OKCPHIL Program edition #1 for the 25-26 season

SAVOR THE

CLASSICS

Opening Night: Legends

Sept 20, 2025

Natasha Paremski, piano PG. 25

CLASSICS

Oklahoma Stories

OCTOBER 25, 2025

Yihan Zhang, piano

Kiegan Ryan, cello PG. 35

POPS

Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony

NOV 7-8, 2025 PG. 45

CLASSICS

Joel Levine Conducts Tchaikovsky

NOVEMBER 15, 2025

Carter Brey, cello PG. 57

In music there is a rhythm a convergence of elements producing harmony through the right people, instruments, and experience to create works of art.

At INSURICA, we conduct the elements of an insurance program working in harmony with you and your business.

INSURICA applauds the OKC Philharmonic and thanks them for bringing a world of music and art to our community !

From Overture to Encore

Your evening deserves a perfect start. Order from our small bites menu from the Small Bites kiosk or pre-order online for your next event at share.okcciviccenter.com/order

SATURDAYS AT 7:30PM | CIVIC CENTER MUSIC HALL

CLASSICS

LEGENDS: ORTIZ, RACHMANINOFF, JANACEK, TCHAIKOVSKY

SEPTEMBER 20, 2025

Natasha Paremski, piano

ORTIZ: Kauyumari

RACHMANINOFF: Concerto No. 4 for Piano in G Minor, op. 40

JANÁČEK: Sinfonietta

TCHAIKOVSKY: 1812 Overture, op. 49

OKLAHOMA STORIES: CELEBRATING OUR FUTURE

OCTOBER 25, 2025

Yihan Zhang, piano; Kiegan Ryan, cello; Oklahoma Youth Orchestra

SIBELIUS: Finlandia

RYAN: Kiowa Six

MENDELSSOHN: Concerto No. 1 for Piano in G Minor, op. 25

PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, op. 100

JOEL LEVINE

CONDUCTS TCHAIKOVSKY

NOVEMBER 15, 2025

Carter Brey, cello; Joel Levine, guest conductor

BERLIOZ: Roman Carnival Overture

DVOŘÁK: Concerto for Violoncello in B Minor, op. 104

TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, op. 64

MOZART’S RIVALS: RACE TO THE TOP

JANUARY 10, 2026

Hannah White, violin; Canterbury Voices

SALIERI: 26 Variations on La Folia di Spagna

SAINT-GEORGES: Concerto for Violin in D Major, op. 3 no. 1

MOZART: Requiem, K. 626

THE FIRE OF LOVE: ROMEO AND JULIET

FEBRUARY 14, 2026

Nurit Bar-Josef, violin

RAVEL: Alborada del gracioso

CHAUSSON: Poème, op. 25

PRICE: Concerto No. 2 for Violin in D Minor

WAGNER: Tristan and Isolde: Prelude and Love Death

TCHAIKOVSKY: Romeo and Juliet

MASTERS OF MUSIC: ITALY

MARCH 14, 2026

TBD, piano

VERDI: La Forza del Destino; Overture

CASELLA: Scarlattiana, op. 44

ALBINONI: Adagio in G Minor

RESPIGHI: Feste Romane

BRAHMS & BRONFMAN

APRIL 4, 2026

Yefim Bronfman, piano

BRAHMS: Concerto No. 2 for Piano in B-flat Major, op. 83

BRAHMS: Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, op. 98

MAHLER’S RESURRECTION SYMPHONY

MAY 2, 2026

Valerie Bernhardt, soprano; Megan Esther Grey, contralto; Canterbury Voices

MAHLER: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, “Resurrection”

POPS

DOLLY PARTON’S THREADS: MY SONGS IN SYMPHONY

NOVEMBER 7-8, 2025

This unique symphonic experience features Dolly’s songs and the stories behind them in an innovative multimedia symphonic experience. Dolly, on screen, leads audiences on a visual-musical journey of her songs, her life, and her stories.

A VERY MERRY POPS

DECEMBER 5-6, 2025

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor

Usher in the spirit of the season, with A Very Merry Pops. A concert for the entire family, blending popular Christmas songs with timeless classics. It is a perfect way to start the holiday season.

TANGO CALIENTE!

JANUARY 30-31, 2026

A night of seductive tango classics with sizzling soprano and dazzling bandoneón virtuoso. Award-winning and internationally acclaimed Argentinian dancers join us for an evening dedicated to the dance of romance.

CLASSICAL MYSTERY TOUR

FEBRUARY 27-28, 2026

Martin Herman, conductor

Join us for the Classical Mystery Tour, one of the greatest tribute bands around. Featuring music that spans the careers of the Beatles, you’ll enjoy their incredible hits from “Yesterday” to “Twist and Shout.”

SYMPHONICON: MUSIC FROM COMICS, SCI-FI AND VIDEO GAMES

MARCH 27-28, 2026

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor

Experience the thrilling sounds of comics, sci-fi, and video games brought to life by the OKC Philharmonic. From heroic themes to epic adventures, this concert is a journey into the worlds you love!

DISNEY IN CONCERT: ONCE UPON A TIME

APRIL 17-18, 2026

Once Upon a Time presents much-loved music and high-resolution film clips from Disney’s best-known films. Featuring the music of Encanto, Frozen, Moana, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Tangled, The Lion King, four Broadway-quality vocalists, and footage from the original films!

SAVOR THE

we invite you, fellow educational outreach programs of the OKC Phil.

Our mission to educate, enrich and inspire the community by supporting orchestral music and promoting volunteerism guides our work to ensure Oklahoma children have access to the inspirational spark of live orchestral music, enabling our Philharmonic and others to procure top-tier, professional musicians for years to come.

another season of

If you believe in the inspiration of the next generation, please consider joining our membership. Visit www.okcphil.org/about-us/orchestra-league/ or email league@okcphil.org.

For young professionals seeking connection, culture, and purpose, Overture Society offers curated concert packages and exclusive social experiences. It’s the perfect way to deepen your connection with the orchestra and with other young professionals.

Thank you for joining us. We can’t wait to see you at the Philharmonic!

GRANDIOSO Circle Circle

The Oklahoma City Philharmonic gratefully acknowledges the extraordinary commitment and generosity of the members of the GRANDIOSO CIRCLE.

This distinguished group of individuals, corporations, and foundations provide annual philanthropic support of $50,000 or more, playing an integral role in making OKCPHIL’s mission possible.

THANK YOU!

This recognition includes gifts and pledges made on or before August 5, 2025.

DR. MARGARET FREEDE-OWENS AND DANIEL OWENS

MARY ANN HOLDREGE

LILLIAN FRANCES WATTS MEADOR FUND AT THE OKLAHOMA CITY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

ROBERT GLENN RAPP FOUNDATION*

GEORGE RECORDS

JIM AND DEBBIE STELTER*

GLENNA AND DICK TANNENBAUM

CHUCK WIGGIN * *

*Indicates donors who have given in support of Education and Community Engagement Programs

SAVOR THE

The Chickasaw Nation Pops Series promises pure entertainment, with something for everyone, featuring Dolly Parton’s music in symphonic style, beloved holiday favorites, the sultry rhythms of tango, Beatles nostalgia, epic cinematic soundscapes, and a dash of Disney magic. These concerts are crafted to spark joy, inspire wonder, and create memories for all ages.

Beyond the concert stage, the OKCPHIL is deeply committed to Education and Community Engagement. From free outdoor performances at Scissortail Park to youth concerts for thousands of elementary students, from the Society of Strings for adult musicians to our Young Musician Competition, we strive to ensure that music remains a vibrant, accessible part of life in Oklahoma City and beyond.

Your loyalty, enthusiasm, and generosity make this work possible. Whether you subscribe, attend a single concert, or contribute through a donation, you help us share music’s transformative power with our community. Thank you for listening, for believing in our mission, and for being part of the OKCPHIL family. I look forward to seeing you at concerts throughout the season!

Warm regards,

Brent Hart Executive Director

SAVOR THE

A dedicated educator, Mickelthwate has taught conducting at the University of Winnipeg, Kennesaw State University, and now UCO, where he collaborates across departments—from the Jazz Lab to Fine Arts and Design. He revived the UCO Young Soloist Competition and brought performances to regional campuses in Ada and Durant.

His contributions have earned widespread recognition. He has been twice named “The Face of Music” by Magazine, included in Club of Oklahoma City.

Mickelthwate has appeared with major North American orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, and Toronto Symphony. His European engagements include the Hamburg Symphony, BBC London, Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, Royal Scottish Orchestra, and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. He has also conducted the São Paulo Symphony, Simón Bolívar Orchestra of Venezuela, and made his Australian debut with the Adelaide Symphony and Tasmanian Symphony, recording Mozart’s piano concerti Nos. 7 and 10 with the Silber-Garburg Duo.

He has collaborated with many of the world’s leading artists, including Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Yuja Wang, Dawn Upshaw, Plácido Domingo, Sarah Chang, and worked closely with composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Sofia Gubaidulina, Kaija Saariaho, John Adams, and Mason Bates.

Alexander Mickelthwate lives in Oklahoma City with his two sons.

PROVIDING MUSIC FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

Encore Society members have generously planned to help ensure the future of orchestral music in our community. By including a special gift for the Philharmonic through their estate plan, they help provide high-quality music and education programs for future generations.

Please contact Blossom Crews, Development Director at blossom@okcphil.org or (405) 231-0148. You may also visit okcphil.org for more information.

June 16 - June 21

February 11 - March 1

July 28 - August 2

July 7 - 12

September 16 - October 4

November 24 - December 27

OKLAHOMA PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY,

PROVIDING INSPIRATION AND JOY THROUGH ORCHESTRAL MUSIC

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS

Jim Roth President

Debbie McKinney President Elect

Honorable Jerome A. Holmes Vice President

Evan Walter Treasurer

Debra Kos Secretary

Jerrod Shouse Immediate Past President

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Jose Batty Music Librarian

Austin Bewley Data Analyst

Mason Board Graphic Design and Digital Marketing Coordinator

Darby Cassaday General Manager

Blossom Crews Development Director

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Classical KUCO 90.1 Will Jarrell

PHOTOGRAPHERS:

LIFETIME DIRECTORS

Jane B. Harlow

Patrick Alexander

DIRECTORS

Tracey Budz

Louise Cleary Cannon

Robert Clements

Lawrence H. Davis

Rachael Geiger

Kirk Hammons

Mady Hendryx

William H. Hoch

Kristian Kos Jared Davis Patron Services Lead

Kate Furney Marketing Associate

Daniel Hardt Finance Director

Brent Hart Executive Director

Judy Hill Office Manager

Joel Levine Archivist/Historian

Morningstar Properties Oklahoma City Police Association

Jennifer Schultz Kouandjio

Tom Lerum

Stephanie Naifeh

Matt Paque

Craig Perry

Sam Rainbolt

Robert Ruiz

Amalia Miranda Silverstein

Doug Stussi

Kym Koch Thompson

Geetika Verma

Travis Weedn

Wendi Wilson

Shannon Lockwood Education and Community Engagement Director

Jenni Shrum Marketing/PR Director

Hannah Stewart Development Manager

Preston Ratliff Education Programs Coordinator

Valorie Tatge Orchestra Personnel Manager

Stubble Creative, Inc. The Skirvin Hotel

Titan AVL

Michael Anderson-Performing Arts Photography, Jesse Edgar Photography, and Shevaun Williams and Associates

THE

OKLAHOMA PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY, INC.

424 Colcord Drive, Ste. B • Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102

Tickets: (405) 842-5387 • Administration: (405) 232-7575 • Fax: (405) 232-4353 • www.okcphil.org

AFFILIATED PARTNERS

Providing Leadership and Annual Support

The Oklahoma City Philharmonic Foundation was established to provide leadership and endowment expertise to help ensure a stable financial base for orchestral music and musical excellence in Oklahoma City for generations to come. Distributions from the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Foundation provide a meaningful and secure source of annual income for the Philharmonic’s operations, continually confirming the importance of endowment in an organization’s long-range planning and overall success.

Current officers and directors of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Foundation are:

OFFICERS

Douglas J. Stussi, President

Jeff Starling, First Vice President

Charles E. Wiggin, Second Vice President

Louise Cleary Cannon, Treasurer

Alice Pippin, Secretary

DIRECTORS

Steven C. Agee, Ph.D

Patrick B. Alexander

J. Edward Barth

L. Joe Bradley

Martha A. Burger

Robert Clements

Teresa L. Cooper

Paul Dudman

Dr. Margaret Freede-Owens

Jane Jayroe Gamble

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Rachael Geiger President

Geetika Verma

Immediate Past President

Orchestra League Office

424 Colcord Dr., Ste. B

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102

Phone: (405) 232-7575

Fax: (405) 232-4353

e-mail: league@okcphil.org

Mischa Gorkuscha

Michael E. Joseph

Duke R. Ligon

Penny McCaleb

Patrick E. Randall, II

Erik Salazar

Kimber Shoop

Richard Tanenbaum

Wendi Wilson

OFFICERS

Mady Hendryx President

Daniel Karami President-Elect

Piper Allred Secretary

Ashleigh Robinson

Marketing Chair

Anne Marie Burke and Mya Reid

Social Co-Chairs

James Hulsey

Immediate Past President

THE ORCHESTRA

THIRTY-SEVENTH SEASON

ALEXANDER MICKELTHWATE, Music Director and Conductor

JOEL LEVINE, Founder and Music Director Emeritus

BRENT HART, Executive Director

FIRST VIOLIN

Marat Gabdullin, Acting Concertmaster, Gertrude Kennedy Chair

Densi Rushing, Assistant Concertmaster

Hong Zhu

Beth Sievers

Juan Moreno

Ashley Cooper

Halilu Zhang

Lu Deng

Lok-Hin Cheng

SECOND VIOLIN

Chandler Fadero, Principal, McCasland Foundation Chair

Angélica Pereira, Assistant Principal

Sophia Ro

Sarah Sanford Brown

Corbin Mace

Catherine Reaves, Assistant Principal Emeritus

Audrey Lee*

Yajing (Cindy) Zhang

Paulo Eskitch

VIOLA

Royce McLarry, Principal

Mark Neumann, Assistant Principal

Joseph Guevara

Kelli Ingels

Steve Waddell

Donna Cain

Brian Frew

CELLO

Jonathan Ruck, Principal, Orchestra League Chair

Kevin Flynn, Assistant Principal

Valorie Tatge

Emily Stoops

Jim Shelley

Angelika Machnik-Jones

Jean Statham

Samantha Kerns

BASS

Anthony Stoops, Principal

Larry Moore, Assistant Principal

Christine Craddock*

Mark Osborn

Taylor Dawkins

DoYoun Kim

FLUTE

Valerie Watts, Principal

Parthena Owens

Nancy Stizza-Ortega

PICCOLO

Nancy Stizza-Ortega

OBOE

Lisa Harvey-Reed, Principal

Rachel Maczko

Katherine Casto

ENGLISH HORN

Rachel Maczko

CLARINET

Bradford Behn, Principal

Tara Heitz

James Meiller

BASS/E-FLAT CLARINET

James Meiller

BASSOON

Rod Ackmann, Principal

James Brewer

Tyler Van Zuiden

CONTRABASSOON

Tyler Van Zuiden

HORN

Kate Pritchett, Principal, G. Rainey Williams Chair

Joe Charlton (acting 2nd horn)

Derek Matthesen (acting 3rd horn)

Matt Reynolds

TRUMPET

Karl Sievers, Principal

Jay Wilkinson

Michael Anderson

TROMBONE

Philip Martinson, Principal

Hope Bellows

John Allen, Bass Trombone

TIMPANI

Jamie Whitmarsh, Principal

PERCUSSION

Patrick Womack, Principal

Stephanie Krichena

HARP

Gaye LeBlanc, Principal

PIANO

Peggy Payne, Principal

*on leave for 2025-26 season

PRODUCTION STAFF

Darby Cassaday, General Manager

Valorie Tatge, Personnel Manager

Jose Batty, Librarian

Matt Weber, Stage Crew Leader

PLANNED GIVING

The Oklahoma Philharmonic Society, Inc. is honored to recognize its Encore Society members – visionary thinkers who have provided for the future of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic through their estate plans.

