The Christopher Seaman Chair, Supported by Barbara and Patrick Fulford and The Conductor Laureate Society
safety of patrons, musicians, and staff is of the utmost importance. Following the University of Rochester masking protocols and guidelines, masking is currently optional at Eastman Theatre.
Juliana Athayde+, Concertmaster
The Caroline W. Gannett & Clayla Ward Chair, funded in perpetuity
Angelina Phillips, Associate Concertmaster
Shannon Nance, Assistant Concertmaster
Jeongwon Claire An Tigran Vardanyan
James Zabawa-Martinez
Thomas Rodgers
Anna Leunis
Molly McDonald
Kurt Munstedt
Perrin Yang
Jeremy Hill
An-Chi Lin
Jeanelle Thompson, Principal
The Dr. Ralph F. Jozefowicz Chair, funded in perpetuity
Daryl Perlo, Assistant Principal
The James E. Dumm Chair, funded in perpetuity
Patricia Sunwoo
John Sullivan
Lara Sipols
Sooyeon Kim
Petros Karapetyan
Liana Koteva Kirvan
Margaret Leenhouts
Heidi Brodwin
Ellen Stokoe
Joshua Newburger, Principal
The William L. Gamble Chair, funded in perpetuity
Marc Anderson, Assistant Principal
Rebecca Christainsen
James Marshall
Olita Povero
Neil Miller
Melissa Matson
Ye In Son
David Hult
CELLO
Ahrim Kim, Principal
The Clara and Edwin Strasenburgh Chair, funded in perpetuity
Lars Kirvan, Assistant Principal
Samuel Pierce-Ruhland
Christopher Haritatos
Benjamin Krug
Jennifer Carpenter
Ingrid Bock
BASS
Cory Palmer, Principal
The Anne Hayden McQuay Chair, funded in perpetuity
Michael Griffin, Assistant Principal
Daniel Morehead
Edward Castilano
Fred Dole
Jeff Campbell+
Eric Polenik
FLUTE
Rebecca Gilbert, Principal
The Charlotte Whitney Allen Chair, funded in perpetuity
Sean Marron
Elise Kim
PICCOLO
Sean Marron
Elise Kim
OBOE
Erik Behr, Principal
The Dr. Jacques M. Lipson Chair, funded in perpetuity
Anna Steltenpohl
Megan Kyle
Anna Steltenpohl
CLARINET
Kenneth Grant, Principal
The Robert J. Strasenburgh Chair, funded in perpetuity
Kamalia Freyling
Andrew Brown
E-FLAT CLARINET
Kamalia Freyling
BASS CLARINET
Andrew Brown
BASSOON
Matthew McDonald, Principal
The Ron and Donna Fielding Chair, funded in perpetuity
Karl Vilcins
Martha Sholl
CONTRA-BASSOON
Karl Vilcins
HORN
Michael Stevens, Principal
The Cricket and Frank Luellen Chair
YiCheng Gong, Associate/Assistant/Utility
Maura McCune Corvington
Nathan Ukens
Stephen Laifer
Douglas Prosser, Principal
The Elaine P. Wilson Chair, funded in perpetuity
Wesley Nance
Herbert Smith
Paul Shewan
TROMBONE
David Bruestle, Principal
The Austin E. Hildebrandt Chair, funded in perpetuity
Lisa Albrecht
Jeffrey Gray
BASS TROMBONE
Jeffrey Gray
TUBA
W. Craig Sutherland, Principal
The Rob W. Goodling Chair, funded in perpetuity
TIMPANI
Charles Ross, Principal
The Harold and Joan Feinbloom Chair, funded in perpetuity
PERCUSSION
Brian Stotz
The Barbara and Patrick Fulford Chair, funded in perpetuity
HARP
Grace Browning, Principal
The Eileen Malone Chair. A Tribute to Mr. and Mrs. Harcourt M. Sylvester
Rosanna Moore
KEYBOARD
Chiao-Wen Cheng+, Principal
The Lois P. Lines Chair, funded in perpetuity
PERSONNEL MANAGER
Fred Dole
PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN
Kimberly Hartquist
Kathalee & Ian Hodge Library Operation Endowment
STAGE MANAGERS
Danielle Suhr
Cederick Martinez + Eastman faculty
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s 24/25 season marks a milestone for Music Director Andreas Delfs, whose debut with the RPO was November 17, 1994. Many return appearances and more than 25 years later, Maestro Delfs was announced as the RPO’s 13th music director in January 2021.
Since then, Delfs has been pivotal in leading the orchestra out of the depths of the pandemic through the RPO’s history-making 23/24 Centennial Season: breaking box-office records with blockbuster programming and A-list special guests, while also climbing to new artistic heights with world-premiere commissions and acclaimed community collaborations.
Not one to rest on the laurels of those successes, Delfs is using them to inspire the orchestra to thrive into its second century. “You always have to move forward,” he explained. “And the only way to follow a breath-taking anniversary season is to build on its momentum.”
Born in Flensburg, Germany, Delfs began studying piano and music theory at age five. By 20, he became the youngest music director in the history of the Hamburg University Orchestra. Following graduation from Hamburg Conservatory, he followed the recommendation of legendary German conductor Christoph von Dohnányi, and took off for New York, where he earned his master’s degree at Juilliard School of Music, studying under such legendary conductors as Jorge Mester, Sixten Ehrling, and Leonard Bernstein.
Delfs soon landed posts at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Swiss Youth Symphony Orchestra (SYSO). He served as general music director of Hannover, Germany, conducting the city’s renowned symphony orchestra and opera company.
As music director and conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Delfs led the orchestra on its historic 1999 tour of Cuba, the first by an American orchestra in more than 37 years. During his tenure at the Milwaukee Symphony, he was instrumental in the symphony’s rise to national prominence.
Andreas Delfs has led scores of distinguished ensembles such as the London Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Chinese National Symphony Orchestra. He has partnered with world-renowned artists including Philip Glass, André Watts, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang, and Renée Fleming.
His passionate and dramatic interpretations of the late romantic repertoire with orchestras in both North America and Europe have drawn critical acclaim, reflecting a constantly evolving artistic maturity marked by the insight, depth and integrity he brings to the podium.
While Delfs’ approach to conducting has been forged by decades of experience, his love of new music is undeniable. Over the last two seasons alone, he has overseen RPO commissions by such highly regarded composers as Derrick Skye, Roberto Sierra, James Lee III, and Aaron Jay Kernis.
He and wife Amy live east of Rochester in the hamlet of Pultneyville, surrounded by their children, a grandchild, and Casper the Spitz.
Grammy Award winner Jeff Tyzik is one of America’s most innovative and sought after pops conductors. Tyzik is recognized for his brilliant arrangements, original programming, and engaging rapport with audiences of all ages. Tyzik is celebrating 31 years as Principal Pops Conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and also serves as Principal Pops Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Oregon Symphony. Tyzik made his debut with the New York Philharmonic in September 2023 and closed the 23/24 season conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Frequently invited as a guest conductor, Tyzik has appeared with over 100 orchestras including the Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, New York Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. In May 2007, the Harmonia Mundi label released his recording of works by Gershwin with pianist Jon Nakamatsu and the RPO which stayed in the Top 10 on the Billboard classical chart for over three months. Alex Ross of The New Yorker called it “one of the snappiest Gershwin discs in years”.
In 2023, Jeff Tyzik launched his new publishing company TyzikMusic.com. This digital site features over 150 arrangements, orchestrations and compositions for Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Music ensembles, and Wind Ensemble.
Committed to performing music of all genres, Tyzik has collaborated with such diverse artists as Leslie Odom Jr., Megan Hilty, Chris Botti, Matthew Morrison, Wynonna Judd, Sutton Foster, Tony Bennett, Art Garfunkel, Dawn Upshaw, Marilyn Horne, Arturo Sandoval, The Chieftains, Mark O’Connor, Doc Severinsen, and John Pizzarelli. He has created numerous original programs that include the greatest music from jazz and classical to Motown, Broadway, film, dance, Latin, and swing. Tyzik holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Eastman School of Music.
With co-producers Greenberg Artists and Schirmer Theatrical, Jeff Tyzik has created 20 new orchestra pops programs that have been presented by 150 orchestras in the past three seasons.
For more information about Jeff Tyzik, please visit www.TyzikMusic.com
The Christopher Seaman Chair, supported by Barbara and Patrick Fulford and The Conductor Laureate Society
Christopher Seaman was music director of the RPO from 1998-2011, and was subsequently named conductor laureate. During his 13-year tenure, the longest in RPO history, he raised the Orchestra’s artistic level, broadened its audience base, and created a new concert series. This contribution was recognized with an award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. In May 2009, the University of Rochester made him an honorary doctor of music.
Previous positions include music director of the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra (Florida) for 10 years, conductor-in-residence with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and artistic advisor of the San Antonio Symphony.
He is recognized for his wealth of repertoire, which ranges from baroque to contemporary, and in particular the works of Bruckner, Brahms, and Sibelius. Seaman also is highly regarded for his work with younger musicians, and he served as course director for the Symphony Services International Conductor Development Program (Australia) for many years.
