Today, Brown-Montesano is a Lecturer in Musicology at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. She also enjoys ongoing relationships with many of Southern California’s most distinguished musical organizations, including the Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, La Jolla Music Society, and Philharmonic Society of Orange County.
A respected opera scholar, Brown-Montesano broke new critical ground with her book Understanding the Women of Mozart’s Operas (University of California Press, 2007), re-evaluating source materials as well as common reception assumptions about the female roles in the Da Ponte operas and The Magic Flute. The book’s feminist lens has attracted a growing audience of readers interested in the ethics of opera culture and production, prompting a new paperback edition in 2021. As an Affiliated Scholar with the Los Angeles Opera, Dr. Brown-Montesano collaborates regularly on a variety of educational initiatives, from pre-performance talks and podcasts to free community courses and “Opera for Educators” seminars.
While opera holds a special place in her scholarly work, BrownMontesano has presented and published essays on a wide variety of topics including the use of classical concert music in film and television, music’s role in the original Sherlock Holmes stories and later adaptations, and popular reception of J.S. Bach in postwar America from Glenn Gould to the Golden Record to Hannibal Lecter.
CANDICE LEE, VIOLIN
Candice began her journey with the Orange County Youth Symphony (OCYS) as an assistant principal violinist and has proudly served as concertmaster for the past two seasons. She started playing the violin at the age of nine in Taiwan and within a few months, joined her first youth orchestra, the Taipei Century Symphony Orchestra. Candice moved to California in the 9th grade and continued practicing violin on her own without private instruction for her first years of high school. During these years she joined
OCYS and has since then not only served as a leader in the violin section but actively participates in music education and community engagement events. This 2024-2025 season, she emerged as the winner of the OCYS annual Concerto Competition and will be performing the concerto with the orchestra in May 2025. Candice is now in her senior year of high school studying under Dr. James Stern, professor of violin at the University of Maryland College Park, and she has goals of pursuing higher education in violin performance. Aside from playing the violin, Candice loves to read and spend time with family and friends.
PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF ORANGE COUNTY
Founded in 1954 as Orange County’s first music organization, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County presents national and international performances of the highest quality and provides dynamic and innovative music education programs for individuals of all ages to enhance the lives of Orange County audiences through music.
Since its inception, the Philharmonic Society has evolved and grown with the county’s changing landscape, presenting artists and orchestras who set the standard for artistic achievement from Itzhak Perlman, Gustavo Dudamel, Yo-Yo Ma, and Renée Fleming to the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and many others. In addition, the Philharmonic Society celebrates multi-disciplinary performances under its Eclectic Orange brand and embraces music from a wide range of countries with its World Music performances. Its celebrated concerts introduce children to classical music with creative and inspiring performances, instilling music appreciation for future generations.
The Philharmonic Society’s nationally recognized Youth Music Education Programs, offered free of charge, engage more than 100,000 students annually through curriculum-based music education programs that aim to inspire, expand imaginations, and encourage learning at all levels. These programs are made possible by the Committees of the Philharmonic Society comprised of 500 volunteer members who provide more than 90,000 hours of in-kind service each year. As a key youth program, the exceptional Orange County Youth Symphony and String Ensemble provide top-tier training to the area’s most talented young musicians through multi-level ensemble instruction, leadership training, touring opportunities, challenging professional repertoire, and performances in world-class venues. The Philharmonic Society also promotes life-long learning by connecting with colleges and universities to conduct masterclasses and workshops and providing pre-concert lectures to introduce audiences to program selections.
SOKA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Soka Performing Arts Center is located on the beautiful hilltop campus of Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo. Our facility includes the 1,032-seat Concert Hall featuring world-class acoustics designed by master acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, designer of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Suntory Hall in Tokyo, among many others. We also have an intimate 350-seat Black Box Theatre that allows for multiple seating configurations including club seating with bistro tables.
More than 800 performances have taken place since the center’s dedication on May 27, 2011. The 2024-25 season marks our thirteenth season presenting first-class programming in our world-class concert
hall. We are continuing to expand our programming and outreach with the addition of a Children’s Concert Series, Blues Festival, and the only Great Pianists Series on the West Coast. From classical and jazz to world and contemporary music, the Soka Performing Arts Center has become a prized space for artists and audiences alike.
We are proud to be the home of the Pacific Symphony Chamber Orchestra. Our Sundays @ Soka Series with Pacific Symphony continues to be one of our most popular series year after year. Our presentations with other Orange County arts organizations have enabled us to reach further into our community to offer arts education and programming. Our partnership with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County includes our PSOC Series, which brings superlative artists to our stage. We also partner with PSOC for our Outreach Program, bringing over 7,000 school children to Soka Performing Arts Center to experience live performances with outstanding musicians.