Anonymous (3)

Steven C. Agee, Ph.D.

Linda and Patrick Alexander

Gary and Jan Allison

Louise Cleary Cannon

Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Clements

Thomas and Rita Dearmon

Dr. and Mrs. James D. Dixson

Dr. Ralph and Lois Ganick

Hugh Gibson

Pam and Gary Glyckherr

Carey and Gayle Goad

Ms. Olivia Hanson

Jane B. Harlow

Mr. Brent Hart and Mr. Matt Thomas

Dr. James Hartsuck

THANK YOU

Mr. and Mrs. Michael E. Joseph

Joel Levine and Don Clothier

John and Caroline Linehan

Mr. and Mrs. Marvin C, Lunde, Jr.

Mrs. Jackie Marron

Mr. and Mrs. John McCaleb

Mrs. Jean McLaughlin

W. Cheryl Moore

Carl Andrew Rath

Mrs. Cathy Reaves

Mrs. Lil Ross

Dr. Lois Salmeron

Mr. and Mrs. William F. Shdeed

Doug and Susie Stussi

Larry and Leah Westmoreland

Mrs. Carolyn Zachritz

The Oklahoma Philharmonic Society, Inc. is grateful for the support of caring patrons who want to pass on a legacy of extraordinary music to future generations. You can join this special group of music enthusiasts by including a gift for the OKC Philharmonic’s future in your own will or estate plan. For more information on how to become an Encore Society member, contact the Philharmonic’s Development Office at (405) 232-7575.

MEET OUR FAMILY

THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE MUSIC

Percussion OKCPHIL Musician

I began playing music at the age of 16 by joining the high school marching band. I have since developed a love for music and decided to pursue it seriously. I joined the percussion section of my city youth orchestra, where I first played in a full orchestra. I was still invested in marching percussion, and auditioned and won positions in Drum Corps International for three summers between 2016-2018, most recently aging out with Boston Crusaders.

I pursued a double major in Music Education and Music Performance at Oklahoma City University. My musical path continued to evolve, and I was accepted into The New England Conservatory of Music and pursued my master’s in percussion performance. During this time, I have earned positions in summer music festivals, including the National Music Festival, Berlin Opera Academy, and Grafenegg Akademie.

During my second year at the Conservatory, I auditioned for the second percussion position at the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, where I was fortunate to win. After completing my master’s degree, I moved to Oklahoma City to teach and perform.

Events and Stewardship Associate OKCPHIL Staff

I’m an Oklahoma native residing in Edmond with my Brandt, daughter Riley, and rescue pup Tuck Tuck. From Perkins, Oklahoma, I began my career in public education as an Edmond North High School United States History Teacher acting as KEY Club Sponsor, where I found a love for working with nonprofits. Following teaching, I joined the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits as part of the Programs department, managing and creating curriculum, event and program management, facilitating, consulting, and helping empower Oklahoma nonprofits through professional development. While at the Center, I obtained Certifications in: Nonprofit Management: Fundamental and Professional, as well as the OCCJ Inclusive Leadership Institute.

After years at the Center, I chose to join the OKC Philharmonic in November 2024 to utilize my knowledge and expertise to support music education accessibility in Oklahoma. Growing up, music was always present in my life in some way: Grandpa played the fiddle, Dad played the guitar, Grandmother loved Broadway and Opera, and Mom was a Gospel fanatic.

CASSIE PASTOR

STEPHANIE KRICHENA

GIFTS TO THE PHIL

The Oklahoma City Philharmonic gratefully acknowledges the commitment and generosity of individuals, corporations, foundations, and government agencies that support our mission and provide essential support for the Annual Fund. To learn more about how you can help us provide inspiration and joy to the community through live orchestral performances and a variety of education and community engagement programs, please contact the Philharmonic’s Development Office at (405) 232-7575.

This Annual Fund recognition reflects contributions made in the 2024-25 Season and contributions for the 20252026 Season made through August 1, 2025.

If your name has been misspelled or omitted, please accept our apologies, and inform us of the error by calling the phone number listed above. Thank you for your generous support!

OPUS

$25,000 - $49,999

Ad Astra Foundation*

E.L. and Thelma Gaylord Foundation*

Express Employment Professionals

International Headquarters

Mrs. Jean McLaughlin

Dr. Amalia Silverstein

Susie and Doug Stussi

The Ann Lacy Foundation

The Oklahoma City Community Foundation in partnership with the John E. Kirkpatrick Partners Fund

CRESCENDO

$10,000 - $24,999

Linda and Patrick Alexander

American Fidelity Foundation

Mo Anderson

John and Margaret Biggs

Bill and Sally McNutt Foundation Fund

Devon Energy Corporation*

Gerald and Jane Jayroe Gamble

Jane B. Harlow

Barbara and Edward Krei

Mr. Albert Lang

Joel Levine and Don Clothier

Larry and Polly Nichols

OGE Energy Corp.

Oklahoma City Community Foundation

Susan Robinson

The Salmeron Family

Linda and Steve Slawson

The Chickasaw Nation

W&W | AFCO Steel

John Walker

VIRTUOSO

$5,000-$9,999

Steven C. Agee, Ph.D.* Arvest Foundation*

Dr. and Mrs. Sterling S. Baker

Bank of Oklahoma*

*Indicates donors who have given in support of Education and Community Engagement Programs.

Dr. and Mrs. L. Joe Bradley

Louise Cleary Cannon and Gerry Cannon

Lisa Carver Collins*

Clements Foods Foundation

Robert and Sody Clements

Teresa (Terri) Cooper

Mr. David Daugherty

David and Janice DeLana

David Dunkle

Frank Goforth and Nancy Halliday

Darleene Harris

Ruth Mershon Fund*

Patrick and Sarah McKee

Mekusukey Oil Company, LLC

Donald Rowlett

Dr. Elliott and Pam Shanklin

AEIOU Foundation*

Mr. Donald Wiggin

GIFTS TO THE PHIL

INDIVIDUALS

SYMPHONY

$2,500 - $4,999

Albert and Virginia Aguilar

Dr. and Mrs. Dewayne Andrews

Dr. and Mrs. John C. Andrus

Dr. Mary Zoe Baker

Donna and Nels Bentson

Philip and Charla Bird

Martha and Ronnie Bradshaw

Robert and Karen Browne

Family Fund

Phil G. and Cathy Busey

Mari Cook Medley

Barbara Cooper

Mr. Sidney G. Dunagan

Druanne and David Durrett

Dr. Thurma J. Fiegel

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Fleckinger

Karen and Fred Hall

Kirk Hammons

Dr. James Hartsuck

Rita and William Hoch

Mr. James Hulsey

Colonel (ret.) Dean and Mrs. Jeanne Jackson

Tom and Cindy Janssen

Carlos and Pamela Johnson

Mrs. Margaret Keith

Kathy and Terry Kerr

Debra and Kristian Kos

Tom and Jane Lerum

Mr. Kent McInnis

Oklahoma Allergy & Asthma Clinic

Oklahoma Craft

Omni Hotel

Mr. Charles Oppenheim

Gayle and Richard Parry

Phil and Alice Pippin

Jerry and Jan Plant

Vicki Rose Jenner and Brian Jenner

Mrs. Lil Ross

Lance and Cindy Ruffel

Lin and Ernesto Sanchez

Dr. Hal and Mrs. Bea Scofield

Pam and Bill Shdeed

Jeff and Kim Short

John and Katherine Spaid

Mr. and Mrs. John E. Stonecipher

John Stuemky and James Brand

Billie Thrash

Janie Pryor Tubb

Ron and Janie Walker

Mr. Tom L. Ward

Randy Willingham

Dr. James and Mrs. Elizabeth Wise

Ms. Jeanise Wynn

CONCERTO

$1,500 -$2,499

Anonymous

Fatima Abrantes-Pais

Nancy and Louis Almaraz

Ms. Beth M. Alonso

Ms. Zonia Armstrong

Dr. and Mrs. William L. Beasley

Mr. William Beck

Dr. and Mrs. Jack Beller

Nick and Betsy Berry

Dr. and Mrs. Charles Bethea

Bart Binning

Dr. Robert and Kristin Blakeburn

Ms. Pamela Bloustine

Debra and Glenn Blumstein

Mike and Dawn Borelli

Rev. Dr. Carl and Linda Bosteels

Del and Peggy Boyles

Mrs. Phyllis L. Brawley

Mrs. Carole S. Broughton

Mr. and Mrs. Pete Brown

J. Christopher and Ruth Carey

Ms. Janice B. Carmack

Jeff Caughron

Drs. Fong Chen and Helen Chiou

Mrs. Nancy Coleman

Cynthia Cortright

Mr. Chuck B. Darr, III

William E. Davis and Margaret H. Davis - Charles and Libbi Davis Legacy Fund

Tony and Pam De la Vega

Ms. Vickie Dennis

Gary and Fran Derrick

Mr. Joel Dixon

Dr. Matthew Draelos and Mrs. Jenie Draelos

Nancy Payne Ellis

Mrs. Ann Felton Gilliland

Paul and Debbie Fleming

Dr. and Mrs. Ralph G. Ganick

H. T. and Susan Gee

Mr. and Mrs. Kelly George

Natalie Kurkjian and Christopher Geyer

Mrs. Lyn Graham

Dr. Stephen Hamilton and Dr. Pamela Craven Hamilton

Mr. Mark Harder

David and Sandra Haskett

Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence K. Hellman

Walt and Jean Hendrickson

Lori and Dodge Hill

The Honorable Jerome A. Holmes

Mr. and Mrs. Joe R. Homsey, Jr.

Mrs. Elizabeth Hrubik

Leslie and Cliff Hudson

John and Janet Hudson

David and Vicki Hunt

Ms. Ashley Hurley

Mary Lu Jarvis

Mr. Dee Jerome

Zach Johnson

Kim and Michael Joseph

Mike and Kay Kellogg

Drs. Daniel and Diana Kennedy

Aaron and Jennifer Ketter

Claren Kidd

Mr. David Kinnard

Debra Klinghoffer

Ms. Kathy Kyler

Mike and Kay Lacey

Mary Jane Lawson

Kenneth T. Lease

Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores

Dr. Anthony Lunsford

M.V. Williams Foundation Inc.

Brad and Janet Marion

Richard and Dr. Barbara Masters

William and Oxana Matthey

Dr. Scott McCalla and Mrs. Leslie McCalla

Cindy and Johnny McCharen

Debbie McKinney

John and Anna McMillin

K. T. and Marilyn Meade

Robert and Kathy Mendez

Mr. William Merriman

Deann Merritt Parham

Sandra Meyers

SPECIAL EVENTS GIFTS

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING WHO BELIEVED IN OUR MISSION BY SUPPORTING THE 52ND ANNUAL SYMPHONY SHOW HOUSE!

SYMPHONY SHOW HOUSE 2025

BENEFITTING THE OKC PHILHARMONIC AND ITS COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS

SHOW HOUSE COMMITTEE

Symphony Show House Chair: J. Mark Taylor

Designer Selection Committee: Anonymous

Designer Sales Chairs: Jeannie Drake and Carole Doerner

Inventory Chair: Lois Salmeron

Sponsorship Chairs: Margaret Freede-Owens

Front Desk Chair: Carol McCoy

Room Staffing & Training Chair: Dottie Overal

Public Relations Chair: Joan Bryant

OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Rachael Geiger

Alice Matthews

Daniel Karami

Joyce Lucas

Geetika Verma

Anna Young

Dallas Gwin

Maggie Sermersheim

Ed Oliver

Matt Peterson

SHOW HOUSE COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Martin Taylor Creative Group

Julie Ayers with Sevens Photography

Maggie Sermersheim with The Barlor

David Oliver Real Estate Group

2025 SYMPHONY SHOW HOUSE TOUR BOOK

Julie Ayers with Sevens Photography

Martin Taylor with Martin Taylor Creative Group

J. Mark Taylor

Dr. Margaret Freede-Owens, Printing Underwriter

THANK YOU TO OUR HOMEOWNERS

Tracey and Rick Brown

HEADLINING SHOW HOUSE PATRONS

Dr. Margaret Freede-Owens

Glenna and Dick Tanenbaum

BRONZE PATRONS

Larry and Ronna Davis

BENEFACTOR PATRONS

Teresa “Terri” Cooper

Rita Dearmon

Jane B. Harlow

Col.(ret.) Dean and Mrs. Jeanne Jackson

Kam’s Kookery

Lance and Cindy Ruffel

Dr. Lois Salmeron

FRIEND PATRONS

Judy Austin

Janice Carmack

Carole Doerner

RKB Geiger

Margaret Keith King’s Worldwide Transportation

Thank you to the Talented Designers and Boutique Owners who made the 2025 Symphony Show House a Reality!

Rosinna Gies - Amini’s Galleria

Katelynn Henry, Steve Calonkey, Steve Simpson –Henry Home Interiors

Holly Flinton - Holly Flinton Design, Inc.

Patty Tippit - Home Dazzle

Kimberly Morgan – Kimberly Morgan Arts

Dr. Kari Lopez, Renae Brady, Tracy Knoche - Lorec Ranch

Loree Johns - Loree Johns Interiors / Edmond Furniture Gallery

Lynda Savage - Lynda Savage Art

Nathan Hughes - Mathis Design Studio

Keven Calonkey Carl, Cassidy Brunsteter, Lance WhitlowMister Robert Fine Furniture & Design

Ronette Wallace - OTW Interiors / Suburban Furniture

Maggie Davis - Tom James Company

J. Mark Taylor- Traditions Fine Furniture & Design

Lauren Warkentine, Sarah McCombs - William and Lauren

Kirby Hurd, Emily Stipanov- Kirby Home Design

Jennifer Oliver- Jenny Jarrard Interiors

Cory Lloyd- Cory Lloyd & Co.

Julie Miller- Tin Lizzies

HOUSE NOTES

RESTROOMS are conveniently located on all levels of the theater. Please ask your usher for guidance.

LATECOMERS and those who exit the theater during the performance may be seated during the first convenient pause, as determined by the management.

ELECTRONIC DEVICES must be turned off and put away during the performance (no calling, texting, photo or video use please).

BEVERAGES: Bottled water is permitted in the theater at the Classics Series concerts. Beverages are permitted in the theater at the Pops Series concerts; however, bringing coffee into the theater is discouraged due to the aroma.

SMOKING in the Civic Center Music Hall is prohibited. The Oklahoma City Philharmonic promotes a fragrance-free environment for the convenience of our patrons.

FIRE EXITS are located on all levels and marked accordingly. Please note the nearest exit for use in case of an emergency.

ELEVATORS are located at the south end of the atrium lobby of the Civic Center Music Hall.

CHILDREN of all ages are welcome at the Philharmonic Discovery Family Series and Holiday Pops performances; however, in consideration of the patrons, musicians and artists, those under five years of age will not be admitted to evening Classics and Pops concerts unless otherwise noted. Booster seats are available, inquire at the Box Office.