Recent conducting engagements include the Aspen Music Festival, Detroit, Houston, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Seattle symphony orchestras; the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Kristians Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North, and Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais in Brazil. He frequently visits Australia and Asia where he has conducted the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Taiwan, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Singapore symphony orchestras, among others.
The Louise and Henry Epstein Family Education and Community Engagement Chair Jherrard Hardeman begins his second season with the RPO as Assistant Conductor (The Louise and Henry Epstein Family Education and Community Engagement Chair). Hardeman serves as Music Director of the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (RPYO).
A rising star in the symphonic world, Hardeman leads the RPO’s signature OrKIDStra family series, education concerts at Kodak Hall, concerts for the community and beyond, and our July summer series.
By his mid-teens, Detroit native Hardeman was already attracting national attention as a classical conductor, composer, and violinist. He studied orchestral conducting under internationally renowned conductor David Robertson at The Juilliard School. Hardeman notes he cannot overstate the importance of mentorships by conductors
Mei-Ann Chen, Music Director of the Chicago Sinfonietta, and Kevin Noe, Executive Artistic Director of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.
Hardeman has appeared with the Seattle Symphony, Grosse Pointe Symphony, Juilliard Orchestra, Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, and the Longy Conservatory Orchestra. An innate leader, he has also formed and/or conducted orchestras at such prestigious institutions as the New England Conservatory of Music, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and the AVANTI Summer MusicFest.
Maintaining and operating the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (Founded in 1923 —Incorporated in 1930)
Diana Clarkson, Esq., Chair of the Board
Curtis S. Long, President & CEO
Cindy Yancey, Vice Chair of the Board
Kathy Lindahl, Vice Chair of the Board
Karen Kessler, Secretary
Richard Stein, Treasurer
Ross P. Lanzafame, Esq., Immediate Past Chair
TERM EXPIRES JUNE 2025
James Fulmer
Laurie A. Haelen
Ralph F. Jozefowicz. M.D.
Karen Kessler
Ross P. Lanzafame, Esq.
Deborah Onslow
Ronald E. Salluzzo
Jason Thomas
TERM EXPIRES JUNE 2026
Daisy R. Algarin
Diana Clarkson, Esq.
George Daddis
Catherine Frangenberg
Allyson Hiranandani
Dr. Diane Lu
Sujatha Ramanujan
Elizabeth F. Rice
Dr. Eva P. Sauer
George J. Schwartz, M.D.
Richard Stein
Thomas Warfield
Dr. James Watters
JUNE 2027
Brian Bennett
Kimberly Gangi
Catherine Gueli
Emerson Fullwood
Paulette Gissendanner
Zuzanna Kwon
Katherine Lindahl
Jack McGowan
Sidney Sobel, M.D.
Cindy Yancey
Patrick Fulford
Chairperson, Honorary Board
Lars Kirvan
Orchestra Representative
Erik Behr
Orchestra Representative
Ross P. Lanzafame, Esq., Immediate Past Chair
Curtis S. Long
President & CEO
Kate Sheeran
Dean, Eastman School of Music
Patrick Fulford, Chairperson, Honorary Board
Stephen B. Ashley
Nancy Beilfuss*
James M. Boucher
Paul W. Briggs*
William L. Cahn
Louise Epstein
Joan Feinbloom
Ilene Flaum
Betsy Friedman
Ronald A. Furman*
Mary M. Gooley*
Suzanne Gouvernet*
David C. Heiligman
A. Thomas Hildebrandt
Harold A. Kurland, Esq.
Dr. Dawn F. Lipson
Jacques M. Lipson, MD*
Cricket and Frank Luellen*
Elizabeth F. Rice
Nathan J. Robfogel, Esq.
Jon L. Schumacher, Esq.
Katherine T. Schumacher
Betty Strasenburgh*
Josephine S. Trubek
Suzanne D. Welch
Patricia Wilder*
Deborah Wilson
Robert Woodhouse
The RPO expresses its gratitude to all those who have served as Honorary Board members in the past.
1930–32: Edward G. Miner*
1932–34: Simon N. Stein*
1934–38: George E. Norton*
1938–41: Leroy E. Snyder*
1941–42: Frank W. Lovejoy*
1942–43: Bernard E. Finucane*
1943–46: L. Dudley Field*
1946–48: Edward S. Farrow, Jr. *
1948–51: Joseph J. Myler*
1951–52: Joseph F. Taylor*
1952–55: Raymond W. Albright*
1955–57: Arthur I. Stern*
1957–59: Thomas H. Hawks*
1959–61: Walter C. Strakosh*
1962–63: Ernest J. Howe*
1963–65: O. Cedric Rowntree*
1965–67: Frank E. Holley *
1967–69: Thomas C. Taylor*
1969–71: Thomas H. Miller*
1971–72: Mrs. Frederick J. Wilkens*
1972–73: Edward C. McIrvine
1973–74: Robert J. Strasenburgh*
1974–75: John A. Santuccio
1975–76: Robert J. Strasenburgh*
1976–78: Dr. Louis Lasagna*
1978–80: Edward C. McIrvine
1980–82: Peter L. Faber
1982–84: Paul F. Pagerey*
1984–85: Peter L. Waasdorp*
1986–89: Robert H. Hurlbut*
1989–91: Paul W. Briggs*
1991–93: Karen Noble Hanson*
1993–95: Ronald E. Salluzzo
1995–98: A. Thomas Hildebrandt
1998–00: Harold A. Kurland, Esq.
2000–04: David C. Heiligman
2004–06: Ingrid A. Stanlis
2006–09: James M. Boucher
2009–11: Suzanne D. Welch
2011–13: Elizabeth F. Rice
2013–15: Dr. Dawn F. Lipson
2015-17: Jules L. Smith, Esq.
2017-19: Ingrid A. Stanlis
2019-24: Ross P. Lanzafame, Esq.
* Deceased
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Timothy Chooi, violin SAT JAN 11
8 PM SUN JAN 12
2 PM
KODAK HALL AT EASTMAN THEATRE
ALBERTO
Pampeana No. 3, 17:00 GINASTERA Symphonic pastorale (1954)
MAX BRUCH
Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, op. 26 24:00
Prelude: Allegro moderato
Adagio
Finale: Allegro energico
Timothy Chooi, violin
DMITRI
Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Opus 54 30:00 SHOSTAKOVICH
I. Largo
II. Allegro
III. Presto
SEASON SPONSOR:
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We kindly ask you to please silence all cellphones and electronic devices. Also, please note that photography and video recordings are prohibited during the performance.
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In February 2008, Chilean conductor Maximiano Valdés was named Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Puerto Rico Symphony in San Juan, a position he still holds today. Mr. Valdés has also been the Artistic Director of the famed Festival Casals in San Juan, Puerto Rico since March 2010.
Recently ending a 16 year tenure as Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias in Spain and now the orchestra’s Conductor Laureate, he is also the former Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic. In his native Chile, Mr. Valdés served as Chief Conductor of both the orchestra and opera at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile, where he returns annually for both symphonic and opera performances. He was also the Music Director of the Chilean Youth Orchestra from 2018 to 2022 and made a highly successful tour of Europe with the orchestra with performances in Berlin, Madrid, and Morocco.
Mr. Valdés made his American symphonic debut in October 1987 with the Buffalo Philharmonic and was immediately re-invited for the following season. After a successful return to the orchestra in 1989, he was appointed Music Director, a position he held for almost 10 years. In North America he has guest conducted many of the leading orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the St. Louis, National, Montreal, Baltimore, Seattle, Houston, Dallas, and New World symphonies and the Calgary Philharmonic. Summer festival appearances have included engagements at the Caramoor, Interlochen, Grand Teton, Music Academy of the West, and Grant Park festivals.
Beginning with the 21/22 season, Maestro Valdés was appointed the Distinguished Professor of Musicology at the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan and also received an Honorary Doctorate Degree. And in August 2022, he took the Puerto Rico Symphony to Chicago for a historic performance in Orchestra Hall. Sponsored by the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, the orchestra presented a program of popular and classical works by composers associated with Puerto Rico.
An experienced opera conductor who has led productions in many of Europe’s leading opera houses, Mr. Valdés made his highly successful opera debut conducting La Traviata at the Nice Opera. Since then, he has conducted productions in Paris, Lausanne, Rome, Berlin, London, Barcelona, Oslo, Copenhagen, Bonn, Asturias, and Santiago, Chile. Mr. Valdés made his American operatic debut with the Seattle Opera conducting Cosi fan tutti and was re-engaged to lead Gounod’s Faust. Recent and upcoming opera appearances include Katya Kabanova, Samson and Delilah, Ravel’s L’heure Espagnole and Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tiresias in Oviedo, Spain; La Traviata, Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Tosca and Madame Butterfly in San Juan; Lakme, Damnation of Faust, Rigoletto, and Rosenkavalier at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile; and Don Carlo in Madrid.