With its world-class acoustics and first-class performances, Soka Performing Arts Center is one of the finest cultural jewels of Orange County.
More information at the OCYS table in the lobby
First Violin
ORANGE COUNTY YOUTH SYMPHONY
Johannes Müller Stosch, music director/conductor
Candice Lee, concertmaster
Sihyun (Noelle) Kim, assistant concertmaster
Tiffany Oh
Sol Hwang
Cadence Park
Claudia Cheng
Nagyung (Anna) Cho
Kayden Ishii
Taeyoon (Tina) Kim
Yu Tung (Melo) Hung
Evangeline
Apostolopoulos
Yi-Noung (Isabelle) Lin
Tang-An (Daniel) Wang
Thalia Nguyen-Khoa
Second Violin
Allison Oh, principal
Eric Kim
Ariana Chen
Ella Yang
Connor Ho
Caiden Lee
Allison Yun
Shaylin Bau
Katelyn Chang
Ariel Chan
Isaac Lin
Aileen Yang
Rassul (Xiang) Li
Alicia Wu
Viola
Yeeun (Grace) Chung, principal
Grace An
Grace Hsia
Shuoqi (Viney) Huang
Yesung (Peter) Jang
Linjie (Lucy) Zhao
Yueran (Olivia) Guo
Leona Lee
Megan Song
Sara Ning
Cynthia Ouyang
Joel Lee
Cello
Joey Zhou, principal
Joyce (Chihyu) Chang
Suah Jin
Emily Shen
Aidan Chien
Ethan Choi
Diana Wu
Jamie Chen
Sophia Huang
Tyler Chang
James Koo
Justice Cheng
Morgan Tien
Double Bass
Claire Remland, co-principal
Joshua Calen, co-principal
Sophia Lin
Sam Yamarik
Alice Furuyama
Jennah DiMartino
Flute
Kimberly Tsou, principal
Michael Lei
Ceren Altintas
Oboe
Zhiyuan Zhu, principal
Teadora Grimberg
Henry Lin
Bassoon
Kaitlyn Liu, principal
Megan Liu
Clarinet
Doyoon Lee, principal
Samuel Lee
Charles Taylor
French Horn
Francis Samson, principal
Julien Zysman
Emma Trufas
Julian Macy
Trumpet
Aidan Garcia, principal
Minhoo (Colin) Kwak
Trombone
Timothy McElroy
Maxwell Murase
Ariston De Leon
Tuba
Sam Gonzales
Harp/Piano
Leenah Yoon
Percussion
Jonathan Yu
Carlos Pineda IV
Matthew Mirzapour Hesar
PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OFFICERS
Elaine Neuss*, Chair / CEO
John Flemming*, Deputy Board Chair
Donna L. Kendall*, Vice Chair
Stephen Amendt*, Secretary / Treasurer
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Kathy Barrett
John W. Benecke, Special Events Chair
Lauren Claus*, President, The Committees
Hung Fan, Laguna Beach Music Festival Chair
Jean Felder, Artistic and Marketing Chair
John Flemming*, Nominating and Governance Chair
Margaret M. Gates*, Development Chair
Kari Kerr
Mirella Reznic
June Shillman
Douglas H. Smith*, Member at Large
Steven M. Sorenson, MD
Sandi Wright-Cordes, OCYS/E Chair
PRESIDENT & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Tommy Phillips
IN MEMORIAM
Sabra Bordas
Douglas T. Burch, Jr.
Jane Grier
*Executive Committee
PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
PRESIDENT AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Tommy Phillips
MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
Jean Hsu, Chief Operating Officer / Vice President of Communications
Marie Songco-Torres, Senior Marketing & Public Relations Manager
Adaora Onyebeke, Marketing & Public Relations Associate
DEVELOPMENT
Halim Kim, Senior Director of Development
Nicole Gonzales, Special Events Manager
Zach Edwards, Development Coordinator & Board Liaison
ARTISTIC OPERATIONS
Emily Persinko, Artistic Operations Manager
Hana Kurihara, Concert Production Coordinator
Kathy Smith, Piano Technician
EDUCATION
Katherine Yang, Vice President of Education & Community Engagement
Courtney McKinnon, Manager of Volunteer and Education Services
Jennifer Niedringhaus, Education & Engagement Operations Manager
Chloe Hopper, Education Associate & OCYS Coordinator
Penny Arroyo, Huntington Harbour Office Manager & Finance Coordinator
Kathryn Lau, Education and Community Engagement Intern
FINANCE
Roan Alombro, Vice President of Finance
Fay Hu, Finance and HR Associate
PATRON SERVICES
Jonathan Mariott, Director of Patron Services
Angelica Nicolas, Marketing and Patron Services Manager
Randy Polevoi, Musical Concierge
FEBRUARY
2024 2025
APRIL