STUDENT RUSH TICKETS are available with a high school or university I.D. and email address at the Box Office 1 hour prior to the start of each Philharmonic performance. Or may be purchased online the Wednesday prior to each concert for $11. Limit: 2 tickets per I.D. Tickets are offered based on availability only and seats may be located throughout the theatre.

VIDEO MONITORS are located in the lobby for your convenience.

WHEELCHAIR AVAILABLE SEATING – Persons using wheelchairs or with walking and climbing difficulties will be accommodated when possible. Those wishing to use the designated wheelchair sections may purchase the wheelchair space and a companion seat. Please inform the Philharmonic or Civic Center Box Office staff of your need when ordering tickets so that you may be served promptly and appropriately. Please request the assistance of hall ushers to access wheelchair seating.

HEARING LOOPS have been installed. Ask your audiologist to activate the telecoil in your hearing aid or cochlear implant. Due to the mechanics of the stage, the hearing loops do not reach the pit section but are available at the Box Office and the Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre. The copper wire in the floor and telecoil work together to connect the hearing device to the theater’s sound system using a magnetic field which dramatically improves sound clarity for patrons using hearing devices.

LOST & FOUND is located in the Civic Center office (405-594-8300) weekdays 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

PHILHARMONIC TICKET OFFICE may be contacted by calling 405-TIC-KETS (405-842-5387) or you can visit the Philharmonic Ticket Office located on the first floor of the Arts District Garage at 424 Colcord Drive in Suite B. The Philharmonic Ticket Office is open Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and by phone on concert Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

CIVIC CENTER BOX OFFICE hours are Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and two hours prior to each performance. (405-594-8300)

BY ATTENDING THIS EVENT, you consent to being photographed and/or recorded for marketing and promotional purposes by the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and grant the Oklahoma City Philharmonic permission to use your image or video recordings in promotional materials, including print, digital, editorial, television and social media.

ARTISTS, PROGRAMMING, AND DATES SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

CONCEPTS FROM THE Maestro

This season, we celebrate timeless classics—deeply romantic, emotionally rich works that have resonated for generations. Join us in rediscovering the power of beloved orchestral masterpieces.

OPENING GALA: FREEDOM TO LIVE

Welcome to the start of our 2025–2026 season. Tonight’s program, Freedom to Live, celebrates the universal human pursuit of freedom, identity, and creative expression. Each of these four works offers a unique voice, yet all resonate with resilience and joy. We begin with Kauyumari by Gabriela Ortiz—an energetic and colorful tribute to the Huichol Blue Deer, a sacred symbol of guidance and renewal in Mexican culture. Next, we welcome the extraordinary Natasha Paremski for the Oklahoma premiere of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 4. This captivating work blends Russian romanticism with American jazz, reflecting the composer’s life in exile and his search for artistic freedom. After intermission, we soar with Janácek’s Sinfonietta, a stirring fanfare to the modern individual’s courage and strength. We close with Tchaikovsky’s iconic 1812 Overture, a thunderous celebration of unity and triumph. Thank you for joining us on this inspiring journey. Tonight, we don’t just begin a new season—we honor the enduring power of music to uplift and liberate.

OPENING NIGHT

LEGENDS: ORTIZ, RACHMANINOFF, JANACEK, TCHAIKOVSKY

SEPTEMBER 20, 2025 • 7:30 P.M.

CLASSICS

ALEXANDER MICKELTHWATE, CONDUCTOR

NATASHA PAREMSKI, PIANO

ORTIZ ......................... Kauyumari* 0:29 RACHMANINOFF ....... Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, O p.40*

Allegro vivace

Largo

Allegro vivace

Natasha Paremski, piano

Intermission

0:24 JANÁ C EK .................... Sinfonietta

Allegretto

Andante—Allegretto—Maestoso—Allegretto

Moderato

Allegretto

Allegro 0:16 TCHAIKOVSKY ........... 1812 Overture, O p. 49 *First Perf ormance on this Series

THIS CONCERT IS GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY:

PRINCIPAL SPONSORS: SUSIE AND DOUG STUSSI JEAN MCLAUGHLIN

For a deeper understanding of concert programming, please, join Maestro Mickelthwate for his Preconcert Talk at 6:30pm in the auditorium. Open seating.

OKCPHIL SPOTLIGHT SCHOOL: Norman High School Orchestra, Steve Waddell, Director

Listen to a broadcast of this performance on KUCO 90.1 FM on Saturday, October 18 at 9 am and Sunday, October 19 at 7 pm on “Performance Oklahoma”. Simultaneous internet streaming is also available during the broadcast.

GUEST ARTIST

NATASHA PAREMSKI

With her consistently striking and dynamic performances, pianist Natasha Paremski reveals astounding virtuosity and profound interpretations. She continues to generate excitement with her musical sensibility and a powerful, flawless technique.

A regular guest of major orchestras worldwide, Natasha has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, among others. In Europe, she has toured with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra—appearing in Royal Albert Hall and Royal Festival Hall—as well as Vienna’s Tonkünstler Orchester, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and Tonhalle Orchester Zürich. She has collaborated with conductors such as Thomas Dausgaard, Peter Oundjian, Andres Orozco-Estrada, James Gaffigan, and JoAnn Falletta.

A passionate chamber musician, Natasha frequently performs with Grammy-winning cellist Zuill Bailey. Their recording of Britten’s works on Telarc debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Classical Chart and was featured on The New York Times Playlist. She is a guest of top chamber festivals, including Lockenhaus, Toronto, Sitka Summer Music, and Jeffrey Kahane’s ChamberFest.

Recognized early in her career, she received the Gilmore Young Artist Award (2006), Prix Montblanc (2007), and the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year (2010). Her solo albums include repertoire by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Gabriel Kahane, the latter having composed a sonata for her.

Beyond the concert hall, Natasha appeared in the BBC’s two-part film on Tchaikovsky, performed at New York’s Joyce Theater in Benjamin Millepied’s Danses Concertantes, and featured in Twin Spirits with Sting and Trudie Styler.

Natasha began her piano studies at the age of four with Nina Malikova at Moscow’s Andreyev School of Music. She then studied at San Francisco Conservatory of Music before moving to New York to study with Pavlina Dokovska at Mannes College of Music, from which she graduated in 2007. Natasha made her professional debut at age nine. At the age of fifteen she debuted with Los Angeles Philharmonic and recorded two discs with Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra.

Born in Moscow, Natasha moved to the United States at the age of eight, becoming a U.S. citizen shortly thereafter, and is now based in New York City where she is Artistic Director of the New York Piano Society, a non-profit organization that supports pianists whose professions lie outside of music.

PROGRAM NOTES

OPENING NIGHT: LEGENDS

ORTIZ TORRES

Kauyumari

First Performance on This Series

Born: December 20, 1964, in Mexico City, Mexico

Residing: Mexico City

Work composed: 2021, on commission from the Los Angeles Philharmonic

Work premiered: October 9, 2021, at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, with Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic

Instrumentation: Two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, seed pod rattle, claves, jawbone, tambourine, metal güiro, sistrum, tam-tam, suspended cymbal, xylophone, glockenspiel, bass drum, snare drum, shaker, log drum, bongos, harp, and strings

Gabriela Ortiz was born into music; her parents were members of Los Folkloristas, an ensemble committed to preserving the traditional music of Mexico and Central America. She began playing Mexican music on the guitar and at nine started piano lessons. At the age of 15 she trained her sights on becoming a composer. “I started by listening,” she told interviewer Victoria Looseleaf of San Francisco Classical Voice, “and by intuition I started composing melodies and rhythms and thought that this is incredible. When I started studying Bartók, it was an open music to the new music world, an open window; and I thought that this is what I want to do—be a composer, rather than a pianist.”

After studying with the composers Mario Lavista and Federico Ibarra in Mexico and graduating from the Escuela Nacional de Música (Mexico City), she carried out advanced study at the Guildhall School of Music in England, worked for a year with composer Jacques

Castérède at the Paris Conservatoire, and earned a Ph.D. in electro-acoustic composition from the City University in London. She returned to Mexico City, where she has taught at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México since 2000. Her work has been recognized with numerous composition awards in Mexico and abroad. In 2016, she was awarded the prestigious Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes, in 2019 was welcomed into the Academía de Artes, and in 2022 became the first woman composer inducted into El Colegio Nacional. In 2025, her portrait album, Revolucióndiamantina (with Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic), won three Grammy awards, including Best Contemporary Classical Composition for the title track.

A number of her works grapple with Mexico’s social issues. This is the case with her three operas: drug wars in Únicamente la verdad (Only the Truth, nominated for a Latin Grammy as best classical contemporary composition), emigration from Mexico to the United States in Ana y su sombra (Ana and her Shadow), and the student unrest of 1968 in Luciérnaga (Firefly). In an interview with Tom Moore of Opera Today, she explained: “When I compose, I am not trying to sound Mexican. ... It is like an inner force that is just there, and I have to express that in sound. It probably has a Mexican identity, because it’s me, I live in Mexico, and I like my country.” In an interview with Erika P. Bucio of the Mexico City newspaper Reforma, she explained that her Mexican roots and her European training join to create a space for her creativity: “My music navigates between those two worlds, but never in a literal way; I don’t dedicate myself to writing mambos. If there is an influence, it will be very decoded by my ear, my aesthetics and my own voice; I do not imitate, it is not literal.”

Traditional Mexican cultural practices do inform or inspire many of her works. These include a number of pieces situated in spiritual realms suggested by semi-staged presentations, such as her 1997 Altar de Muertos (Altar of the Dead) for string quartet (wearing masks in the final movement) and pre-Hispanic water drums, performed in a theatrical set evoking the Día de los Muertos.

She nonetheless casts her net wide and accepts musical influences with an open mind. “I have lots of influences,” she told Looseleaf. “I use everything that gives me some fuel for my creativity. I don’t think I should restrict myself to certain kinds of influences, because everything could give me ideas. I like folk music and pop and jazz. I have my favorite composers—Bartók, Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel. I

Gabriela Ortiz Torres

PROGRAM NOTES

also like Thomas Adès and Kaija Saariaho. Everything that stimulates my creativity, it’s going to be there.”

Many listeners may think of Copland at the opening of her Kauyumari, its fanfare-like brass phrases sounding over a deep, dark-hued background. The music breaks into infectious rhythms and repeating motifs, with a rich percussion section adding much to the ever-increasing momentum, the melodic phrases gradually morphing in their specific contours while maintaining the work’s vibrant, hypnotic character.

From the Composer

Gabriela Ortiz provides this comment about her piece:

Among the Huichol people of Mexico, Kauyumari means “blue deer.” The blue deer represents a spiritual guide, one that is transformed through an extended pilgrimage into a hallucinogenic cactus called peyote. It allows the Huichol to communicate with their ancestors, do their bidding, and take on their role as guardians of the planet. Each year, these Native Mexicans embark on a symbolic journey to “hunt” the blue deer, making offerings in gratitude for having been granted access to the invisible world, through which they also are able to heal the wounds of the soul.

When I received the commission from the Los Angeles Philharmonic to compose a piece that would reflect on our return to the stage following the pandemic, I immediately thought of the blue deer and its power to enter the world of the intangible as akin to a celebration of the reopening of live music. Specifically, I thought of a Huichol melody sung by the De La Cruz family—dedicated to recording ancestral folklore—that I used for the final movement of my piece Altar de Muertos (Altar of the Dead), commissioned by the Kronos String Quartet in 1997.

I used this material within the orchestral context and elaborated on the construction and progressive development of the melody and its accompaniment in such a way that it would symbolize the blue deer. This in turn was transformed into an orchestral texture which gradually evolves into a complex rhythm pattern, to such a degree that the melody itself becomes unrecognizable (the imaginary effect of peyote and our awareness of the invisible realm), giving rise to a choral wind section while maintaining an incisive rhythmic accompaniment as a form of reassurance that the world will naturally follow its course.

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, Op. 40 (1927 version) Sergei Rachmaninoff

First Performance on This Series

Born: March 20 (old style)/April 1 (new style), 1873, in either Oneg or Semyonovo, Russia

Died: March 28, 1943, in Beverly Hills, California

Work composed: 1926, completed on August 26 of that year, drawing on material penned in 1914 or even earlier; revised in 1927 and 1941. This performance uses the second version, from 1927. Work premiered: In its original form on March 18, 1927, with Leopold Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra and the composer as soloist; in its second version, performed here, in London in November 1929, with the composer as soloist and Albert Coates conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (although this version apparently was used for a BBC broadcast from Manchester, England, on December 2, 1928, with Lev Pouishnoff as soloist

Instrumentation: Two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, tambourine, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, and strings, in addition to the solo piano

As a youngster, Sergei Rachmaninoff enrolled on scholarship at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, but he proved so indifferent a student that the school threatened to curtail its support. His cousin, the pianist Aleksandr Ziloti, stepped in to provide a measure of discipline and arranged for him to study at the Moscow Conservatory instead. When Rachmaninoff graduated, in 1892, he received the Great Gold Medal, an honor that had only been bestowed on two students previously. He went on to a stellar piano career, earning acclaim as a refined, precise player of impressive technique and analytical approach.

PROGRAM NOTES

He composed four piano concertos spread through his career—in 1890-91, 1900-01, 1909, and 1926 (revised through 1941)—and was the soloist at the premiere of each. A pendant to these is a fifth, ever-popular work for piano and orchestra, the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, written during the summer of 1934. While the plush Second Concerto and the knuckle-busting Third, along with the Rhapsody, are popular repertoire items, the First and Fourth Concertos stand more toward the edge. We find in the Fourth much of the spacious style and the demanding virtuosity of Rachmaninoff’s earlier concertos, and the tightly coiled drama of the Rhapsody is also to be encountered in its pages. And yet, the Fourth Concerto inhabits a world all its own and its distinct character has sometimes left listeners complaining about what it is not, and only latterly growing to appreciate it for what it is: a work very much of its time, incorporating not only remnants of late Romanticism but also some up-to-date sounds more associated with Ravel and Gershwin, reflecting Rachmaninoff’s musical curiosity and evolving style. The Fourth Concerto, with its relatively transparent textures, may resemble the original version of the First Concerto more than the somewhat gauzier beauty of the Second and Third; but one rarely hears that version of the First Concerto, which is almost always given with the alterations Rachmaninoff made to it in 1917, changes that bring it more in line with the sound of the Second and Third Concertos. In fact, the composer reported that working on the revision of his Concerto No. 1 provided stimulation during the long gestation of the Concerto No. 4.

Rachmaninoff began this piece in 1914, but work was derailed by World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution, which led to the composer’s emigration to the United States in 1918. Demands of the concert circuit left him little time to compose, but in 1926 he carved out enough to finish this concerto in order to honor the date he had already scheduled for its premiere. Taking a break from concertizing, he settled in to work on the piece at his New York apartment on West End Avenue and then took the project along to Europe, where he spent the summer, completing the piece in Dresden on August 25.

The premiere took place the following March 18, in Philadelphia, with Leopold Stokowski conducting The Philadelphia Orchestra and the composer appearing as soloist. It was a critical disaster. In the New York Evening Telegram, Pitts Sanborn complained that the piece was “long-winded, tiresome, unimportant, in places tawdry.” Rachmaninoff was distraught, and he quickly set about effecting cuts in what admittedly was a long piece—so

long, in fact, that he had joked to his friend Nikolai Medtner (the work’s dedicatee) that a performance of this concerto might be spread over successive nights, like Wagner’s Ring cycle. He also observed in a letter to Medtner: “I also noticed that the theme of the second movement is the theme of the first movement of Schumann’s concerto. How is it that you didn’t tell me this?”