Born in Santiago, Chile, Maximiano Valdés began his studies in piano and violin at the Conservatory of Music in Santiago and continued his studies at the Accademia de Santa Cecilia in Rome where he took courses in composition and conducting. Completing his diploma in piano, he decided to concentrate entirely on conducting and enrolled in the conducting classes of Franco Ferrara in Bologna, Siena, and Venice, and worked with Sergiu Celibidache in Stuttgart and Paris. In 1976 Mr. Valdés was engaged as Assistant Conductor at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice and the following year was a conducting fellow at Tanglewood, where he worked with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. He won First Prize at the Nicolai Malko Competition in Copenhagen, First Prize at the Vittorio Gui Competition in Florence, and Second Prize at the Rupert Foundation Conducting Competition in London.
Internationally acclaimed violinist Timothy Chooi, (pronounced “Chewy”), continues to mesmerize global audiences with his electrifying performances and profound musical interpretations. Renowned for his passionate renditions and extensive repertoire, Chooi has cultivated a vast following, with millions of viewers captivated by his artistry both on stage and across digital platforms.
Chooi first burst onto the international scene by securing First Prize at the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition in Hannover, Germany, and later earned Second Prize at the prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Competition. His accolades include the highly coveted Yves Paternot Prize from the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. These achievements have led to performances with top-tier orchestras, including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Belgian National Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and Wiener Concert-Verein. His appearances at iconic venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein Wien, Berlin Philharmonie, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and London’s Royal Albert Hall have garnered him critical acclaim.
The upcoming touring season promises to be a thrilling chapter in Chooi’s career. He is set to collaborate with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring Emmy Award nominee composer Brian Tyler. He will also make his highly anticipated return to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.
Chooi’s music is broadcasted globally on prestigious stations, and in 2023, he recorded with AnneSophie Mutter and Mutter’s Virtuosi for Deutsche Grammophon. His performance with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra was featured on Medici TV, and his work has been aired on NPO Radio Klassiek Amsterdam, WQXR New York, RTBF Belgium, Swiss Public Radio, CBC Radio Canada, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, and Danish Public Radio.
Born in Canada, Chooi’s multicultural heritage includes Chinese, Indonesian and Malaysian roots. His journey began at the age of sixteen, with a debut performance with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal) that launched his career on the global stage. Inspired by his older brother, Nikki Chooi, Timothy has since established himself as one of the leading violinists of his generation.
In addition to his performance career, Chooi is deeply committed to the art of teaching. As the Professor of Violin at the University of Ottawa, he is recognized not only for his virtuosic playing but also for his dedication to nurturing the next generation of musicians. Chooi is celebrated for his innovative teaching methods, which combine traditional techniques with contemporary approaches to violin performance. His students have benefited from his unique perspective as an active performer on the world stage, gaining insights into both the technical and artistic aspects of playing. Under his mentorship, many of his students have gone on to win prestigious competitions and secure positions in leading orchestras worldwide. Chooi’s contributions to the academic community have made him a respected figure in the field of music education, where he continues to influence and inspire through masterclasses, workshops, and personalized instruction.
Timothy Chooi performs on a distinguished collection of violins, including the 1741 “Titan” Guarneri del Gesù, on loan from Canimex of Drummondville, Québec since 2023; the 1709 “Engleman” Stradivarius, provided by the Nippon Music Foundation in Japan; and the 1761 Landolfi violin, which is endowed to him as the Professor of Violin at the University of Ottawa.
Pampeana No. 3, op. 24
B. BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
April 11, 1916
D. GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
June 25, 1983
The grassland plains of Argentina—called the Pampas—inspired Alberto Ginastera’s Pampeana No. 3, a three-movement orchestral work, subtitled a “pastorale symphony.” The Pampas cover 295,000 square miles of South America; its Western portion is dry and barren while its Eastern side was settled by gauchos, known as herdsmen, and divided into ranches (estancias). Ginastera wrote, “Every time I have gone across the Pampa or when I spent a season there, my mind was invaded by different and changing impressions, gay or melancholic, full of euphoria or calm, produced probably by its unlimited immensity and by the transforming aspects of the country during the day.”
Ginastera is one of the two best-known Argentinian composers; the other is tango master Astor Piazzola, who was slightly younger and studied for a time with Ginastera. Ginastera’s works fall broadly into three periods (with some debate about the last). This work from 1954 falls under a decade-long, middle “subjective nationalist” period in which the composer created a composite of Argentinian vernacular music and increasingly modernist compositional sounds. Not long after, Ginastera completed his evolution and fully embraced international experimental techniques such as 12-tone music and serialism, a third period of development.
Ginastera traveled the US between December 1945 and March 1947, even stopping to visit the Eastman School of Music. With his music gaining prominence in the US, the Louisville Orchestra commissioned Pampeana No. 3 from Ginastera in 1953. The period, however, was difficult for the composer: He was pushed out of the conservatory he helped found in Argentina for refusing to rename it after Eva Perón (known as Evita), the wife of Argentinian President Juan Perón. The commission, among other works and film scores, kept him afloat until he was reinstated in 1956, following Perón’s defeat in 1955.
Pampeana No. 3 is bookended by two slower, contemplative movements that give impressions of the vast Pampas, with crunchy, chromatic harmonies and post-Romantic swells, clearly influenced by Ginastera’s film writing. Argentinian rhythms propel the middle movement, Impetuosamente, a fast scherzo with a bucolic trio (middle section), the gauchos in full action, adventuring across the Pampas.
Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26
B. COLOGNE, GERMANY January 6, 1838
D. FRIEDENAU, BERLIN, GERMANY October 2, 1920
Romantic-era composer Max Bruch is posthumously known as a twowork wonder: his Violin Concerto No. 1 and Scottish Fantasy, also for solo violin and orchestra, are his two best-known works. Bruch led an active, early career teaching, conducting, and composing for several courts in Germany. He was working in Koblenz when he wrote his Violin Concerto No. 1 and so many violinists subsequently performed the work that it overshadowed almost all else he composed. Unfortunately, he sold his scores to a publisher for a meager fee and never saw the royalties during his lifetime.
His legacy was also impaired by his outspoken views on Wagner and Liszt and their “new German school.” In the debates at the time over program music, which broke with traditional forms to express epic storylines in sound, Bruch remained firmly on the side of absolute music, deeply admiring the more conservative music of Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Brahms. Bruch’s works avoid any extramusical storylines, only hinting at stylistic influence with the Scottish Fantasy
Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1’s opening Allegro movement is a Vorspeil, or prelude. The entire first movement is a prelude that builds up and into, without a break, the work’s second movement. After a quiet rumble in the timpani and an opening theme in the woodwinds, the violinist gets an early start with two short cadenzas. The violinist returns with passionate themes, while the orchestra responds with fiery interludes before returning to the opening with the violin’s two, but now more extended, cadenzas. It quietly shifts into the work’s second movement, Adagio, one of the most romantic movements of any violin concerto. The finale, Allegro energico, is a dance-fueled, rondo-like romp with virtuosic double-stops and Hungarian flare—a tip to an old friend, Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim, who provided deft feedback on the concerto and then premiered the concerto’s final version in 1868.
B. ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
September 25, 1906
D. MOSCOW, RUSSIA August 9, 1975
Following a heightened period of persecution for artists in Stalinist Russia, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 elicited an unusually emotional response when it premiered in November 1937. Tears were shed during the work’s slow movement, and the performance received a half-hour standing ovation. Scholars David Fanning and Laurel Fay describe the symphony’s premiere as “a channel for a mass grieving at the height of the Great Terror, impossible otherwise to express openly.”
It also presented an opportunity for the composer to rehabilitate his reputation. A year earlier, in 1936, the leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, walked out of a performance of Shostakovich’s opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. A government-issued newspaper subsequently labeled the opera “muddle,” and Shostakovich was harshly criticized for his formalism, a coded label for modernism. Communist leaders favored conventional music, an easier delivery system for their propaganda. Fortunately, the soviet themes in the fifth symphony provided a political shield, and the symphony was dubbed “the artist’s response to just criticism,” an unsourced phrase that the composer may have claimed to campaign for his safety.
Shostakovich started writing his Symphony No. 6 in April 1939, just before he was promoted to full professor at the Leningrad Conservatory in June, a reward for his renewed reputation. Early in the writing process, he announced that the piece would be a “Lenin” symphony dedicated to the founder of the Soviet Union, clearly hedging to remain in the government’s good graces. However, references to Lenin eventually dropped off, and the symphony continued without such mention. Nonetheless, he publicly reiterated that the work would convey themes of spring, joy, and youth.
Following up on the fifth symphony, however, was a tall order. Indeed, audiences were confounded by what they received: a strangely formulated symphony missing a first movement. While symphonies typically have a first movement in sonata form, a scherzo, a slow movement, and a lively finale, Shostakovich opens the work with a brooding, lengthy slow movement, followed by two condensed fast movements: an Allegro second movement and a Presto third movement. However, Shostakovich carefully integrated approved sounds and received official praise, with reviews claiming he had purged his formalism.
Joy and spring are not yet revealed in the opening movement, Largo, which is one of Shostakovich’s bleakest works. The opening melody provides the motivic fodder for much of the movement’s material: its dotted minor third and octave rise serve as easy anchors throughout the movement. Solos for flute and horn help establish the stark scene and offer glimmers of hope. Shostakovich employs a technique he often did during this period to connect his compositions with acceptable music: contrapuntal writing, where individual melodies in the texture are woven together, a method attributed to Bach. The second movement gets off to a zippy start with an opening clarinet solo, serving as an antidote to the atmosphere and launching the symphony into a rollicking Allegro filled with lots of woodwind chatter and big moments for the brass. The last movement is a scherzo that Shostakovich described as “a full-bloodied and debauched music-hall galop” and comes closest to the spring, joy, and youth that Shostakovich mentioned while writing the work.
A recent article in the New Yorker by Alex Ross points to the inextricable entwining of Shostakovich’s legacy with that of Stalin’s dictatorship. He wrote, “One work after another is deciphered as an allegory of the artist’s tribulations under the regime. Shostakovich is reduced to a hapless victim of circumstance, incapable of speaking in an independent voice.” The works Shostakovich might have written had he not lived under political duress are impossible to guess. But works like the Sixth Symphony demonstrate a composer who challenged expectations despite the dangers that hung over each performance. And his works remain some of the most performed today for their musical depth.
Program notes by Anna Reguero, PhD, a Rochester-based arts writer and music scholar.
WED JAN 15
7 PM
WEST HERR
AUDITORIUM THEATRE
Scott Terrell, conductor
FILM CREDITS
CAST
Judy Garland
Frank Morgan
Dorothy Gale
Prof. Marvel / Emerald City doorman / The cab-bie / The Wizard’s guard / The Wizard of Oz
Ray Bolger Hunk / The Scarecrow
Bert Lahr
Zeke / The Cowardly Lion
Jack Haley Hickory / The Tin Man
Billie Burke
Margaret Hamilton
Charley Grapewin
Clara Blandick
Glinda, the Good Witch
Miss Gulch / The Wicked Witch
Uncle Henry and The Munchkins
Auntie Em
SCREENPLAY BY Noel Langley
Florence Ryerson
Edgar Allan Woolf
DIRECTED BY Victor Fleming
PRODUCED BY Mervyn LeRoy
MUSIC BY
Harold Arlen (songs)
E.Y. Harburg (lyrics)
Herbert Stothart
Film Courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
PRODUCER: John Goberman
ORIGINAL ORCHESTRATIONS RECONSTRUCTED BY: John Wilson and Andrew Cottee
The producer wishes to acknowledge the contributions and extraordinary support of John Waxman (Themes & Variations).
A Symphonic Night at the Movies is a production of PGM Productions, Inc. (New York) and appears by arrangement with IMG Artists.
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Scott Terrell has built a major conducting career through imaginative programs, an engaging presence, and a determined passion for artistic excellence, teaching, and viability. An ardent champion of new music and diversity of repertoire, he is a visionary conductor whose artistry and intellect has engaged musicians, students, and audiences. Maestro Terrell is Associate Professor of Orchestral Studies, holding the Virginia Martin Howard Chair, at the Louisiana State University School of Music.
In great demand as a guest conductor, Mr. Terrell will make debuts in 2024-25 with the San Francisco Symphony and Kansas City Symphony. He will also has return engagements with the Baltimore Symphony, Colorado Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, and the Rochester Philharmonic.
Passionate about working with aspiring musicians and educators, Terrell is an active guest clinician, teacher, and adjudicator. He has been a regular guest conductor and instructor at the Aspen Music Festival, leading various concert programs as well as mentoring conducting students. He has taught internationally at the Sofia Symphonic Summit (Sofia, Bulgaria) and the International Masterclass for Conductors in Schladming, Austria.
In demand as an educator and teacher of young musicians, he has conducted and presented at educational and honor orchestra events in Colorado, New York, Minnesota, Texas, Louisiana, Michigan, and Massachusetts.
Maestro Terrell has conducted many prestigious international organizations including Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Houston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra Opera Colorado, Opera Hong Kong, Arizona Opera, Minnesota Opera, Minnesota Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Milwaukee Symphony, Spoleto Festival, Naples Philharmonic, Eugene Symphony, Richmond Symphony, and the Mostly Modern Festival.
Having a strong affinity for vocal and operatic repertoire, Maestro Terrell has led a wealth of projects abroad. Collaborations with Kentucky Opera have included Stephen Paulus’ oratorio, To Be Certain of the Dawn, Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel and Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar. Operatic engagements have included Opera Hong Kong gala concerts of Bernstein, and Arizona Opera’s production of The Magic Flute. He conducted Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires at Fort Worth Opera, Aspen Music Festival and Arizona Opera as well as Aspen’s concert productions of Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti and Missy Mazzoli’s groundbreaking work, Proving Up.
Mr. Terrell was Music Director of the Lexington Philharmonic for a transformative decade (2009-2019) in the organization’s history. He re-invigorated and raised the artistic level of the ensemble, diversified programming, expanded collaborations, and increased community support.
Previously, Maestro Terrell served as Resident Conductor and Director of Education for the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, and prior to that was Assistant Conductor of Minnesota Orchestra. A native of Michigan, Maestro Terrell is a graduate of Western Michigan University, and the University of Minnesota in orchestral conducting. Terrell was chosen as a fellowship conductor for the inaugural season of the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival under Music Director, David Zinman. He has participated in master classes with such distinguished conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Robert Spano, Jorma Panula, and David Robertson. At Aspen, he was awarded the prestigious Conducting Prize from David Zinman.
8 PM SAT
JAN 18
Carmen Bradford, vocalist FRI JAN 17
8 PM
KODAK HALL AT EASTMAN THEATRE
Byron Stripling, conductor, vocal & trumpet
PETTIS & MEYERS Bugle Call Rag 3:00 (ARR. JEFF TYZIK)
TRADITIONAL Sounds of New Orleans 10:00 (ARR. MANNY ALBAM)
FATS WALLER Ain’t Misbehavin’ 4:00 (TYZIK)
ELLA FITZGERALD (FELDMAN/ARR. COOK) A Tisket A Tasket 4:00
YOUMANS Tea for Two 3:00
GEORGE GERSHWIN (ARR. NELSON RIDDLE) But Not For Me 4:00
JIMMY MCHUGH I Can’t Give You Anything But Love 5:00 (TYZIK)
KENNETH CASEY Satchmo, Scattin’ and Swingin’ 7:00 (ARR. DENNIS MACKREL)
INTERMISSION
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With a contagious smile and captivating charm, conductor, trumpet virtuoso, singer, and actor Byron Stripling, has ignited audiences across the globe. In 2020, Stripling was named Principal Pops conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and his baton has led countless orchestras throughout the United States and Canada. As a soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Stripling has performed frequently under the baton of Keith Lockhart, as well as being the featured soloist on the PBS television special, “Evening at Pops,” with conductors John Williams and Mr. Lockhart. Currently, Stripling serves as artistic director and conductor of the highly acclaimed Columbus Jazz Orchestra.
BYRON STRIPLING
Since his Carnegie Hall debut with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops, Stripling has become a pops orchestra favorite throughout the country, soloing with over 100 orchestras around the world including the Boston Pops, National Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Cincinnati Pops, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and orchestras throughout Europe and Asia. He has been a featured soloist at the Hollywood Bowl and performs at festivals around the world.
An accomplished actor and singer, Stripling was chosen, following a worldwide search, to star in the lead role of the Broadway bound musical, “Satchmo.” Many will remember his featured cameo performance in the television movie, “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles,” and his critically acclaimed virtuoso trumpet and riotous comedic performance in the 42nd Street production of “From Second Avenue to Broadway.”
Television viewers have enjoyed his work as soloist on the worldwide telecast of The Grammy Awards. Millions have heard his trumpet and voice on television commercials, TV theme songs including “20/20,” CNN, and soundtracks of favorite movies. In addition to multiple recordings with his quintet, work with artists from Tony Bennett to Whitney Houston, his prolific recording career includes hundreds of albums with the greatest pop, Broadway, soul, and jazz artists of all time.
Stripling earned his stripes as lead trumpeter and soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra under the direction of Thad Jones and Frank Foster. He has also played and recorded extensively with the bands of Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Louis Bellson, and Buck Clayton in addition to The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, and The GRP All Star Big Band.
Stripling is devoted to giving back and supports several philanthropic organizations including The United Way and Homelessness advocate and The Community Shelter Board. He also enjoys sharing the power of music through Seminars and Master Classes at colleges, universities, conservatories, and high schools. His informative talks, combined with his incomparable wit and charm, make him a favorite guest speaker to groups of all ages.
Stripling was educated at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York and the Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan. One of his greatest joys is to return, periodically, to Eastman and Interlochen as a special guest lecturer. A resident of Ohio, Stripling lives in the country with his wife Alexis, a former dancer, writer and poet and their beautiful daughters.