Revising the Fourth Concerto

At its premiere, Rachmaninoff’s Fourth Piano Concerto was criticized as an unnecessary prolongation of 19th-century style and for being too long. The composer had already recognized that its length was a problem, and he addressed this during the summer after its premiere, when he reduced the concerto by 114 measures. In that revised form it was published as the inaugural release of the Tair publishing house, which he had founded in Paris in 1925. This version proved no more successful in the concert hall than the original had. He returned to the score in 1941, reducing it by a further 78 measures (particularly from the last movement), and in that final form he recorded it on December 20, 1941, with Eugene Ormandy leading The Philadelphia Orchestra. That final version is the most frequently encountered today, but some pianists have made persuasive cases for the original version from 1926 (which the composer’s estate released for publication only in 2000) or the 1927 revision (as the piece was originally published), which is the version played in this concert.

—JMK

PROGRAM NOTES

OPENING NIGHT: LEGENDS

Sinfonietta

Leoš Janáček

Single Performance:9/22/1974

Conductor: Ainslee Cox

JANÁCEK

Born: July 3, 1854, in Hukvaldy, near Př ibor, Moravia (now in Czechia)

Died: August 12, 1928, in Moravská Ostrava, Moravia (now in Czechia)

Work composed: Begin in late 1925, completed on April 1, 1926 Work premiered: June 16, 1926, in Prague, Czechoslovakia, with Václav Talich conducting the Czech Philharmonic Instrumentation: Four flutes (fourth doubling piccolo), two oboes (second doubling English horn), two clarinets plus E-flat clarinet and bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, fourteen trumpets (nine in C, three in F, two bass trumpets in B-flat), four trombones, two tenor tubas and bass tuba, timpani, cymbals, bells, harp, and strings

The title Sinfonietta suggests modesty of form and cuteness of content. Janáč ek is perhaps playing a trick on his listeners: anyone expecting negligible sweetness and light out of this Sinfonietta has another thing coming. Look at the instrumentation. The orchestra is huge, including such larger-than-normal sections as four flutes (one doubling piccolo), four trombones, three tubas (two tenors, one bass), and, most strikingly, no fewer than 14 trumpets—nine pitched in C, three in F, and two rarely employed bass trumpets in B-flat. No cowering violet, this Sinfonietta! Neither is this piece particularly modest in its formal layout, which occupies five movements together lasting about twenty-five minutes. Perhaps Janáč ek used the term to free his conscience from following the time-honored procedures of traditional four-movement symphonies, with their sonata forms, their scherzos-andtrios, and so on.

Actually, the title Sinfonietta was not what Janáč ek originally attached to this piece. It was initially titled Vojenská symfonietta (Military Symphonietta), and the piece was dedicated to the Armed Forces of the nation of Czechoslovakia, which had been formed in 1918—at the end of World War I—as an amalgamation of Bohemia, Moravia (where Janáč ek’s roots lay), and Slovakia. The work’s name was changed only when it was published, in 1927. At that time, he also shifted the dedication to the English musicologist Rosa Newmarch and eliminated the programmatic headings that had stood at the top of each movement, rendering the piece, at least in its externals, less suite-like and more resembling an abstract sinfonietta.

Those headings had all referred to sites and events connected with the city of Brno, the capital of Moravia, Janáč ek’s adopted hometown. The opening movement had initially been called “Fanfares,” a perfectly apt description of the movement’s character. The fanfares in question were written specifically for a Sokol gathering. The Sokol movement was a national physical-fitness incentive that involved mass rallies of participants demonstrating coordinated gymnastics. Over time, these inevitably escalated into political rallies of sorts, underscoring their nationalistic significance. Janáč ek was a long-time enthusiast, having joined the Sokol in Brno in 1876. For just such a rally in 1893 he composed his Music for ClubSwinging (not one of his enduring masterworks—surprise! surprise!); and, although, his fervor had somewhat cooled in his advancing years, he consented to write a piece to be played at the Eighth National Sokol Rally of 1926. Fanfares were on his mind just then; he had been struck by a performance of fanfares at a band concert at Pisek in 1925, and referred to that experience on several occasions in letters to his muse Kamila Stösslová. Janáč ek apparently sent the first movement off to the Sokol organizers, fulfilling their commission, but then just went on writing what would grow into his Sinfonietta. The opening “Fanfares” movement (in the score marked progressively Allegretto, then Allegro, then Maestoso, and finally Allegretto is scored for an impressive choir of brass with timpani, offering swaggering phrases rich in open, parallel intervals and canonic imitation.

The remaining movements originally related to places: The Castle, The Queen’s Monastery, The Street, The Town Hall. The Queen’s Monastery is a famous landmark in Brno, but the other sites seem less specific. The movements unroll with the fluidity of rhythm and tempo that is a Janáč ek hallmark, and each employs a distinct instrumental grouping. The second movement (originally “The Castle”)

PROGRAM NOTES

OPENING NIGHT: LEGENDS

opens with a sparkling tune for winds (later strings), though its Maestoso climax includes a memory of the opening brass fanfares. The third movement (initially “The Queen’s Monastery”) serves as a lyric interlude; here we find many repetitions of a melodic fragment accompanied by a recurring chord figure—a very characteristic Janáč ek sound. The entire fourth movement (formerly “The Street”) is based on a single melody, a modal dance-like tune that repeats over and over. The fifth movement (the erstwhile “Town Hall”) builds into a monument of sound that includes 12 trumpets playing the opening fanfares in unison while the rest of the orchestra surrounds them in sustained pedal-tones and fluttering trills.

The Composer Speaks

An autobiographical essay titled “My Town—Brno,” which Janáč ek published in the daily newspaper in that city on December 12, 1927, expresses the composer’s nearly euphoric memories of how Brno suddenly changed in his estimation with the liberation of the Czech lands at the end of World War I, and how that transformation informed his Sinfonietta:

One day suddenly I saw a miraculous change in the town. My antagonism to the gloomy town hall vanished, my hatred of the Špilberg jail, inside whose depths so much misery had been suffered, disappeared, and with it my antipathy to the street and those who swarmed there. Over the town the light of freedom blazed, the rebirth of Oct. 28, 1918!

I was part of it; I belonged to it.

The blare of victorious trumpets, the holy quiet of the Queen’s Monastery, night shadows and the gentle breeze from the Green Hill.

The beginning of upsurge and greatness in our town gave birth to my Sinfonietta, which carries this understanding of my town—Brno.

1812 Overture, Op. 49 Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky

First Performance: 1/5/1947

Conductor: Victor Alessandro

Last Performance: 5/10/2014

Conductor: Joel Levine

TCHAIKOVSKY

Born: April 25 (old style)/May 7 (new style), 1840, at Votkinsk, in the district of Viatka, Russia, about seven hundred miles east-northeast of Moscow

Died: October 25/November 6, 1893, in St. Petersburg Work composed: September/October through November 7/19, 1880 Work premiered: August 8/20, 1882, at a hall built for the occasion on the grounds of the Exhibition of Industry and the Arts in Moscow, with Ippolit Karlovich Altani conducting Instrumentation: Two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, two cornets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, glockenspiel, cannon, bells, and strings; also an optional “Harmoniemusik” (i.e., a wind band), not used in this performance CK.

Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture falls under the rubric of “occasional music,” and of all the categories of classical compositions, occasional music occupies the rung of slightest prestige. The term is bandied about liberally, usually with a pinch of condescension, but nobody seems even to take the time to dignify it as proper endeavor in and of itself. You will search in vain for an article dedicated to it in the 29 volumes of the latest edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the sine qua non of English-language music-reference compendia; neither will you find it discussed in the excellent Harvard Dictionary of Music, in the Random House Encyclopedic Dictionary of Classical Music, nor even (so far as I can tell)

PROGRAM NOTES

OPENING NIGHT: LEGENDS

in any of the lexicographically inclined compilations by the late Nicolas Slonimsky, who delighted in considering fine points of musical definition that others ignored.

Occasional music is nothing more than music written for a specific occasion, most commonly some officially declared festivity: the celebration of a birthday, name-day, elevation, or coronation of some notable person, the dedication of a monument, the opening of a fair, such things. Paging through Tchaikovsky’s catalogue, for example, we find him doing yeoman’s service to various events through his Serenade for Nikolai Rubinstein’s Nameday (an 1872 piece of chamber music for the intriguing combination of two flutes, two clarinets, horn, bassoon, and string quartet), his Cantata in Commemoration of the Bicentenary of the Birth of Peter the Great (also 1872), his March for the Volunteer Fleet (issued in 1878 under the pseudonym P. Sinopov), his Music for a Tableau Vivant of Montenegrins Receiving the News of Russia’s Declaration of War on Turkey (1880, and we must somehow make our way through life knowing that it has been lost), his Jurists’ March and Jurists’ Song for the Golden Jubilee of the School of Jurisprudence (1885), his Greeting to Anton Rubinstein for His Golden Jubilee as an Artist (1889), and his Military March for the 98th Yurevsky Regiment (1893).

And, of course, his 1812 Overture—or The Year 1812, or Festival Overture, or Solemn Overture, as competing editions sometimes put it. It was in 1812 that Napoleon’s Grand Army invaded Moscow, only to find that the Russian Army had withdrawn from the other side and burned the city and its contents on their way, leaving the French to starve, freeze, and retreat into the Russian winter. Tchaikovsky’s colleague Nikolai Rubinstein approached the composer to see if he would memorialize that event through a composition that might be played at the opening of an Exhibition of Industry and the Arts being planned—or, if not for that, then to be played at the Czar’s Silver Jubilee or at the opening of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior then under construction in Moscow. Tchaikovsky protested about writing such a work—“It seems you think ceremonial pieces for an exhibition is some sort of ultimate bliss of which I shall hasten to avail myself”—but in the end he accepted the commission and specified the third option, that it should accompany the inauguration of the new cathedral (or, as he put it, “the cathedral, which I don’t like at all”). In the event, the Cathedral’s consecration did not take place until later than anticipated, and Tchaikovsky’s work was unveiled nine months before that event, in a hall constructed for the occasion on the Exhibition’s grounds.

Despite all his whining (and there was more where that came from) Tchaikovsky delivered precisely the piece Rubinstein had asked for: “15 to 25 minutes long, with or without a chorus”—Tchaikovsky chose without—and “with a hint of church music which must certainly be Orthodox.” In this episodic work we do indeed hear a bit of Orthodox chant (“Save Us, O Lord”), in addition to a bit of folksong, the Marseillaise (representing the French), the Russian national hymn (“God Save the Czar”), and, near the end, a deafening din of church-bells and military cannon. Subtlety may not be its strong suit, but the 1812 Overture is de rigueur if you want to alert your neighbors that you have acquired new audio speakers or if, at a live concert, you want to hear just how much sound an orchestra can possibly make.

The Composer Protests

For all the occasional music he wrote in his career, the request for what would be the 1812 Overture seems to have gotten under Tchaikovsky’s skin more than usual. He belly-ached about it not only to Nikolai Rubinstein, who had proffered the commission, but also to his patron Nadezhda von Meck, to whom he wrote, “There is nothing less to my liking than composing for the sake of some festivities” and (in a follow-up letter) “The overture will be very loud and noisy, but I wrote it with no warm feeling of love, and therefore there will be no artistic merits in it.” Nonetheless, he clearly felt it had something to commend it—what’s not to love about the opening, for example, with the divided lower strings singing the Orthodox chant?—and before long he set about trying to secure orchestral performances of the piece, even before it had been unveiled at the inauguration of the Cathedral.

—JMK

JAMES M. KELLER

James M. Keller has served as the longtime program annotator of the New York Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony, where he recently completed his 25th season. He is the author of Chamber Music: A Listener’s Guide (Oxford University Press).

CONCEPTS FROM THE Maestro

Concepts from the Maestro

This season, we celebrate timeless classics—deeply romantic, emotionally rich works that have resonated for generations. Join us in rediscovering the power of beloved orchestral masterpieces.

OKLAHOMA STORIES: THE FUTURE

America has always produced extraordinary talent—but tonight, we turn our focus homeward to celebrate the next generation of Oklahoma artists. This program lifts up local voices, honoring the creativity and promise emerging in our own backyard.

OKLAHOMA

STORIES

CELEBRATING OUR FUTURE

OCTOBER 25, 2025 • 7:30 P.M.

We open with a special side-by-side performance with the Oklahoma Youth Orchestra—Oklahoma’s premier training ground for young musicians since 1977. This collaboration honors the power of mentorship and intergenerational unity in music.

Next is Kiowa 6, a new work by Cherokee cellist and composer Kiegan Ryan. Rooted in Native American storytelling traditions, this evocative piece—scored for cello and orchestra—speaks of identity, heritage, and artistic self-discovery.

We then welcome Yihan Zhang, winner of our concerto competition, for Mendelssohn’s vibrant Piano Concerto No. 1—a perfect showcase for youthful virtuosity and Romantic brilliance. In the second half, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 offers grandeur and hope—a stirring tribute to human resilience and artistic freedom, composed amid wartime. Tonight’s concert celebrates community, courage, and the future of symphonic music—already shining bright here in Oklahoma.

For a deeper understanding of concert programming, please, join Maestro Mickelthwate for his Preconcert Talk at 6:30 pm in the auditorium. Open seating.

CLASSICS

YIHAN ZHANG, PIANO

OKLAHOMA YOUTH ORCHESTRA

Finlandia, Op. 26

Oklahoma Youth Orchestra, Dr. Clifton Evans, Artistic Director

KIEGAN RYAN .........................

Kiowa Six*

Kiegan Ryan, cello

0:21 MENDELSSOHN ............ Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25

Molto allegro con fuoco

Andante Presto—Molto allegro e vivace

Yihan Zhang, piano

Intermission

0:46 PROKOFIEV .................. Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100

Andante Allegro marcato Adagio Allegro giocoso

*First Perf ormance on this Series

THIS CONCERT IS GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY:

SUPPORTING SPONSORS:

SODY AND ROBERT CLEMENTS CLEMENTS FOODS FOUNDATION

OKCPHIL SPOTLIGHT SCHOOL: Harding Charter Preparatory High School Band and Orchestra, Kelli Taylor, Director

Listen to a broadcast of this performance on KUCO 90.1 FM on Saturday, November 22 at 9 am and Sunday, November 23 at 7 pm on “Performance Oklahoma”. Simultaneous internet streaming is also available during the broadcast.

KIEGAN RYAN, CELLO

GUEST ARTISTS

YIHAN ZHANG

Yihan Zhang is a 15-year-old pianist and student at Norman North High School. He began playing piano at the age of six, inspired by the anime Your Lie in April, with the goal of one day performing Chopin’s Etude “Winter Wind.” He currently studies with Professor Igor Lipinski at the University of Oklahoma and Dr. Kingma in Tulsa. Yihan is especially grateful to his teacher, Ms. Jennifer Song, whose early mentorship laid a strong musical foundation. He is also deeply thankful to Denis Zhdanov for helping him develop a solid and efficient piano technique.

Yihan has received recognition in both international and regional competitions. His accolades include top prizes at the American Protégé International Competition and the Piano Star International Competition, as well as first-place awards at the Oklahoma MTNA Junior Competition, OMTA Junior Competition, OKCPhil Young Musician Competition, Steinway & Sons

Piano Competition, and the SWOSU Piano Competition. He made his Carnegie Hall debut through the Piano Star International Competition and has performed Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (final movement) four times with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic as part of their annual youth concerts. In 2024, he was selected as one of only twenty-four pianists worldwide to attend the prestigious PianoTexas International Festival & Academy, where he performed at the Van Cliburn Concert Hall at Texas Christian University.