Carmen Bradford is jazz royalty, a 2024 Grammy Award winner for “Basie Swings the Blues – the Count Basie Orchestra.” She’s been nominated five times for Grammy Award and is the recipient of the Los Angeles Jazz Society’s Jazz Vocalist Award. With her body of work, which reflects her vast experience, versatility, and technical brilliance, she has carved out her place in jazz history, and she continues to contribute to the preservation of this uniquely American art form.
Bradford was born in Austin, Texas and raised in Altadena, California. The daughter of legendary cornetist and composer Bobby Bradford and world-renown jazz vocalist, composer, and author Melba Joyce, and granddaughter of Melvin Moore (who sang with Lucky Millender and his Big Band, Dizzy Gillespie’s Big Band, and the Ink Spots), Bradford grew up with music in her home and in her heart.
She was discovered and hired by William “Count” Basie when she was just 22; she went on to be the featured vocalist with the legendary Count Basie Orchestra for nine years and has continued to perform with them regularly throughout her career. All four of her Grammy Award nominations are for albums with the Count Basie Orchestra, including two in the 1980s and a third, “Big Boss Band,” with guitarist George Benson. (She and Benson performed the classic duet, “How Do You Keep the Music Playing,” on the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.) The fourth is 2022’s “Live At Birdland.”
In 1992, Bradford released her first debut album, “Finally Yours” (Evidence Records), to critical acclaim. In 1995, the release of her second solo album, “With Respect” (Evidence Records), established Bradford as one of jazz music’s most diverse and exciting vocal stylists.
Bradford has performed and/or recorded with Patti Austin, Tony Bennett, George Benson, Shelly Berg, James Brown, Benny Carter, Dori Caymmi, John Clayton and the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra, Freddie Cole, Lena Horne, Kurt Elling, Wynton Marsalis, Jeremy Monteiro, David Murray, Willie Nelson, James Newton, Kenny Rankin, Lou Rawls, Doc Severinsen, Frank Sinatra, Byron Stripling, Tierney Sutton, Jeff Tyzik, Joe Williams, Nancy Wilson, Liz Wright, and countless other artists around the world.
She also has performed and/or recorded with the Dallas Symphony, the Dani Felber Big Band, the Detroit Symphony, the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the National Symphony, the Philadelphia Pops, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Vancouver Philharmonic, and many other organizations.
Bradford teamed with singer/composer Kenny Rankin for the Benny Carter Songbook Project, performing with him the duet, “And All That Jazz.” Other notable artists on the album include Ruth Brown, Jon Hendricks, Shirley Horn, Diana Krall, Peggy Lee, Diane Reeves, Bobby Short, Joe Williams, and others. At the request of Benny Carter, Bradford also sang “Key Largo” on this Grammy Awardwinning album.
7:30 PM SAT
JAN 25
8 PM
KODAK HALL AT EASTMAN THEATRE ANNA
FRANZ LISZT
Vinay Parameswaran, conductor
Stewart Goodyear, piano
INTERMISSION
EDWARD ELGAR
Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major 21:00 for Piano and Orchestra
I. Allegro maestoso
II. Quasi adagio - Allegretto vivace
III. Allegro marziale animato
Stewart Goodyear, piano
Variations on an Original Theme, 29:00 “Enigma Variations,” op. 36
Enigma: Andante
Variation I. “C.A.E.” L’istesso tempo Variation II. “H.D.S.- P.” Allegro Variation III. “R.B.T.” Allegretto Variation IV. “W.M.B.” Allegro di molto Variation V. “R.P.A.” Moderato Variation VI. “Ysobel” Andantino Variation VII. “Troyte” Presto Variation VIII. “W.N.” Allegretto Variation IX. “Nimrod” Moderato Variation X. “Dorabella” Intermezzo: Allegretto Variation XI. “G.R.S.” Allegro di molto Varation XII. “B.G.N.” Andante Variation XIII. “***” Romanza: Moderato Variation XIV. “E.D.U.” Finale: Allegro
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VINAY PARAMESWARAN, conductor
Internationally recognised for his energetic presence, imaginative programming, and compelling musicianship, Vinay Parameswaran is one of the most exciting and versatile young conductors on the podium today.
Highlights of the 2022/23 season include Parameswaran’s debut with the Charlotte Symphony and return appearances with the Nashville Symphony and Rochester Philharmonic orchestras. He also conducts a series of education concerts with the Chicago Symphony. In the 2021/22 season, Parameswaran concluded five seasons with the Cleveland Orchestra, where he was Assistant Conductor from 2018/19 and promoted to Associate Conductor in 2021. During this period, he conducted many concerts each season at Severance Hall, Blossom Music Festival, and on tour. As Music Director, he led the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra on an acclaimed four-city European tour that included a performance at the Musikverein in Vienna.
Prior to his time with the Cleveland Orchestra, Parameswaran was the Associate Conductor of the Nashville Symphony for three seasons and led over 150 performances, which included his subscription debut with the Orchestra in 2016/17, conducting works by Gabriella Smith, Grieg, and Prokofiev. Other highlights have included debuts with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, Grant Park Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, and Jacksonville Symphony.
Equally at home in symphonic and operatic repertoire, and in the recording studio, Parameswaran has led performances of Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love with Curtis Opera Theater. In Cleveland, he has assisted Franz Welser-Möst on productions of Verdi’s Otello, Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos. With the Curtis Ensemble 20/21 and violinists Jaime Laredo and Jennifer Koh, Parameswaran recorded the album Two x Four, featuring works by Bach, David Ludwig, Philip Glass, and Anna Clyne. In 2020/21, Parameswaran recorded a selection of concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra for the Orchestra’s digital streaming platform.
Parameswaran was a Conducting Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, and has participated in conducting masterclasses with David Zinman at the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, as well as with Marin Alsop and Gustav Meier at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. Parameswaran was a recipient of a Career Assistance Award by the Solti Foundation U.S. in May 2021.
A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Parameswaran graduated with honours from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts in music and political science. At Brown, he began his conducting studies with Paul Phillips. He received an Artist Diploma in conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with renowned pedagogue Otto-Werner Mueller as the Albert M. Greenfield Fellow.
Proclaimed “a phenomenon” by the Los Angeles Times and “one of the best pianists of his generation” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Stewart Goodyear is an accomplished concert pianist, improviser, and composer. Mr. Goodyear has performed with, and has been commissioned by, many of the major orchestras and chamber music organizations around the world.
Last year, Orchid Classics released Mr. Goodyear’s recording of his suite for piano and orchestra, “Callaloo,” and his piano sonata. His recent commissions include an orchestral work for the Chineke! Orchestra, his Piano Quintet for the Penderecki String Quartet, and a piano work for the Honens Piano Competition. His suite for solo violin, “Solo” was recorded by violinist Miranda Cuckson on the Urlicht Audiovisual label, and his work for cello and piano, “The Kapak,”was recorded by cellist Inbal Segev on the Avie" Records label.
Mr. Goodyear’s discography includes the complete sonatas and piano concertos of Beethoven, as well as concertos by Tchaikovsky, Grieg, and Rachmaninov, an album of Ravel piano works, and an album entitled “For Glenn Gould”, which combines repertoire from Mr. Gould’s US and Montreal debuts. His Rachmaninov recording received a Juno nomination for Best Classical Album for Soloist and Large Ensemble Accompaniment. Mr. Goodyear’s recording of his own transcription of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker (Complete Ballet)”, was chosen by the New York Times as one of the best classical music recordings of 2015. His discography is released on the Orchid Classics, Naxos, Analekta, Bright Shiny Things, Marquis Classics, and Steinway and Sons labels. Mr. Goodyear releases his recording of Prokofiev’s 2nd and 3rd Concertos with Andrew Litton and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the composer’s 7th Sonata, on Orchid Classics this September 2024.
Highlights for the 2024-25 season are his performances at the BBC Proms with the Chineke! Orchestra, his return to the Phillips Collection (Washington D.C.), and performances with the Vancouver and Toronto Symphonies, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, Frankfurt Museumgesellschaft, and A Far Cry in Boston.
This Midnight Hour
B. LONDON, ENGLAND
March 9, 1980
Anna Clyne’s works are full sensory experiences. The English composer who resides in New York quickly rose as a significant name in contemporary composition when she assumed the role of composer-in-residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2010, a residency that lasted through the 2015 season. Works she composed for and recorded with the CSO, Prince of Clouds and Night Ferry, were nominated for Grammy Awards. In addition to her acoustic works, Clyne also works with electronic sound, and helped develop a new technology called Augmented Orchestra that controls and expands the sound world of the orchestra. She is also inspired by visual art and even created a visual score out of a mixed media canvas with large sweeps of color to conceptualize her work, Night Ferry An original voice, she was named one of the top ten most performed composers in 2022 and 2023 by Bachtrack, a classical music website.
This Midnight Hour is a nocturne for orchestra written in 2015 for a commission from L’Orchestre national d’Île de France. The opening is a rapid cascade of dense textures, which is juxtaposed with sections of folk-like and primordial sounding melodies.