Yihan is constantly learning and growing as a pianist. He has participated in numerous masterclasses with renowned pianists including Sa Chen, Andrey Ponochevny, Tamás Ungár, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Dominic Cheli, Ory Shihor, and Jarred Dunn. While he began his musical journey with Chopin, Bach, and Mozart, he continues to explore the works of Liszt, Ravel, and Rachmaninoff. His dream is to one day perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3.

For Yihan, music is more than a craft—it is a powerful means of connection. He regularly performs in schools, churches, nursing homes, and private events, and is also a frequent performer in Tonebase community concerts. In addition to music, Yihan excels in advanced math and science courses. Outside of piano, he enjoys gaming, chess, swimming, playing the violin, and occasionally, the pipe organ. Yihan is greatly honored to be among the 2025 Chopin Foundation Scholarship first-year recipients.

KIEGAN RYAN

Kiegan Ryan is a citizen of the Cherokee nation, a cellist and a composer of contemporary classical music. He composes chamber music, art song, opera, orchestral music and film scores. Kiegan had his compositional debut with the Oklahoma Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra in 2022 with Kanohelvsgi, written for String Orchestra. Kiegan recently had his Cherokee song cycle (songs from where they journeyed from) performed at Lincoln Center and at the Juilliard School. Ryan recently had the honor of scoring Oklahoma City University’s mainstage production of King Lear. In the spring of 2026 Kiegan will make his soloist and compositional debut with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in a concert featuring his Cherokee song cycle Kanohelvsgi Tsunilosvhi and a newly written concerto for Cedar flute and orchestra performed by Mark Billy.

In November of 2024, he debuted as a soloist and composer with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. Kiegan is a commissioned composer for the North American Indigenous Songbook initiative and will premier an original composition in New York. He recently composed a song cycle on the writings of Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller that was premiered in March at the Juilliard School. Kiegan is the lead cello instructor at El Sistema Oklahoma, a non-profit that provides free music opportunities five days a week after school during the school year to students attending Oklahoma City Public Schools.

Kiegan has had performances at National Sawdust, Juilliard, Lincoln Center and Yellowstone’s All Nations Teepee Village. He has had works performed by Opera Montana, 48-hour Film Festival, North American Indigenous Songbook, Schubert Club and Victory Players at MIFA Theatre.

He grew up in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and is currently completing his graduate degree in composition and cello performance from Oklahoma City University, studying with Edward Knight and Emily Stoops.

GUEST ARTISTS

OKLAHOMA STORIES: CELEBRATING OUR FUTURE

Oklahoma Youth Orchestras (OKYO) prides itself on offering arts education programs to meet the needs of young musicians in elementary through high school with ensembles designed for all abilities. By providing a fun, dynamic, and supportive environment OKYO students are inspired to pursue their passion for music.

Founded in 1977, OKYO is the largest youth orchestra program in the state, and it has been celebrated for its dedication to the arts and arts education. It provides advanced music education and performance opportunities to young musicians under the direction of highly distinguished music educators. Throughout its 48-year history, OKYO has produced many talented musicians, conductors, performers, educators, and business leaders worldwide. OKYO features twelve ensembles and a summer camp that serve a diverse student body of over 400 young musicians from all over the metro. We foster creativity, teamwork, and leadership through a strong commitment to excellence in music education.

OYO is the flagship ensemble of OKYO under the direction of Artistic Director, Dr. Clif Evans.

DR. CLIFTON EVANS OKYO Artistic Director

Dr. Clifton Evans currently serves as Director of Orchestral Activities and Professor of Conducting at Oklahoma City University and Artistic Director of the Oklahoma Youth Orchestras. Dr. Evans has enjoyed a conducting career that has taken him to Hong Kong, England, China, Austria, the Czech Republic, and throughout the United States. Highly sought after as a clinician and lecturer, Dr. Evans has conducted numerous Honor Orchestras and Bands and given multiple lectures on conducting and rehearsal technique.

Dr. Evans’ previous positions include Director of Orchestras at the University of Texas at Arlington, Artistic Director of the Arlington Youth Symphony, Director of Orchestras and Chamber Music for the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Music Director for the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston, Conductor for the Houston Youth Symphony, and Music Director and Conductor of the Houston Civic Symphony. He resides in Norman with his wife, Christy.

PROGRAM NOTES

OKLAHOMA STORIES: CELEBRATING OUR FUTURE

Finlandia

Jean Sibelius

First Performance: 1/24/1938

Conductor: Ralph Rose

Last Performance: 11/3/2007

Conductor: Joel Levine

SIBELIUS

Born: December 8, 1865, in Tavastehus (Hämeenlinna), Finland

Died: September 20, 1957, in Järvenpää, Finland

Work composed: 1899 as Finland Awakes, the conclusion of the orchestral music for a dramatic presentation of the Press Pension Celebrations; revised into its standalone form in 1900 Work premiered: In its Finland Awakes version on November 4, 1899, at the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki; in its revised form on July 2, 1900, with Robert Kajanus conducting the Philharmonic Society in Helsinki

Instrumentation: Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, and strings

Notwithstanding the independent and self-reliant spirit of its people, Finland was accustomed to existing in a state that fell short of real sovereignty. Since the twelfth century it had operated as a largely ignored province of Sweden (with Russian incursions now and again), and in 1809, pursuant to the upheavals of the Napoleonic Era, it was established as an autonomous grand duchy within the Russian Empire, which made not much difference to the average Finn on the street. But in 1894 Nicholas II ascended to the czardom and five years later he decided to crack down on his Finnish subjects, issuing the so-called February Manifesto that vastly limited civil rights. There wasn’t much the Finns could do about it—not until 1917 did they finally declare their independence from Russia—but they entered a phase that became known as the “years of passive resistance.”

The Finns’ nationalistic sentiments began to bubble up in the form of public protests. During the summer of 1899, the Russians turned their attention to controlling the Finnish press and closed down one newspaper after another. In response, the Finnish press organized a public extravaganza, as a benefit for the Press Pension Fund, that included dramatic tableaux illustrating events in Finnish history. Jean Sibelius was asked to compose appropriate music to accompany the performance at Helsinki’s Swedish Theatre. He ended up providing an overture, a piece to illustrate each of the five ensuing tableaux, soft background music to accompany the connecting spoken sections, and a concluding tone poem.

The tableaux added up to an epic depiction of Finnish history, comprising (following the Overture) “Väinämöinens’ Song” (a nod to the ancient past), “The Finns are Baptized” (thereby embracing Christianity), “Duke Johan at Åbo Castle” (a.k.a. “Festivo,” a dazzling glimpse of old Finnish nobility), “The Finns in the Thirty Years’ War” (an episode from the 17th century), “The Great Unrest” (a period of temporary Russian domination in the early 18th century), and, to end, “Finland Awakes!” (celebrating the hopefulness of emerging Finnish nationalism at the time of the performance). All in all, it was a daring cat-and-mouse game in which the Finns pushed their nationalist agenda while hiding behind the charitable goal of raising funds for aging journalists. The irony of the event was not lost on Governor-General Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov, who was overseeing the Russianization of Finland at the time. Acknowledging the absurdity, he proposed that the seats in the theatre’s Imperial Box be put up for auction for the event, “in the interests of so good a cause.”

Sibelius’ contribution might easily have been consigned to the rarely visited heap of occasional music that composers have provided for soon-forgotten events throughout history. But in this case his efforts were not destined to fade once the final curtain fell. Sensing the musical value of his score, he refashioned the overture and the first five episodes into his Scènes historiques (Op. 25 and Op. 66), two sets of three pieces each published respectively in 1911 and 1912. But the most famous portion of his Press Pension Celebrations music, by far, was its closing number, “Finland Awakes!,” which he would revise a year after its composition into his most enduringly popular composition, the tone poem Finlandia. Sibelius did not attach that name to the piece early on. In the context of seething political unrest it could not be presented under a title that would so explicitly proclaim its nationalist import. In fact, the piece was effectively banned from performance in Finland for its first few years. The Germans became acquainted with it

PROGRAM NOTES

under the title Das Vaterland, and the French learned it as La patrie; but in the Baltic Provinces it was purveyed under the blandly uninformative title Impromptu.

Nonetheless, the piece and its patriotic subtext were an open secret, and the Finns soon embraced it as an emblem for their aspirations of autonomy. Sibelius himself was not quite done with it. In 1938, after he had essentially retired from composition, he created an arrangement of it for men’s chorus (“Finlandia-hymni”), and in 1948 he recast it yet again, this time for mixed chorus.

In the Service of the State

Contrary to widespread popular assumption, Finlandia is not the national anthem of Finland. That honor goes instead to a song by composer Fredrik Pacius and lyricist Johan Ludvig Runeberg that was known as “Vårt land” (in Swedish) when it was unveiled in 1848, and is more commonly referred to today under its Finnish title, “Maamme.” Actually, even that is only an unofficial national anthem, since it was never declared through a legislative act. Nonetheless, Finlandia or at least the “big tune” that arrives well into the piece—is widely accepted as a national hymn. Curiously, this melody did serve for the national anthem of the African country of Biafra during the brief span of its existence, from 1967 to 1970.

—JMK

Kiowa Six Kiegan Ryan

First Performance on this Series

Born: April 1, 2002, in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Residing: in Oklahoma City

Work composed: 2024

Work premiered: November 22, 2024, at the Showplace Theater at Riverwind Casino, Norman, Oklahoma, with Alexander Micklethwaite conducting the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and the composer as vocal and cello soloist

Instrumentation: Two flutes and piccolo, oboe and English horn, two clarinets, bassoon, four horns, timpani, bass drum, cowbell, tambourine, harp, and strings, in addition to the solo voice and cello

A composer and cellist from the Cherokee Nation, Kiegan Ryan is a graduate student in the music department of Oklahoma City University, where his principal teachers are Edward Knight (composition) and Emily Stoops (cello, a member of the OKC Philharmonic). Although he is still in the early phase of his career, he has composed in a wide variety of genres (including orchestral music, art song, opera, and film music) and has received performances in Oklahoma and beyond, including at the South Dakota Music Educators Conference and, in New York City, at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, and the new-music venue National Sawdust. Closer to home, he serves as a lead musician (cantor) at several churches in the Oklahoma City area. Opera Montana sponsored his first song cycle, Kanohelvsgi Tsunilosvhi, sung in the Cherokee language, which was toured through many communities in that state. He is now creating an orchestrated version of that cycle for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in Minnesota, which will unveil it in February 2026 in a program that will also include the world premiere of his Native Flute Concerto (featuring Mark Billy,

PROGRAM NOTES

OKLAHOMA STORIES: CELEBRATING OUR FUTURE

known to OKC Philharmonic audiences as a baritone as well as a Native flute player). Also in his upcoming calendar is the premiere of a song for baritone and piano he was invited to write for the North American Indigenous Songbook collection, an incentive organized by the director of the opera program at the Eastman School of Music to build a library of concert songs by Indigenous composers.

For the Oklahoma Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, he composed his Kanohelvsgi (Narrative, 2022), which he describes as “an audio-auto-biographical piece depicting a cyclical day,” beginning with a morning at the buffalo reserve outside Pawhuska, Oklahoma, then a theme-andvariations on the “Old Hundredth” hymn tune (reflecting his activities as a church musician), then an after-church dance, music based on some fiddle tunes he enjoyed when he was growing up, and finally references to the finale of Mahler’s First Symphony, reflecting his own progression into symphonic concert music.

His Kiowa Six began as a part of a project arranged by his teacher Edward Knight and writer/photographer M.J. Alexander—a performance piece that would take place in Norman, Oklahoma, with a geo-location app guiding the audience to various locations within a park that resonated with different historical connections. The site Ryan was assigned was associated with the Kiowa people. He decided to imagine his composition as a tribute to the Kiowa Six, the group of artists, all born in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), who were active in the early-to-mid 20th century: Stephen Mopope, Jack Hokeah, Monroe Tsatoke, Spencer Asah, Lois Smoky, and James Auchiah. Following early art instruction in Kiowa communities, the six enrolled in the University of Oklahoma’s School of Art. In 1928, the school’s director, Oscar Brousse Jacobson, organized an exhibition of their works that toured widely, including to the International Folk Art Congress in Prague; a print portfolio of the watercolors in the show was published in Paris in 1929, under the title Kiowa Indian Art. In 1932, works by all six were included in an exhibition of Native American art in the United States National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Their vividly colored work derived from the style of hide paintings and ledger paintings, displaying aspects of traditional Kiowa life, presented with vivid colors in a flat, linear style.

“I’ll never be able to write on behalf of the Kiowa people,” Ryan insists. “What I wanted to do was pull a lot of sounds from where I come from, a kind of pan-Indigenous music.’ It is also a very personal piece, in that it spotlights two solo parts—singer and cello, both of which he realizes himself.

“I was inspired by the traditional songs we have, that you would hear in Oklahoma,” he says, “although, so far as I know, all the melodies in this piece are original, not modeled after any specific tune. I wanted to combine that with references to fiddle-playing, which I like very music. The orchestral writing moves like how you might see the artists’ paint-brushes, fluidly, in a flat-brush style.” He has set the tempo at 60 beats per minute, identifying that in the score as “Heartbeat of Oklahoma.”

Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 Felix Mendelssohn

First Performance: 4/16/1999

Piano: Louis Lortie

Last Performance: 4/5/2008

Piano: Andrew Von Oeyen

Born: February 3, 1809, in Hamburg, Germany

Died: November 4, 1847, in Leipzig, Germany

Work composed: Mostly in October 1831

Work dedicated: to Delphine van Schauroth, a pianist, 17 years old at the time, who was so smitten with Mendelssohn that she begged King Ludwig I of Bavaria to urge the composer to marry her (a ploy that came to naught)

Work premiered: October 17, 1831, with the composer as soloist (and apparently leading from the keyboard) at the Munich Odeon

Instrumentation: Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings, in addition to the solo piano

The inspiration for Felix Mendelssohn’s G-minor Piano Concerto arrived during a visit to Italy he undertook in

PROGRAM NOTES

OKLAHOMA STORIES: CELEBRATING OUR FUTURE

1830-31, the same trip that gave rise to his Italian Symphony. The journey began with a two-week visit with Goethe in Weimar—the last time Mendelssohn saw the great poet— before the composer continued south to Munich, Pressburg (now Bratislava), and finally Italy, where he arrived in October. Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Genoa, and Milan all delighted him, and he returned to Germany in October 1831. That’s where he unveiled his G-minor Piano Concerto, on October 17, before an audience that included the King and Queen of Bavaria. Also on the program were his C-minor Symphony, his Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and some solo keyboard improvisation. It seems that he was contemplating this concerto a year earlier, in November 1830, when he was still in Rome, and began sketching the piece then. But not until October 1831 did he really focus on this work, at which point he wrote it out speedily.

The piece was a triumph. The day after the premiere, Mendelssohn wrote to his father: “My concert took place yesterday and was much more brilliant and successful than I had expected. The affair went off well, and with much spirit. ... My concerto met with a long and vivid reception. The orchestra accompanied well and the work itself was really quite wild.” He continued with a comment that documents his self-effacing character: “The King led the applause; after my playing they tried to call me back and applauded, as it is usual here, but I was modest and did not appear again.”

Further performances followed. In London, the critic for the Atheneum aptly described the concerto as “a dramatic scene for the piano,” adding that “the performance [was] an astonishing exhibition of piano-playing. In a piano shop in Paris, Franz Liszt amazed Mendelssohn by sight-reading the piece flawlessly, from a rather sloppy manuscript.