Clyne wrote, “The opening to This Midnight Hour is inspired by the character and power of the lower strings of L’Orchestre national d’Île de France. From here, it draws inspiration from two poems – one by Charles Baudelaire and another by Juan Ramón Jiménez. Whilst it is not intended to depict a specific narrative, my intention is that it will evoke a visual journey for the listener.”
The concise Jiménez’s poem translates to (by Robert Bly): Music –/ a naked woman / running mad through the pure night. “This immediately struck me as a strong image and one that I chose to interpret with outbursts of frenetic energy – for example, dividing the strings into sub-groups that play fortissimo staggered descending cascade figures from left to right in stereo effect,” she wrote. “This stems from my early explorations of electroacoustic music.”
She also wrote that she was drawn to the evocative imagery in Baudelaire’s Harmonie du Soir, particularly the stanza that reads (in translation by William Aggeler):
The season is at hand when swaying on its stem Every flower exhales perfume like a censer; Sounds and perfumes turn in the evening air; Melancholy waltz and languid vertigo!
“I riffed on the idea of the melancholic waltz about halfway into This Midnight Hour - I split the viola section in two and have one half playing at written pitch and the other half playing 1/4 tone sharp to emulate the sonority of an accordion playing a Parisian-esque waltz.”
October 22, 1811
D. BAYREUTH, GERMANY
July 31, 1886
The twenty-first century has pop star icon Taylor Swift; the nineteenth century had Hungarian pianist and composer Franz Liszt. Liszt’s stardom as a virtuosic pianist began when he heard violinist Niccolò Paganini in Paris in 1831. Paganini’s impossible feats on the violin—double stops, harmonics, pizzicatos, and more—earned him comparisons with the devil and stunned audiences, but most of all Liszt. The young pianist vowed to become the Paganini of the piano and then, refusing commissions and more, hunkered down for the next few years to acquire comparable virtuosics at the piano. When Liszt emerged, the public responded with frantic applause and intense enthusiasm for his concerts. One German writer coined the expression ‘Lisztomania’ to describe the illness that befell the public—mostly the upper class— when Liszt was to perform. In today’s terms, it’s much the same response of Taylor Swifts fans, called “Swifties,” who are so hungry to see her up close and score costly tickets that there are traffic advisories when she arrives in a new city on tour.
Liszt began sketching his Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1832 (not long after hearing Paganini). But he didn’t orchestrate it until 1849. Then, he revised the work further before premiering the revised version in Weimar, Germany, in 1855. His good friend Hector Berlioz conducted; Liszt, with his notoriously large hands, was the soloist. The concerto is without extramusical narrative. However, Liszt still innovated with form: the work is considered a cyclic sonata form, where the major themes return in variation and unite each of the four (not the usual three) movements.
The first movement’s main theme marches downward and is strong but tentative, indicative of some question or conflict that the pianist will seek to resolve throughout the concerto. The pianist is announced early as the hero, with gargantuan chords that span the full keyboard. After a lyrical duet with the clarinet, the work builds back up to a reinstatement of the first theme in the brass and ends with more pianistic feats. The second movement, Quassi adagio, begins with a statement of material from the first movement but relaxes into a lovely, meditative theme with the piano’s entrance. Thunderous strikes interrupt, with an ominous solo in the piano that shortly dissolves back into meditative space. The flute, clarinet, and oboe take turns with a retrospective closing melody over a quiet trill in the piano. The ringing of a triangle announces the third movement Allegretto— leading one critic to disparage Liszt’s concerto by calling it a “triangle concerto”—but it appropriately introduces the movement’s playfulness. The first movement theme returns in a big way with the brass, and the piano and orchestra face off right until the end, with little vignettes of earlier material appearing like hallucinations. The work barrels right into the fourth and last movement, Allegro marziale animato, with a march-like theme that declares the piano victorious. Themes from all the movements cycle through, and the work ends with virtuosic fireworks.
June 2, 1857
D. WORCESTER, ENGLAND
February 23, 1934
Sometimes, the best ideas come from the most unassuming places. Such was the case for Edward Elgar’s Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36, which is famously known as the Enigma Variations. Elgar was improvising at the piano one night when his wife, Alice, interrupted him, saying, “Edward, that’s a good tune.” Elgar recounted that he attempted to make the melody sound like the personalities of his friends and acquaintances “in a spirit of humour and continued in deep seriousness.” What resulted was a theme with 14 short variations, labeled with the initials of the individuals who inspired each variation, that became one of the most significant works by a British composer ever written. It also was the work that propelled Elgar, a rural piano tuner’s son, to fame after he had earlier failed to advance his career in London. The work premiered in London’s St. James’s Hall with Hans Richter conducting on June 19, 1899.
The variations were such convincing depictions that his friend Dora Penny—who knew many of the personalities and for whom Elgar gave a musical setting in Variation X: Intermezzo, Allegretto—claimed, “But you’ve made it like them. How on earth have you done it?” Elgar contended that the variations were not portraits but sketches built around a personality trait or event that occurred. While the work was in progress, Elgar played the variations for Dora at the piano, which she recounted in a book about her friendship with the great composer. The two friends “laughed about two of them in particular: delightful companions with whom we had both of us, on different occasions, had such a good time; whose personalities and little eccentricities had been so uncannily ‘reflected’ in the music.”
Of those personalities who Elgar chose for his variations, he included, without a surprise, his wife Alice, whose full initials were C.A.E., in the very first variation. Exemplary of Elgar’s humor in writing this work, Variation II was named after pianist David Steuart-Powell and features a toccata but with chromatics that Elgar knew would be “beyond H.D.S-P’s liking.” And Variation VII for architect Arthur Troyte Griffith attempted to mimic his poor piano skills, as well as a time they were stuck in a thunderstorm, in a bombastic setting with lots of pounding timpani. However, the work’s Adagio, Variation IX, is the work’s emotional core. It is nicknamed the “Nimrod” variation, which is a biblical word for a hunter and refers to Elgar’s dear friend Augustus J. Jaeger, whose last name also means ‘hunter’ in German. Jaeger worked for Elgar’s London publisher Novello & Co. and was a trusted source for feedback, as well as the voice that encouraged Elgar to continue composing when he was at a low point in his career. The variation is often performed as a stand-alone selection in memorial services and other pensive events. The 14th variation finale carries the initials E.D.U., a shortened version of Eduard, the German version of Edward, that Elgar’s wife was known to call him. And so, the final movement, which folds in several themes but maintains an overall heroic tone, is Elgar’s take on himself.
Although Elgar did not name the work the “Enigma” Variations, he did call the theme “Enigma” because it contained a hidden element. He wrote, “The Enigma I will not explain – its ‘dark saying’ must be left unguessed, and I warn you that the connexion between the Variations and the Theme is often of the slightest texture; further, through and over the whole set another and larger theme ‘goes’, but is not played . . . . So the principal Theme never appears, even as in some late dramas – eg Maeterlinck’s L’Intruse and Les sept Princesses – the chief character is never on the stage.” Several scholars have attempted to find the missing “enigma” theme, even creating competitions to energize efforts. Some think it may be the theme from Mozart’s Prague Symphony, a work Elgar heard just before his fateful night of improvising at the piano, which seems closely related. But none has been accepted as the definitive “enigma.” It is thought that only Elgar’s wife and his close friend Jaeger knew the secret. It was Jaeger who penciled in Enigma Variations on Elgar’s original score.
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SYMPHONY
($50,000 AND ABOVE)
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the following corporate, foundation, and community organizations for their generous support. Please contact the Development Office at development@rpo.org with questions or corrections. Listings are in recognition of our current donors in the 2024-25 Concert Season (July 1, 2024 through November 30, 2024).
Glover-Crask Charitable Trust& Gouvernet Fund for the Arts at RACF& Lisk Morris Foundation, Inc. & M&T Bank
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($25,000–$49,999)
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MusicPower.org
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The Gertrude Chanler RPO Fund at the Rochester Area Community Foundation
ESL Charitable Foundation
B. Thomas Golisano Foundation
LSI Solutions, Inc.
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SUITE ($5,000–$9,999)
The Aaron Copland Fund for Music
Grace & Disgrace
Heathwood Assisted Living & Memory Care
Andrea Holland Coaching Hoselton Auto Mall
Spindler Family Foundation
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OVERTURE
($3,000–$4,999)
Akerman, LLP
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PARTNER ($1,000–$2,999)
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FRIENDS ($1-$999)
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MATCHING GIFT COMPANIES
Charities Aid Foundation of America
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The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the generous individuals listed here who help us continue to enrich and inspire the community through the art of music. While space only permits us to list pledged gifts made at the Benefactor level and above in the printed program book, we value the generosity and vital support of all donors and have moved all donors from Contributor amount and above to be listed in our digital edition donor roll on www.rpo.org/donor-recognition. Please contact us at development@ rpo.org questions or corrections. Listings are in recognition of our current donors in the 2024-25 Concert Season (July 1, 2024 through November 30, 2024).