On the whole, the Concerto No. 1 is a fleet, lightweight, and structurally compressed piece, somewhat reminiscent of the Konzertstück for Piano and Orchestra by Carl Maria von Weber, whose music Mendelssohn very much appreciated. In a classic concerto form, the orchestra would have introduced all of the important themes in an extended introduction before the piano made its entrance, re-introducing the themes and developing them in different ways through what would amount to a double exposition. This form had already started to be adapted in Beethoven’s concertos, and Mendelssohn condenses his concerto still more markedly. Following the briefest quiver of an orchestral introduction, the piano jumps in to present the first theme, which involved wide leaps of register and a spitting-out of minor scales in double octaves; as a result,

the orchestra never gets an exposition of its own, and the entire movement is telescoped considerably.

More condensation occurs when, just at the movement’s end, trumpet and horn play an insistent tattoo on the note B, not part of the scale of G minor. This leads without a break to a dreamlike movement that unrolls as a formally loose rhapsody. The writing is full of figuration that looks dense on the page but trickles delicately, often pianissimo, from the fingers. In an imaginative stroke of instrumentation, Mendelssohn holds the violins in abeyance until nearly the end of the movement, a device that thrusts the spotlight more firmly on the soloist and its surrounding halo of woodwinds and low strings, with the violas and cellos sometimes split into two parts each to further enrich their autumnal timbre.

Just when the dream seems to have run its course, the trumpets and horns again interrupt the proceedings with their familiar fanfare, beneath which the strings build up enough energy to turn a simple motif into a full-fledged theme—a potent reminder of the rumblings at the concerto’s opening. The pianist enters with what is for all intents and purposes a keyboard toccata, a virtuosic highwire act that leaves pianist and audience all but breathless, right through to the no-holds-barred coda at the end.

Mendelssohn as pianist

Felix Mendelssohn was universally admired as a pianist, extolled for not only his technique but also the expressive aspects of his playing. The composer and Mendelssohn enthusiast Ferdinand Hiller, himself no mean pianist, wrote: “He played the piano as a lark soars, because it was in his nature. He possessed great adroitness, sureness, strength, fluency, a soft full tone. ... But when he played, one forgot these qualities; one overlooked even the more spiritual gifts which are called ardor, inspiration, soulfulness, intelligence. When he sat at the piano music poured out of him with the richness of an inborn genius.” Clara Schumann, one of the supreme pianists of the 19th century, shared Hiller’s enthusiasm: “When all is said and done,” she wrote, “he remains, for me, the most cherished pianist of all.” This is high praise, rendered in an era that included such legendary lions of the keyboard as Chopin, Liszt, Henri Herz, and Friedrich Kalkbrenner.

PROGRAM NOTES

PROKOFIEV

Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100 Sergei

First Performance: 11/23/1969

Conductor: Guy Fraser Harrison

Last Performance: 3/5/2016

Conductor: Joel Levine

Born: either April 11 (old style)/23 (new style), as he claimed, or April 15/27 (according to his birth certificate), 1891, in Sontsovka, Ekaterinoslav district, Ukraine

Died: March 5, 1953, in Moscow

Work composed: Summer 1944, drawing on some material sketched in the preceding decade; the orchestration was completed that November.

Work premiered: January 13, 1945, with the composer directing the State Symphonic Orchestra of the U.S.S.R. in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory

Instrumentation: Two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets plus E-flat clarinet and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, cymbals, tambourine, snare drum, woodblock, bass drum, tam-tam, piano, harp, and strings

Prokofiev’s seven symphonies cover a span of 36 years, from his First, the much-loved Classical Symphony, composed in 1916-17, through to his Seventh, his last major work, written in 1951-52. But his involvement with the genre was even longer than that—covering 50 years, in fact—since he had produced a Symphony in G major back in 1902 when he was an 11-year-old prodigy taking private composition lessons from Reinhold Glière; only one movement of it survives. That piece was not published,

and its interest today is principally historical. Neither did Prokofiev publish the Symphony in E minor that he wrote in 1908 during a summer vacation from his studies at St. Petersburg Conservatory. Already while working on that latter symphony, Prokofiev was developing strong opinions about the genre, which he articulated in a letter to his friend and fellow composer Nikolai Miaskovsky: “What can be worse than a long symphony? In my opinion, a symphony should ideally last 20 minutes, or 30 maximum. I am trying to write mine as compactly as possible: I’m crossing out even the slightest ‘wordiness’ with a merciless pencil.” Prokofiev had already grasped the concept of “less is more,” and spareness, tautness, and carefully considered balance would remain hallmarks of his mature work.

That’s not to say that he was inflexible on the matter of symphonies ideally lasting only 20 minutes. His first official symphony, the Classical, comes in a few minutes shorter than that, but his Second and Third both run about 35 minutes; his Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth between 40 and 45 (with the Fifth being the longest of them all); and his Seventh a bit more than a half hour. Nonetheless, Prokofiev could not be accused of “sprawl” as his symphonies unrolled. As he aged, he never lost his command of the compact.

World War II was in full swing while Prokofiev worked on this symphony, during the summer of 1944, but he was sheltered from the hostilities, living in an artists’ retreat 150 miles northeast of Moscow. “I regard the Fifth Symphony as the culmination of a long period of my creative life,” he wrote shortly after its premiere. “I conceived of it as glorifying the grandeur of the human spirit ... praising the free and happy man—his strength, his generosity, and the purity of his soul.” The opening movement, which is somewhat slower than traditional symphonic first movements, does indeed convey a sense of grandeur and heroism, nowhere more than in the epic vision of its spectacular coda. A fast movement follows, so full of hilarity and satire as to become one of the composer’s most irrepressible scherzos. The third movement is a study in elegant lyricism, though not without tragic overtones; and the finale, after reminiscing about some material alluding to the first movement, pours forth with giddy high spirits and optimistic affirmation.

Public curiosity ran high when this work was introduced. Prokofiev wrote that his Fifth Symphony was “very important not only for the musical material that went into it, but also because I was returning to the symphonic

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OKLAHOMA STORIES: CELEBRATING OUR FUTURE

form after a break of 16 years.” It was, moreover, the first symphony he had written since moving back to Russia following his years as an expatriate from 1918 to 1936, and it was accordingly viewed as his first properly Soviet symphony. It scored a huge success at its premiere, on an all-Prokofiev program that also included the Classical Symphony and Peter and the Wolf. Its wideranging but broadly optimistic spirit combined with the circumstances of wartime patriotism to create a perfect storm of enthusiasm on Soviet stages, and it wasted no time whipping up similar excitement in the United States. On November 19, 1945, a week after Serge Koussevitzky led the Boston Symphony in the American premiere, Prokofiev’s picture graced the cover of Time magazine. The magazine’s lengthy profile of him quoted Koussevitzky’s assessment: “[The Fifth Symphony is] the greatest musical event in many, many years. The greatest since Brahms and Tchaikovsky! It is magnificent! It is yesterday, it is today, it is tomorrow.”

Witness to the premiere

Everyone who was anyone in Moscow’s musical community was present in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory for the premiere of Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony in January 1945. The work was ardently anticipated, being his first new symphony in 16 years, and spirits were buoyed with the knowledge that the troops of the Red Army were just then embarking on their triumphant march into Nazi Germany. The eminent pianist Sviatoslav Richter, seated in the third row, offered this account: The Great Hall was illuminated, no doubt, the same way it always was, but when Prokofiev stood up, the light seemed to pour straight down on him from somewhere up above. He stood like a monument on a pedestal. And then, when Prokofiev had taken his place on the podium and silence reigned in the hall, artillery salvos suddenly thundered forth. His baton was raised. He waited, and began only after the cannons had stopped. There was something very significant in this, something symbolic. It was as if all of us—including Prokofiev—had reached some kind of shared turning point.

JAMES M. KELLER

James M. Keller has served as the longtime program annotator of the New York Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony, where he recently completed his 25th season. He is the author of Chamber Music: A Listener’s Guide (Oxford University Press).

AMERICAN

ANNIV E RSARIE S

AUGUST 23, 2025 - A PATRIOTIC TRIBUTE Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the End of World War II LawtonHighSchoolAuditorium·601NWFortSillBlvd.·7:30pm

FEBRUARY 7, 2026 - ALLIED MUSIC Commemorating the End of World War II Checklawtonphil.comforlocation·7:30pm

APRIL 25, 2026 - AMERICA250 Commemorating Our Quarter Millennial Checklawtonphil.comforlocation·7:30pm

Jon Kalbfleisch - Music Director & Conductor

DOLLY PARTON’S THREADS: MY SONGS IN

NOVEMBER 7-8, 2025, 7:30 P.M.

ALEXANDER MICKELTHWATE, CONDUCTOR

DOLLY PARTON’S THREADS: MY SONGS IN SYMPHONY

NOVEMBER 7-8, 2025, 7:30 P.M.

A Dolly Parton/Schirmer Theatrical/Sony Music Publishing Co-Production

All songs written by Dolly Parton, unless otherwise noted Arrangements by David Hamilton

PROGRAM

THREADS OVERTURE, arranged by David Hamilton

TWO DOORS DOWN MY TENNESSEE MOUNTAIN HOME

BLUE SMOKE

THE BRIDGE

BETTER GET TO LIVIN’, co-written with Kent Wells JOLENE

IF YOU HADN’T BEEN THERE BACKWOODS BARBIE

EAGLE WHEN SHE FLIES

LIGHT OF A CLEAR BLUE MORNING INTERMISSION

THREADS ENTR’ACTE, arranged by David Hamilton

HERE YOU COME AGAIN, written by Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann

ISLANDS IN THE STREAM, written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb

COAT OF MANY COLORS

TRAVELIN’ THRU BABY I’M BURNIN’

I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU

ALL MUSIC UNDER EXCLUSIVE LICENSE FROM SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING TO SCHIRMER THEATRICAL LLC UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

BETTER GET TO LIVIN’ UNDER LICENSE FROM SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING AND BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT ISLANDS IN THE STREAM UNDER LICENSE FROM UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING GROUP

CREATIVE TEAM

Dolly Parton, Songwriter & Executive Producer

Betsey Perlmutter, Creative Director & Producer, Schirmer Theatrical

Robert Thompson, Producer, Schirmer Theatrical

Todd Ellis, Producer, Sony Music Publishing

David Hamilton, Arranger & Orchestrator

Adam Grannick, Director of Video and Animation

Alex Kosick, Associate Producer, Schirmer Theatrical

CREATIVE SERVICES

Laura Cooksey & David Wise, Vocal Coaching & Casting, Ten Two Six Music Group

Adam Weisman & Dustin Knock, Technical Services, Black Ink Presents

Paul Bevan, Sound Design

Ali Meah, Logo Design, NoisyBird Media

Zach McNees, Post-Production Sound Mixing

Stephen Lamb, Copyist

Emily Yoon, Vice President, Wasserman Music

Alex Fisher & Kerigan Medeiros, Wasserman Music, Booking Agency

Chris Pizzolo & Faith Wood, Immediate Family, Digital Marketing

GUEST ARTIST

DOLLY PARTON

Dolly Parton is the most honored and revered multi-hyphenate of all time and was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her current album “Rockstar” made history by scoring the biggest album debut sales week of her seven-decade career and earning her six #1s on the Billboard charts - Top Rock Albums, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Country Albums, Top Album Sales, Top Current Album Sales, and Independent Albums. The landmark album also claimed the #3 spot on the Billboard 200 chart, her highest position ever. Achieving 27 RIAA-certified gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards, she has had 26 songs reach #1 on the Billboard country charts, a record for a female artist. Parton is the first artist to have topped Billboard’s Adult Contemporary, Christian AC Songs, Hot Country Songs, Christian Airplay, Rock Digital Songs, Country Airplay and Dance/Mix Show Airplay radio charts. Parton became the first country artist honored as Grammy MusiCares Person of the Year given out by NARAS. She has 49 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and 120 career-charted singles over the past 50+ years. On October 17, 2023, she released her second New York Times Best Seller coffee table book in a trilogy called “Behind The Seams: My Life in Rhinestones.” The first of the series was bestselling coffee table book “Songteller: My Life in Lyrics.”

In 2014, the RIAA recognized her impact on recorded music with a plaque commemorating more than 100 million units sold worldwide. She has amassed eleven Grammy Awards and 52 nominations, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, 10 Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year; five Academy of Country Music Awards, also including a nod for Entertainer of the Year; four People’s

Choice Awards; and three American Music Awards. In 1999, Parton was inducted as a member of the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame.

Dolly has the largest fan base of all measured music artists in the YouGov database at #1 with 198 million. She has the #1 Q Score of all performers, solo and group. Dolly is one of only 25 celebrities in the E-poll database to have an E-score of 100 and has maintained that perfect rating for 8 years. She recently won Best Brand Award, Celebrity, Influencer and Fashion at the 2023 Licensing International Excellence Awards.

To date, Parton has donated over 255 million books to children around the world with her Imagination Library. Her children’s book, Coat of Many Colors, was dedicated to the Library of Congress to honor the Imagination Library’s 100 millionth book donation. In March of 2022, Parton released the book Run Rose Run which she co-authored with James Patterson which sat at # 1 on the New York Times Best Sellers List for 5 weeks, a record for this decade. She also released an accompanying album of the same name with original songs inspired by the book which reached #1 on three charts simultaneously --- Country, Americana/Folk and Bluegrass Albums. From her “Coat of Many Colors” while working “9 to 5,” no dream is too big and no mountain too high for the country girl who turned the world into her stage.

GUEST ARTIST

DAVID HAMILTON

piano/arranger/orchestrator

David Hamilton is an accomplished musician known for his versatility, and artistic passion. He has earned a reputation as a premiere orchestral arranger and a respected conductor, producer, pianist, and composer. It has been a joy for him to bring Dolly Parton’s beloved songs to life in fresh ways with new orchestral arrangements for “Threads, My Songs in Symphony” and to celebrate Dolly’s ongoing creative legacy.

David’s music spans a wide range of genres. He has written many arrangements for classical artist Lang Lang, for recording with The Walt Disney Co. and with Deutsche Grammophon, and for performances with Ed Sheeran, Metallica and many others. David has also created an extensive body of musical work collaborating with Michael W. Smith. Hamilton’s arrangements for Amy Grant, Renée Fleming, Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood, Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, Kristin Chenoweth, Sandi Patty, CeCe Winans, Vince Gill, Heather Headley and many other artists showcase his diverse creative skills. His orchestral arrangements can be heard at Walt Disney theme parks worldwide and have been performed by the Boston Pops, The New York Pops, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and at the GRAMMYs, the Dove Awards and the Country Music Association TV broadcasts. David’s passion for sacred music fuels his writing for choirs and congregational worship worldwide. His compositions and keyboard artistry are also featured on his solo jazz release “Good Things”, and his most recent solo piano release, “Sacred Space.”

Mr. Hamilton is also a gifted and engaging conductor in the studio and on the stage. He leads recording sessions on soundstages in London, Los Angeles and in Nashville and conducts pops, and choral concerts. For many years he has gratefully served as music director for Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith leading Christmas tour and helping them bring their artistry and holiday musical traditions to audiences across the nation. It has been David’s privilege to conduct many distinguished orchestras including the Nashville Symphony, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Virginia Symphony and Edmonton Symphony, while also having conducted at Carnegie Hall and at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with the National Symphony Orchestra.