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Mary Cowden
Karen Duguid and Wallace Johnson& The Dumm Family
Mr. and Mrs. James T. Englert&
Dr. and Mrs. Elmar Frangenberg&^L
Betsy and Jay*Friedman&
($25,000-$49,999)
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Diana R. Clarkson, Esq. and James Donnelly& Emerson and Vernita Fullwood&
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Brian and Nancy Bennett
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Joyce and Warren* Heilbronner&
Tom and Nan Hildebrandt&
Elsbeth J. Kozel&
Connie Leary and James O’Connell&
Joyce* and Victor Poleshuck&
Alison and John Currie&
George Daddis, Jr., Ph.D.&
Katie and Rob Dermody&S
Ron DoughertyS
P. Robert and Mary Anne Fox
Laurie and David Kennedy
Elsbeth J. Kozel&
Richard T. Galvin
Rob W. Goodling
David Louis Guadagnino and Mary Beauchamp
Laurie Haelen and Mary McCrank
Mr. Gary D. Haines
Robert and Deborah HallS
John and Ruth Hazzard
David and Barrie Heiligman
Ian and Kathalee* Hodge
Mr. and Mrs. Ernest J. Ierardi
Connie KaminskiS
Glenn and Nancy Koch
Vincent and Zuzanna Kwon&
Norma and Anthony* Leone, M.D.
Kathy J. Lindsley
Sue and Michael LococoS
Edith M. Lord
Dan and Kiki Mahar
Mr. Bruce P. Marshall
Deborah Onslow&S
Pace Family Fund&
Larry and Betsy Rice&
Ron and Sharon Salluzzo&
Drs. Eva and Jude Sauer&
Richard and Vicki* Schwartz
Dr. and Mrs. Sidney H. Sobel& Ingrid Stanlis&
Sandra and Richard Stein&
Josephine S. Trubek&
Krestie Utech&
Lewis and Patricia Ward-Baker
Louise Woerner and Don Kollmorgen
Robert A. Woodhouse&
Geff and Cindy Yancey&
Deborah Ronnen and Sherman Levy*
Elise and Stephen* Rosenfeld, M.D.
Mrs. Robert M. Santo&
Katherine T. and John L. Schumacher&
Karen and Gerald Kral&
Marc Libman and Meghann Postgate
Curtis and Elizabeth Long&S
Daniel M. Meyers&
Deborah Ronnen and Sherman Levey*
Robin and Michael* Weintraub&
Carol Whitbeck&
Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert J.C. McCurdy*
Paul Marc and Pamela Miller Ness&
John and Tobie Olsan
Suzanne and Richard Portland
Robert and Anne QuiveyS
David Rakov
Mr. and Mrs. James Ryan, Jr.
Gary B. Schaefer
David and Antonia Schantz
Joan M. Schumaker
George J. Schwartz, M.D. and Paula Maier
Richard and Vicki* Schwartz
Bob and Gayle Stiles
David and Grace* Strong
Glen and Lynne Suckling
Mimi and Sam Tilton
Michael and Beverly* Tomaino
David and Julie Weinstein
Kitty J. Wise&L
Daisy AlgarinS
Marvin and Frederica Amstey
Anonymous
Joseph* and Nancy Briggs
Josephine Buckley
Brian and Mary Jane Burke
Bruce and Shirley Burritt
William T. Chandler
Clark Family Fund at the Rochester Area Community Foundation
Beth R. CrossS
Roy Czernikowski* and Karin Dunnigan
Judy and Joe Darweesh
Mr. and Mrs. Steven DeSmitt
D. Craig Epperson and Dr. Beth Jelsma
Trevor and Elizabeth Ewell
David and Anne Ferris
Jim and Steph Fischer
M. Fitzpatrick
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Forsyth
Jonathan Foster
Sandra and Neil Frankel
Emerson and Vernita Fullwood&
Judith Fulmer
Jerry J. Gambino, Jr.
Paul and Marjorie Gardella
Linda G. Gillim
John and Roslyn Goldman
Jeanne and Bob Grace
Jason and Janelle Gutman
Susan and James Haefner
Joan Hallenbeck
Martin and Sherrie Handelman
BENEFACTOR ($500-$999)
Barbara Agor
Anonymous
Barbara and E. David* Appelbaum
Jim and Linda Baroody
Hays and Karen Bell
Donald and Mary BoydS
Teresa and Tim Biehler
James and Lynette Blake
Paula and James* Briggs
Henra S. Briskin
Eileen Buholtz
Brendan and Suzanne Casey
Victor Ciaraldi and Kathy Marchaesi
Alan Cohen and Nancy Bloom
Elison and Donald Cramer
Mrs. Joan Dalberth
Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel Delvecchio
Sherman and Anne Farnham
Joan and Harold* Feinbloom
Evan and Elvira* Felty
Susan and Leslie Foor
Ann and Steve Fox
Ruth Freeman
Kimberly and Lou Gangi
M. Lois Gauch
Paulette GissendannerS
Dr. and Mrs. William Grace
Russell and Kathleen Green
Michael D. Grossman
Catherine Gueli
David and Edna F. Hamlin
Barbara and A. Michael Hanna
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph R. Hanna
Michael R. Herzog
James and Betsy Hoefen
Sheila Hollander
Audrey W. Holly
Philip and Eleanor Hopke
Dr. Dewey Jackson
Bruce Jacobs
Lyle Jenks
Dr. Tomas Hernandez and Dr. Keith Reas
Walter B.D. Hickey, Jr.
Drs. Ryan and Makiko Hoefen^
Dr. Marvin and Nancy* Yanes Hoffman
Susan and Chris Holliday
Dr. Robert Horn and Dr. Patricia Nachman
Marjorie S. Humphrey
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence S. Iwan
La Marr J. Jackson, Esq.
Dr. and Mrs. Harold Kanthor
Judy and Norm Karsten
Heidi Katz and Carl Chiarenza
Karen and Laurence Kessler
Ann Knigge and Al Buckner
Lynn Krauss-Prince
Deanna and Charles Krunsenstjerna
John and Lisa Lacci
Donna M. Landry
Jennifer Leonard and David Cay Johnston
John and Jane Littwitz
Curtis and Elizabeth Long&S
Patrick Macey and Jeremiah Casey
Saul and Susan Marsh
Richard and Kate Massie
Andrew and Kay Melnyk
Deanne Molinari
Mr. and Mrs. Paul F. Morgan
Laura V. Morrissey
Pastor and Mrs. Donald Muller
Paul Marc and Pamela Miller Ness&
Helene Newman
Deborah Onslow&S
Douglas and Rose Peet
Mr. Gilbert F. Jordan
Connie KaminskiS
Barbara and Robert Kay
Michael and Joann Keefe
Mr. and Mrs. James E. Keenan
Mr. Edward Klehr
Mr. and Mrs. Leon Kopf, Jr.
Janet and James Leone
Ellen C. Lewis
Sarah F. Liebschutz, PhD
Dr. and Mrs. Norman R. Loomis
Mr. Robert Lowenthal
John and Judy Lynd
David J. Mack
Frank Maley
Bryan Maslin and Jane Flasch-Maslin
Tom and Emily McCall
David and Dorcas McCartney
Virginia McHugh
Jonathan Mink and Janet Cranshaw
David and Monika M. MullenS
Thomas C. Munger
Maureen and Steve Neumaier
Mr. and Mrs. John Norris
Peggy and David Oakes
Mr. Donald W. and Jo-Ann R. O’Brien
W. Smith and Jean O’Brien
Margie O’jea
Debra and George Orosz
Tom Parker
Jonathan R. Parkes and Dr. Marcia Bornhurst Parkes
Glen Pearson
Jerry Peters
Robert and Penny Peterson
Thomas W. Petrillo and William R. Reamy
Dr. and Mrs. Edwin Przybylowicz
Richard and Susan Reed
Stan and Anne Refermat
Dr. Gerald and Maxine Rosen
Richard and Margery Rosen
Dr. and Mrs. G. Theodore Ruckert
Susan and Donald Pritchard
Sujatha Ramanujan and James Chwalek
Dick and Cathy Rasmussen
Rene Reixach
Josh Reynolds
Nancy and Art Roberts
Hannah and Arnold Rosenblatt
Joan and James* Ryan, Sr.
Paul and Barbara Schmied
Peter Schott and Mary Jane Tasciotti
Mr. and Mrs. William Schultz
Anthony and Gloria Sciolino
Dr. Jenny C. Servo and Mr. John Servo
Hezekiah and Ann Marie Simmons
Kathie Snyder
Phillip and Karen Sparkes
David Spector
Sandra and Richard Stein&
Ann H. Stevens and William J. Shattuck
Nancy Stevens and David Williams
Wayne and Anne Vander Byl
James and Barb* Walker
James Watters
Jean and Sterling L.* Weaver
Philip and Marilyn Wehrheim Fund
Sue A. Whan
Ed and Wilma Wierenga
Beatrice and Michael Wolford
Norman J. Wright
Laura and Joel Yellin
Bill and Wende Young
Tom and Ellen Rusling
Hon. Franklin T. and Cynthia Russell
Ed and Gabriel Saphar
Nancy and David Schraver
David and Naomi Schrier
Theresa A. Seil and Debra Celestino
David and Susan Sharp
Mrs. Caroline Shipley
Donna Broberg Shum
Daniel and Sarah Singal
Abby and David Stern
Yoshiko Tamura and Bruce M. Lee
David and Carol Teegarden
Jeffrey J. Thompson
Adam and Catherine Towsley
John* and Janet Tyler
Eugene and Gloria Ulterino
Dr. William M. Valenti
Lorraine Van Meter-Cline and Doug Cline
Vic Vinkey
Mr. and Mrs. William Wallace
Marsha Walton
Warren Welch
Dale and Lorraine Whittington
Susan and Paul Wilkens
Amy and Brent Williams
David and Donna Willome
Lois Wolf and William Hall
Les and Wanda Wood
Jim* and Barb Woods
Jeff Wright and Betty Wells
Caroline and Richard Yates
Robert and Carol Zimmerman
& Denotes donor(s) has/have contributed to the RPO& Comprehensive Capital Campaign S Denotes donor(s) has/have a recurring Sustaining Circle contribution to the RPO * Denotes donor(s) is/are deceased. ^ Denotes donor(s) has/have contributed to the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (RPYO).
Scan to view the full listing from October 1, 2023 through October 31, 2024
Elizabeth Affolter
Don and Jeanne Worboys
Joanne Anderson
Dolores Young
Paul W. Briggs
Beatrice Briggs
Eleanor Conte
George Conte
Dr. Salvatore Dalberth
Joan Dalberth
Valera D’Esopo
Barbara Grajewski
Elvira R. Felty
Evan Felty
Scan to view the full listing from October 1, 2023 through October 31, 2024
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the following individuals and organizations for their generous support by honoring or remembering in memory of, the individuals listed below. Listings are in recognition of our current donors in the 202425 Concert Season (July 1, 2024 through October 31, 2024).
Tribute gifts are a special way to remember loved ones or commemorate special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, births or graduations. If you would like to make a memorial or honorarium gift, please visit www.rpo.org/donate or contact the Development office at 585/454-7311 ext. 249 or email development@rpo.org.
Johanna M. Gambino
Jerry J. Gambino, Jr.
Jane L. Garrett
Michael Garrett
Richard C. Hastings
Glenda Hastings
Donald Heinle
Stephen and Ann Martin
David L. Hunley, Sr.
Karen Stafford
Dr. Anthony Leone, Jr.
Norma Leone
Edna Lovell
Carol Lovell
Robert Marx
Frances Marx
Hon. Michael Miller
Edward Doherty and Patrice Mitchell
Evelyn Frazee and Thomas Klonick
H. Robert and Joyce Herman
John and Tobie Olsan
Eric and Elizabeth Rennert
Nathan and Susan Robfogel
Nellie J. Rosenberg
Anthony and Gloria Sciolino
Sue Thering
Joseph T. Pagano, Jr.
Nancy Pagano
Eileen Ramos
Maria C. Leonardo
Albert Serenati
Nancy Snyder and Family
Kenneth Slining
David Hathaway
James E. Woods
Barbara Woods
Laurie Haelen’s Birthday
Donna Cator
John Frost
Dean Hutchinson
Kevin D. Kinney
Catherine D. Noble
James P. Terwilliger
Jennifer A. Yance
Elizabeth Zammit
Ross P. Lanzafame, Esq.
Dr. William Valenti
Nancy E. Scher
Harvey Simmons
Members of the RPO George Eastman Legacy Society are true believers in the power of music. The RPO George Eastman Legacy Society honors those individuals who remember the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra through a planned gift. The RPO’s team of development professionals are available to work with you and your advisors to create a plan that will help you meet your financial and philanthropic goals. For more information, please contact the Development Office at 585.454.7311.
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EXECUTIVE
Meagan Walker Doxtad MANAGING EDITOR Donna Hoke
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jean-Pierre Thimot
Curt Long President and CEO
Samantha Marchant Executive Assistant/Office Manager
Kristen Zimmer Director of Human Resources
Rob Dermody Vice President of Development
Lis Bischoff-Ormsbee Senior Director of Principal Gifts
Amy Gallaher Director of Development, Annual Giving & Special Events
Elizabeth Garijo-Garde Development Associate, Institutional Partnerships
Dorian Delfs Development Officer
George DeMott Development Officer
MARKETING
Herb Griffith Vice President of Marketing & Communications
Lauren MacDonough Director of Marketing
Joyce Tseng Content & Digital Marketing Manager
Meg Spoto Creative Director
Mike Cidoni Public Relations & Communications Manager
Sal Uttaro Group and Corporate Sales Manager
Charlene Beckwith Director of Ticketing
Daniel Traina House Manager
Daniel Long Patron Services Manager
Connor Straight Patron Services Assistant Manager
Samuel DeAngelis
Abby Chapman Duprey
Emma Duprey
Rilyn Garcia
Stephen House
Nathan Howton
Alyssa Koh
Grant Simon
Patron Services Representatives
Brandi Sheppard Director of Finance
Priscilla DeSoto Staff Accountant
James Barry Vice President of Artistic Planning & Operations
Barbara Brown Vice President of Education
Chisato Eda Marling Manager of Education & Community Partnerships
Ashlee Allaire Youth Orchestra and Education Projects Manager
Meghan Dunn Orchestra Operations Manager
Fred Dole Orchestra Personnel Manager
Danielle Suhr Stage Manager
Cedrick Martinez Assistant Stage Manager
Kim Hartquist Principal Librarian
Sam Giacoia Artistic Coordinator
Karl Vilcins Auditions Coordinator
Rachel Solomon Volunteer Administrator
Since its founding by George Eastman in 1922, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra has been committed to enriching and inspiring our community through the art of music. Currently celebrating our Centennial Season, the RPO is dedicated to maintaining its deep commitment to artistic excellence, educational opportunity, and community engagement.
Today, the RPO presents up to 120 concerts per year, serving nearly 170,000 people through ticketed events, education and community engagement activities, and concerts in schools and community centers throughout the region. Nearly one-third of all RPO performances are educational or community-related. In addition, WXXI 91.5 FM rebroadcasts approximately 30 RPO concerts each year. For more information, visit rpo.org.
TICKETS: The RPO Patron Services Center is located at 255 East Avenue in the back of the Farash Place building in downtown Rochester. Free parking is available in a small lot between the parking garage and building. Open Monday through Friday 10 AM–5PM.
NIGHT-OF-CONCERT PURCHASES: RPO will-call tickets and concert tickets are available at the RPO tables in the Eastman Theatre Box Office lobby starting 90 minutes prior to concert time.
PARKING: Paid parking for Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre is available at the East End Garage, located next to the theatre. Open entrances/exits change frequently while the garage is under construction. Visit rpo.org/parking for the most recent updates. Paid parking for the Performance Hall at Hochstein is available at the Sister Cities Garage, located behind the school at Church and Fitzhugh Streets.
PRE-CONCERT TALKS: All ticketholders are welcome to attend free pre-concert talks held one hour before all Philharmonics concerts and all Jeff Tyzik-conducted Pops concerts. Ticketholders are asked to sit anywhere they would like in the orchestra level of the theatre, then head to their reserved seat for the concert.
SERVICES FOR PATRONS WITH DISABILITIES: Wheelchair locations and seating for those with disabilities are available at all venues; please see the house manager or an usher for assistance. Elevators are located in the Eastman Theatre Box Office lobby. A wheelchair-accessible restroom is available on the first floor.
SERVICES FOR HARD-OF-HEARING PATRONS: Audio systems are available at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre; headsets may be obtained from an usher prior to the performance.
CHANGING SEATS: If you find it necessary to be reseated for any reason, please contact an usher who will bring your request to the House Manager.
LOST AND FOUND: Items found in Kodak Hall will be held at the Eastman Theatre Box Office, 433 E. Main Street. For more info, call 585-274-3000.
ELECTRONIC DEVICES: The use of cameras or audio recording equipment is strictly prohibited. Patrons are asked to silence all personal electronic devices prior to the performance.
REFRESHMENTS: Food and drink are not permitted in the concert hall, except for bottled water. Refreshments are available for purchase in Betty’s Café located on the orchestra level of Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre.
TICKET DONATION: If you are unable to attend a concert, please consider donating your tickets to us as a tax-deductible contribution. Return your tickets to the RPO no later than 2 PM the day of the performance to make them available for resale.
GROUP SALES: Groups of 10 or more are eligible for discounts starting at 20%! Contact Group and Corporate Sales Manager: Sal Uttaro at suttaro@ rpo.org | Office: (585) 454-7311 ext. 267 | Mobile: (585) 530-0865
Bravo is published cooperatively by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Buffalo Spree
Joyce Tseng| Editor, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Meg Spoto | Creative Director, m dash studio
Anna Reguero | Program Annotator, Anna Reguero ©
Editorial Offices: Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra 255 East Avenue, Suite LL02 Rochester NY 14604
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