David’s love for music began in his childhood and teenage years studying piano, and composition. His undergraduate work at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, a graduate degree from the University of Miami School of Music and his many years serving as a church music leader have provided diverse training and a rich background in blended musical worlds which have served him well in the vibrant, creative community of his hometown, Nashville

GUEST ARTIST

DOLLY PARTON’S THREADS: MY SONGS IN SYMPHONY

HOLLIE HAMMEL

vocals

Hollie Hammel is a Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, producer, and background vocalist. Originally from Nashville, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Belmont University. During her decade in Music City, Hollie toured and recorded with celebrated artists such as Joss Stone, Sara Evans, Hans Zimmer, Brandi Carlile, and more. Her talents have also been featured on projects for Disney, where she lends her voice and likeness to several beloved characters in Harmonious (streaming on Disney+), as well as recordings played in Disney Parks around the world.

Now splitting her time between Los Angeles and Nashville, Hollie is deeply passionate about fostering creative communities in both cities. When not collaborating with other artists, she dedicates herself to writing, recording, and producing her own original music. She is currently in the process of carefully crafting her next album, recording and shaping her sound in both cities.

Tonight, Hollie is deeply honored to join the symphony in celebrating the legendary Dolly Parton, paying tribute to one of music’s, and her own personal, cherished icons.

JULIE WILLIAMS

vocals

Julie Williams, CMT Next Women of Country and Billboard Country Rookie is turning heads in Nashville’s Americana music scene with her compelling blend of country storytelling, soft-yet-powerful vocal performance, and indie folk production. A member of the Black Opry Revue, Julie was named in Rissi Palmer’s Color Me Country Class of 2021, featured on Wide Open Country’s list of “10 Country Acts Poised for a Breakout Year in 2023,” and her single “Southern Curls” was covered by CMT, “PBS NewsHour,” and numerous music publications. Building her career on the road, Julie has captivated audiences at festivals such as Newport Folk Festival, CMA Fest, Tortuga Music Fest, High Water Festival, and AmericanaFest, and has shared the stage with acts across genres, including Jason Isbell, Allison Russell, Mt. Joy, Devon Gilfillian, Brittney Spencer, and Will Hoge. An activist at heart, Julie launched Green Room Conversations, a series of performances and speaking engagements on college campuses to raise awareness of sexual harassment in the music industry. In October 2024, Julie released her EP. Tennessee Moon, which was featured in Billboard, Nashville Scene, and Entertainment Tonight, and listed on NPR music critic Ann Power’s list of best albums released by Nashville artists in 2024. In May, Julie released her new 90s country-inspired song “The Women Who Made Me.” With a music video featuring country icon Trisha Yearwood and Julie’s mom, the song is a love letter to all of the strong women who made Julie who she is.

GUEST ARTIST

KATELYN DRYE

vocals

Katelyn Drye is a singer, songwriter and lover of all things Dolly. She is exactly one-half of the country duo, The Dryes, alongside her husband Derek. Recognized by Country Living Magazine as “The new hot country duo to watch” after premiering on season 22 of NBC’s “The Voice” (Team Blake), The Dryes have accumulated over 12 million global streams, catching the attention of USA Today, Rolling Stone, People, American Songwriter, and Billboard, among others. Their sassy single “Dolly Would” is the anthem to a longtime hero, Dolly Parton which together with their alluring, soulful track “House on Fire” reached #1 on CMT’s 12 Pack Countdown. Their summer single, “Daydrinkin’”, charted on iTunes on release day and has garnered over five million views across social media, while their newest single “Ain’t God Good” reflects on the goodness found in and out of the difficult times we all face in life.

DEREK DRYE

acoustic guitar/dobro/lap steel/vocals

Derek Drye is from Thomasville, North Carolina and found his voice on the guitar when he was 14 years old. He has studied Blues/Jazz Theory, played the Ryman & Grand Ole Opry, toured the country as a sideman, and now tours as a music duo with his wife Katelyn under the name The Dryes. Their music merges classic country tones with a modern lyrical wit. Think Conway & Loretta with a Little Rock N Roll. Mentioned in Rolling Stone, CMT, USA Today, and even appearing on NBC’s The Voice, the duo has found their stride as a touring duo, and now are both performing in Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs In Symphony, touring in between their own shows.

GUEST ARTIST

DOLLY PARTON’S THREADS: MY SONGS IN SYMPHONY

LINDSEY MILLER

acoustic/electric guitar

Lindsey Miller is a Nashville, TN based touring and session guitarist who has performed and recorded with a variety of artists and musicians spanning several musical genres.

Growing up in Prairie Village, KS (a suburb of Kansas City) Lindsey picked up her first guitar at age ten. Although first inspired by Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, and 90s alternative rock, it was her discovery of hometown guitar hero Pat Metheny that initiated her into the world of jazz. Lindsey’s talent and ever-growing interest in jazz improvisation earned her a scholarship to attend the University of North Texas where she performed in the Two O’Clock Lab band and earned a bachelor’s degree in jazz studies. She then went on to complete a master’s degree in music from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Since moving to Nashville in 2012, she has toured with artists such as Brett Eldredge, Lauren Daigle, Kevin Max, and Danny Gokey, and has performed and/or recorded with jazz luminaries such as Brian Blade, Danny Gottlieb, Keith Carlock, Dennis Chambers, and Jeff Coffin. She plays regularly with the Nashville Symphony and has also performed with the Kentucky Opera, Phoenix Symphony, and Kansas City Symphony. Lindsey has appeared on tv shows such as ABC/ CMT’s Nashville, CBS’ Tell Me A Story, and the 2022 NBC Rockefeller Tree Lighting. She has worked with some of the best studio musicians in the Nashville recording industry at studios such as Ocean Way, Warner Bros., Treasure Isle, Sound Emporium, Warner Chappell and The Castle Recording Studio. Her music can be heard on Bravo, The History Channel, CBS NFL, Comedy Central, HGTV, and NBC.

This coming Fall 2023, Lindsey will be releasing her new three-song jazz EP/video project “The Sapphire Session” Live from Layman Drug Company

DEAN BERNER

mandolin/banjo

Dean Berner is a musician, photographer, and educator. He lives in Nashville, TN with partner Rachel Beauregard, their two daughters and dog Sharkey.

Dean is an in-demand session player and is currently touring with MCA Recording artist Catie Offerman. Over the last few years, he’s worked with Andrew Ripp, Mackenzie Porter, Maggie Rose, Lucie Silvas, Jana Kramer, Clare Dunn, Rick Brantley, Paul McDonald and others. From 2003-2013, Dean was a member of country/ bluegrass trio Edens Edge (Big Machine Records) and toured with Brad Paisley, Reba McEntire, Rascal Flatts, and Lady A.

Also, an avid photographer, Dean holds a Master of Fine Arts in Photography from the University of Hartford and teaches at Nashville State Community College.

GUEST ARTIST

DOLLY PARTON’S THREADS: MY SONGS IN SYMPHONY

DUNCAN MULLINS

bass guitar

A native of Nashville, bassist Duncan Mullins has been in the music business since 1981. After graduating from Belmont College with a music business degree he hit the road, touring and recording with such diverse artists as Jerry Reed, Crystal Gayle, Amy Grant, and Richard Marx. Along the way he began doing more and more studio work in Nashville, eventually leaving the road to pursue the recording world full-time in 1990. Since then, he’s played on thousands of recording sessions, including platinum and Grammy-winning albums.

CHRIS LEIDHECKER

drums

Chris Leidhecker is a Nashville-based drummer and percussionist, currently recording and touring worldwide with Grammy Award-winning artist Michael W. Smith. Originally from Pennsylvania, he grew up in a family of musicians and began playing piano and drums as a toddler. He later earned a degree in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He and his wife Corinne met at the age of 19, and have now been married for 12 wonderful years.

Since moving to Nashville, Chris has performed with Michael W. Smith, Rascal Flatts, Amy Grant, CeCe Winans, Charlie Daniels, Steven Curtis Chapman, Newsboys, Matt Maher, Wynonna, Ruston Kelly, Adam Doleac, and others. His compositions have been featured on MTV, ABC, CBS, Discovery, Bravo, and other major networks. In addition to touring and session work, Chris records live drums and percussion from his home studio and other studios across Nashville.

CONCEPTS FROM THE Maestro

This season, we celebrate timeless classics—deeply romantic, emotionally rich works that have resonated for generations. Join us in rediscovering the power of beloved orchestral masterpieces.

HONORING LEGACY: JOEL LEVINE & TCHAIKOVSKY’S FIFTH

Tonight, we celebrate both a symphonic masterpiece and a towering figure in Oklahoma City’s musical history: Maestro Joel Levine. Joel founded the OKC Philharmonic in 1988 and served as its artistic heart for 30 years. Under his leadership, the orchestra flourished— navigating change, growing in artistry, and helping revitalize the Civic Center Music Hall into the treasured venue it is today. More than a conductor, Joel is a visionary who believed deeply in the power of music to transform lives. His legacy is woven into every note we play. We are honored to welcome him back to the podium, leading Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5—a deeply emotional journey of fate, struggle, and ultimate triumph. It is the perfect piece for this occasion: dramatic, noble, and profoundly human. Also joining us is Carter Brey, principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic, performing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto—a work of lyricism, heart, and virtuosity. Tonight, is a tribute to leadership, legacy, and the enduring spirit of great music.

For a deeper understanding of concert programming, please, join Maestro Mickelthwate for his Preconcert Talk at 6:30 pm in the auditorium. Open seating.

JOEL LEVINE CONDUCTS TCHAIKOVSKY

NOVEMBER 15, 2025 • 7:30 P.M.

CLASSICS

JOEL LEVINE, GUEST CONDUCTOR

CARTER BREY, CELLO

BERLIOZ

9 0:40 DVO Ř ÁK ..................... Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104

Allegro

Adagio, ma non troppo

Finale: Allegro moderato

Carter Brey, cello

Intermission

0:44 TCHAIKOVSKY ........... Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

Andante—Allegro con anima

Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza

Valse: Allegro moderato

Finale: Andante maestoso—Allegro vivace—

Moderato assai e molto maestoso

THIS CONCERT IS GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY:

PRINCIPAL SPONSOR: JANE B. HARLOW

TRIBUTE: In Memory of Bill and Helen Cleary

OKCPHIL SPOTLIGHT SCHOOL: Stillwater High School Orchestra, Scott Jackson, Director

Listen to a broadcast of this performance on KUCO 90.1 FM on Saturday, December 13 at 9 am and Sunday, December 14 at 7 pm on “Performance Oklahoma”. Simultaneous internet streaming is also available during the broadcast.

GUEST ARTIST

JOEL LEVINE CONDUCTS TCHAIKOVSKY

JOEL LEVINE

Having completed thirty seasons leading the OKC Philharmonic, Joel Levine became the longest serving music director in our city’s history. On retirement in June 2018, he was named “Founder and Conductor Emeritus” by the Philharmonic Board of Directors and now serves as the Orchestra’s Archivist and Historian. Including his tenure with the Oklahoma Symphony, Maestro Levine has been active for forty years on the podium at Civic Center Music Hall. Under his leadership, the orchestra appeared on international, national, and local television broadcasts and released several recordings. Maestro Levine’s reputation for exceptional musical collaboration enabled the Philharmonic to present one of the country’s most distinguished series of world-renowned guest artists. He collaborated with many of the greatest performing artists of our time and has been called a “remarkable musician and visionary” by Yo-Yo Ma.

For four decades, Maestro Levine conducted many of the city’s historic programs including “Porgy and Bess” with the legendary Cab Calloway, the Paris Opera Ballet starring Rudolf Nureyev, “Rodeo” for Ballet Oklahoma under the direction of the legendary Agnes DeMille, the Philharmonic’s 100th anniversary fully-staged production of “La Boheme,” the State of Oklahoma’s official Centennial Celebration, and the National Memorial Service following the Oklahoma City bombing. He also conducted Young People’s programs around the State for thousands of children, twenty-five OKC productions of “The Nutcracker” since 1980, and led programs featuring Oklahoma’s celebrated native stars including Vince Gill, Reba McEntire, Jimmy Webb, Patti Page, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, Kristin Chenoweth, Kelli O’Hara, Megan Mullally, Sandi Patty, Susan Powell and Leona Mitchell.

He has received international recognition for performances reflecting many different styles in the classical repertoire. His program of Schubert and Schumann symphonies with Germany’s Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra led the reviewer to write: “Joel Levine proved that he is an absolute master of his profession; the audience honored this impressive performance with much applause.” Engagements in the great European capitals include concerts with the Czech National Symphony in Prague’s Dvorák Hall, and the Symphony Orchestra of Portugal in Lisbon. Other international invitations have included orchestras in Spain, Israel, Belgrade, Bucharest, and an appearance with the Mexico City Philharmonic.

Maestro Levine has conducted many of America’s major ensembles including three seasons with The National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and the orchestras of St. Louis, Detroit, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Seattle, Denver, Nashville, Milwaukee, and New Orleans. The national press has praised his performances: “the orchestra played with clarity and energy” (Los Angeles Times), “fine musicianship” (Washington Post), “Levine brings the needed sheen and rhythmic verve to the music” (Minneapolis Star), “Levine drew a crisp, bold and tonally lustrous account of the varied score from the orchestra and full-throated chorus” (Houston Post). His Detroit Symphony performances received “four stars” - the highest rating from the Detroit News.

Known for his work with major artists in the world of classical dance, he has conducted for three of the greatest male dancers: Rudolf Nureyev, Edward Villella, and Peter Martins. For the Kansas City Ballet, he collaborated with

GUEST ARTIST

JOEL LEVINE CONDUCTS TCHAIKOVSKY

famed choreographer, Alvin Ailey and conducted the first contemporary performance of a “lost” Balanchine ballet, “Divertimento.”

Maestro Levine’s résumé includes collaborations with many of the immortal names of jazz, musical theater, film and television. Several of his recordings with Mexico’s Xalapa Symphony Orchestra are in international release and have been broadcast world-wide on the BBC.

Maestro Levine has taken an active role in the cultural life of Oklahoma City since he arrived in 1976 as music director for Lyric Theatre. He worked actively for the passage of MAPS 1 and played a key role in the renovation of our hall. For his work as a founder of the Orchestra, he received The Governor’s Arts Award (1989), was named Oklahoma Musician Of The Year (1991), is a 2008 “Treasures of Tomorrow” honoree of the Oklahoma Health Center Foundation, received the 2014 Stanley Draper Award for his contributions to downtown Oklahoma City, and has received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Oklahoma City University.

CARTER BREY

Carter Brey was appointed Principal Cello, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Chair, of the New York Philharmonic in 1996. He made his official subscription debut with the Orchestra in May 1997 performing Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations under the direction of then Music Director Kurt Masur. He has since appeared as soloist almost every season, and was featured during The Bach Variations: A Philharmonic Festival, when he gave two performances of the cycle of all six of Bach’s cello suites. Most recently, he was the soloist in performances of Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C major at David Geffen Hall in February 2020 and at the Bravo! Vail Music Festival in July 2021, with Music Director Jaap van Zweden conducting on both occasions. He rose to international attention in 1981 as a prizewinner in the Rostropovich International Cello Competition. The winner of the Gregor Piatigorsky Memorial Prize, Avery Fisher Career Grant, Young Concert Artists’ Michaels Award, and other honors, he also was the first musician to win the Arts Council of America’s Performing Arts Prize.

Brey has appeared as soloist with virtually all the major orchestras in the United States, and performed under the batons of prominent conductors including Claudio Abbado, Semyon Bychkov, Sergiu Comissiona, and Christoph von Dohnányi. He is a member of the New York Philharmonic String Quartet, established in the 2016–17 season, and has made regular appearances with the Tokyo and Emerson string quartets, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and at festivals such as Spoleto (both in the United States and Italy) and the Santa Fe and La Jolla Chamber Music festivals. He and pianist Christopher O’Riley recorded Le Grand Tango: Music of Latin America, a disc of compositions from South America and Mexico released on Helicon Records.

Carter Brey was educated at the Peabody Institute, where he studied with Laurence Lesser and Stephen Kates, and at Yale University, where he studied with Aldo Parisot and was a Wardwell Fellow and a Houpt Scholar. His violoncello is a rare J.B. Guadagnini made in Milan in 1754. An avid racing and cruising sailor since childhood, he holds a Yachtmaster Offshore rating from the Royal Yachting Association.

PROGRAM NOTES

JOEL LEVINE CONDUCTS TCHAIKOVSKY

BERLIOZ

Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9 Hector Berlioz

First Performance: 11/26/1944

Conductor: Victor Alessandro

Last Performance: 4/15/2017

Conductor: Joel Levine

Born: December 11, 1803, in La Côte-Saint-André, Isère, France

Died: March 8, 1869, in Paris, France

Work composed: June 1843 through January 1844

Work premiered: February 3, 1844, with Berlioz conducting in a concert he produced himself at the Salle Herz in Paris Instrumentation: Two flutes (second doubling piccolo), two oboes (second doubling English horn), two clarinets, four bassoons, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, timpani, cymbals, two tambourines, triangle, and strings

Hector Berlioz’ father was a physician in a town not far from Grenoble, within view of the Alps; and since the father assumed to a certainty that his son would follow in the same profession, the son’s musical inclinations were largely ignored. As a result, Berlioz never learned to play more than a few chords on the piano, and his practical abilities as a performer were limited to lessons on flute and guitar, both of which he played with some accomplishment but short of true virtuosity. His unorthodox musical background surely contributed to his nonconformist musical language.

He was sent to Paris to attend medical school, hated the experience, and enrolled instead in private musical studies and, beginning in 1826, the composition curriculum at the Paris Conservatoire. The seal of approval for all Conservatoire composition students was the Prix de Rome,

and in 1830 (after several failed attempts) he was finally honored with that prize. Apart from providing a measure of recognition for his skills and a welcome source of income, the award included a residency in Italy, a nation whose ancient cultural lineage was considered to wield an indispensable influence over the formation of the creative intellect.

The 15 months he spent in Italy proved as inspiring to Berlioz as the Prix de Rome foundation could have hoped, though the grantors were disappointed that he produced rather little serious work while he was there. Both the remnants of antiquity and the vivacity of modern Italian life left an indelible imprint on his taste, and depictions of Italian history, art, and landscape would surface often in his music during ensuing decades, as witness such major works as the symphony Harold in Italy, the “dramatic symphony” Romeo and Juliet, and the opera Benvenuto Cellini.

To qualify as truly successful, French composers of Berlioz’ day needed to meet a second requirement apart from winning the Prix de Rome: a hit in the opera house. Berlioz never quite managed to achieve that, although he completed three operas. Benvenuto Cellini (a two-act “opéra semi-seria,” Berlioz called it) was the first. For the plot, Berlioz and his librettists (Léon de Wally and Auguste Barbier, assisted by the poet Alfred de Vigny) went directly to the source: the autobiography of the 16th-century Italian sculptor, goldsmith, and musician. Cellini was an iconoclastic, egotistical artist, and Berlioz viewed him as a kindred Romantic soul, swept up in a rarefied world of art and ardor, a genius forever trying the limits of politics and social propriety. What’s more, they both played the flute. Benvenuto Cellini was not very successful at its 1838 premiere. It received only four performances in its initial run, though it did get a second life some years later after Berlioz effected severe revisions. In its revised form it was unveiled in Weimar on March 20, 1852, and then, with further alterations that turned it into a three-act opera, re-introduced there on November 17, 1852, both times with Franz Liszt at the helm.

Berlioz wrote the Roman Carnival Overture in 1843-44 as a standalone piece to be performed in a concert of his own works he was producing. He fashioned it out of music from Benvenuto Cellini, and it later served as a prelude to the second act for productions of that work. The opera’s second act is, in fact, set in a carnival in Rome. The Overture’s introductory flourish is a quotation of the saltarello—a wild dance—that would soon be enacted onstage. Then we hear music from the love duet “O Teresa, vous qui j’aime,” which

PROGRAM NOTES

JOEL LEVINE CONDUCTS TCHAIKOVSKY

had been sung in Act I by Cellini and Teresa, the girl he is courting; here it is transformed into an extended, warmhearted solo for English horn. After a passage of surging scales Berlioz quotes some choral material from the opera, and then the saltarello returns to mingle with the love aria as the overture progresses. The spirit of the dance wins out in the end, and the Overture concludes in a flurry of energy.

The Composer Speaks

The Roman Carnival Overture quickly staked a place as one of Berlioz’ most often played works, though not all performances met with the composer’s approval. He recounted in his Memoirs (as translated by David Cairns):

In Austria the Roman Carnival overture was for long the most popular of my compositions. It was played everywhere. I remember several incidents connected with it during my stay in Vienna. One evening Haslinger, the music publisher, gave a soirée at which the pieces to be performed included this overture, arranged for two pianos (eight hands) and physharmonica [a kind of harmonium]. When its turn came, I was near the door which opened onto the room where the five performers were seated. They began the first allegro much too slowly. The andante was passable; but the moment the allegro was resumed, at an even more dragging pace than before, I turned scarlet, the blood rushed to my head and, unable to contain my impatience, I shouted out, “This is the carnival, not Lent. You make it sound like Good Friday in Rome.” The hilarity of the audience at this outburst may be imagined. It was impossible to restore silence, and the rest of the overture was performed in a buzz of laughter and conversation, amid which my five interpreters pursued their placid course imperturbably to the end.

Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 Antonín Dvořák

First Performance: 1/18/1943

Cello: Gregor Piatigorsky

Last Performance: 9/19/2009

Cello: Steven Isserlis

Born: September 8, 1841, in Mühlhausen (Nelahozeves), Bohemia (now Czechia)

Died: May 1, 1904, in Prague, Bohemia (now Czechia)

Work composed: November 8, 1894, to February 9, 1895, in New York City; revision of the finale completed in Bohemia on June 11, 1895

Work dedicated: To Hanuš Wihan

Work premiered: March 19, 1896, at the Queen’s Hall, London, with the composer conducting the Philharmonic Society and soloist

Leo Stern

Instrumentation: Two flutes (second doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, three horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, and strings, in addition to the solo cello

Antonín Dvořák developed rather slowly as a composer and, although he gained a solid musical education, his first professional steps were far from extraordinary—as a violist in a dance orchestra in Prague. The group prospered, and in 1862 its members formed the founding core of the Provisional Theatre orchestra. Dvořák would play principal viola in the Provisional Theatre orchestra for nine years, sitting directly beneath the batons of such conductors as Bedřich Smetana and Richard Wagner.

During those early years Dvořák also honed his skills as a composer, and by 1871 he felt compelled to leave the

PROGRAM NOTES

JOEL LEVINE CONDUCTS TCHAIKOVSKY

orchestra and devote himself to composing full-time. In 1874, he was awarded the Austrian State Stipendium, a grant to assist young, poor, gifted musicians, which exactly defined his status at the time as well as in the years through 1878, when he received the same prize annually. The eminent Johannes Brahms began serving on the competition jury in 1875 and was impressed enough to recommend the emerging composer to his own publisher, Fritz Simrock, who lost no time publishing Dvořák’s Moravian Duets, commissioning a collection of his Slavonic Dances, and contracting a first option on his new works. In 1878, the 37-year-old Dvořák received his first author’s fee, not a moment too soon. If he had not received critical support when he did, he might well have given up trying to be a composer. Nonetheless, even his mature masterpieces were slow to make their way into the international repertoire, embraced in England and America sooner than in the rest of Europe. Except for the Symphony From the New World, the Carnival Overture, and the Slavonic Dances, Dvořák remained little played by orchestras outside his native land until well into the 20th century.

In 1891, Dvořák received a communication from Jeannette Thurber, a Paris-trained American musician who was now a New York philanthropist bent on raising American musical pedagogy to European standards. To this end she had founded the National Conservatory of Music in New York, incorporated by special act of Congress in 1891, and she set about persuading Dvřák to serve as its director. She succeeded, and the following year Dvořák and his family moved to New York. He remained until 1895 (though spending summer vacations elsewhere), building the school’s curriculum and faculty, appearing as a guest conductor, and composing such masterworks as his String Quartet in F major (Op. 96, the American), his String Quintet in E-flat major, his Symphony From the New World, and (in his final American year) his Cello Concerto.

This grand and noble work was first heard when Dvořák played through it privately in August 1895 with his close friend Hanuš Wihan, an eminent cellist and the work’s dedicatee. Wihan suggested a few technical alterations, which the composer incorporated; but Dvořák rejected as superfluous Wihan’s idea of inserting a large-scale solo cadenza in the finale—to the cellist’s distress, since he had spend considerable care crafting one that incorporated material from the earlier movements. Dvořák took the precaution of spelling out his position in a letter he wrote to his publisher early that October: “I shall only give you my work if you promise not to allow anybody to make any

changes—my friend Wihan not excepted—without my knowledge and consent, and this includes the cadenza which Wihan has added to the last movement. ... I told Wihan straight away when he showed it to me that it was impossible to stick bits on like that. The finale closes gradually diminuendo, like a sigh—with reminiscences of the first and second movements—the solo dies down to pianissimo—then swells again and the last bars are taken up by the orchestra and the whole concludes in stormy mood. That was my idea and I cannot depart from it.” Feathers were apparently ruffled enough that Dvořák enlisted a different cellist, Leo Stern, for the premiere (in London), as well as for the first Prague performance. But a truce was struck, and within a few years Wihan began performing this piece, too, including, on one occasion in Budapest, with Dvořák conducting—and with no cadenza.

Encoded Regret

Dvořák enjoyed a long and happy marriage to Anna Čermáková, whom he wed in 1873; but several years before, he had experienced a serious infatuation for one of her elder sisters, Josefina, who was taking piano lessons from him. Nothing romantic came of that attraction (which in any case seems to have been strictly one-way), and Josefina and Antonín spent 30 years as affectionate and entirely platonic in-laws. While the Dvořáks were living in New York, Josefina’s health declined, and she died just a month after they returned to Prague. It appears that Dvořák worked a tribute to the dying Josefina into his Cello Concerto by incorporating into the slow movement a quotation from his song “Lasst mich allein” (Leave Me Alone, Op. 82, No. 1), which Dvořák’s biographer Otakar Šourek maintained was a particular favorite of Josefina’s. It was on learning of her death that Dvořák wrote the coda at the concerto’s end, carefully crafted as a miniature dramatic scene in its own right.

—JMK

PROGRAM NOTES

JOEL LEVINE CONDUCTS TCHAIKOVSKY

TCHAIKOVSKY

Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

First Performance: 11/29/1938

Conductor: Victor Alessandro

Last Performance: 4/15/2017

Conductor: Joel Levine

Born: April 25 (old style)/May 7 (new style), 1840, in Votkinsk in the district of Viatka, Russia

Died: October 25/November 6, 1893, in St. Petersburg, Russia

Work composed: May to August 14/26, 1888, mostly in Frolovskoe, outside Moscow, though conceptual sketches preceded his actual composition work by about a month

Work premiered: November 5/17, 1888, in St. Petersburg, with the composer conducting the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society; the work had already been played in a two-piano arrangement by Sergei Taneyev and Alexander Ziloti at the Nobles’ Club in Moscow, on October 25/November 6 of that year.

Work dedicated: To Count Théodore Avé-Lallemant, Chairman of the Committee of the Hamburg Philharmonic Society (though Tchaikovsky had earlier suggested to his fellow composer Edvard Grieg that he would be the dedicatee)

Instrumentation: Three flutes (third doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings

Tchaikovsky approached his Fifth Symphony from a position of extreme self-doubt, which was nearly always his posture vis-à-vis his incipient creations. In May 1888, he confessed in a letter to his brother Modest that he feared his imagination had dried up, that he had nothing more to express in music. Still, there was a glimmer of optimism: “I am hoping to collect, little by little, material for a symphony.”

He spent the summer of 1888 at a vacation home he had built on a forested hillside at Frolovskoe, not far from his home base in Moscow. The idyllic locale apparently played a major role in his managing to complete this symphony in the short span of four months. Tchaikovsky made a habit of keeping his principal patron, Nadezhda von Meck, informed about his compositions through detailed letters, and thanks to this ongoing correspondence we have a good deal of information about how the Fifth Symphony progressed during that summer. Tchaikovsky had met her a dozen years earlier—well, not “met” exactly, since an eccentric stipulation of her philanthropy was that they should avoid any personal contact whatsoever. Tchaikovsky’s work on the symphony was already well along when he broached the subject with her in a letter: “I shall work my hardest. I am exceedingly anxious to prove to myself, as to others, that I am not played out as a composer. Have I told you that I intend to write a symphony? The beginning was difficult, but now inspiration seems to have come. We shall see ....” His correspondence throughout those months brims with allusions to the emotional background to this piece, which involved resignation to fate, the designs of providence, murmurs of doubt, and similarly dark thoughts.

Critics blasted the symphony at its premiere, due in part to the composer’s limited skill on the podium; and yet the audience was enthusiastic. Predictably, Tchaikovsky decided the critics must be right. In December, he wrote to von Meck: “Having played my Symphony twice in Petersburg and once in Prague, I have come to the conclusion that it is a failure. There is something repellent in it, some over-exaggerated color, some insincerity of fabrication which the public instinctively recognizes. It was clear to me that the applause and ovations referred not to this but to other works of mine, and that the Symphony itself will never please the public.” Elsewhere he wrote of his Fifth Symphony, “the organic sequence fails, and a skillful join has to be made... I cannot complain of lack of inventive power, but I have always suffered from want of skill in the management of form.”

These comments reveal considerable self-awareness; one might say that Tchaikovsky was wrong, but for all the right reasons. The work’s orchestral palette is indeed colorful, despite the fact that the composer employs an essentially late-Classical orchestra of modest proportions. He was quite on target about “the management of form” being his weak suit; and, indeed, the Fifth Symphony (like his very popular First Piano Concerto) may be viewed as something of a patchwork—the more so when compared to the relatively tight Fourth Symphony that had preceded

PROGRAM NOTES

JOEL LEVINE CONDUCTS TCHAIKOVSKY

it eleven years earlier. And if Tchaikovsky was embarrassed by the degree of overt sentiment he reached in the Fifth Symphony, it still fell short of the emotional frontiers he would cross in his Sixth.

“If Beethoven’s Fifth is Fate knocking at the door,” wrote a commentator when the piece was new, “Tchaikovsky’s Fifth is Fate trying to get out.” It nearly does so in a journey that threatens to culminate in a series of climactic B-major chords. But notwithstanding the frequent interruption of audience applause at that point, the adventure continues to a conclusion that is to some extent ambiguous: four closing E-major chords that we may hear as victorious but may just as easily sound ominous.

The Sound of Fate

The four movements of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony are unified through common reference to a “motto theme,” which is announced by somber clarinets at the piece’s outset. This would seem to represent the idea of Fate to which Tchaikovsky referred in his early writings about the piece. It reappears often in this symphony, sometimes reworked considerably. It causes a brutal interruption in the middle of the slow movement (a languid elegy spotlighting the solo horn); it appears in a subdued statement by clarinets and bassoons near the end of the graceful third movement; and in the finale this “Fate” motif is transposed from the minor mode into the major in a gesture that sounds at least temporarily triumphant.

JAMES M. KELLER

James M. Keller has served as the longtime program annotator of the New York Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony, where he recently completed his 25th season. He is the author of Chamber Music: A Listener’s Guide (Oxford University Press).

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