2015-2016 CONCERT SERIES MISSOURI THEATER | 717 Edmond Street
A Classical Halloween October 31, 2015 | 7:30 PM
Broadway Holiday Pops December 5, 2015 | 7:00 PM
Out Like a Lion March 26, 2016 | 7:30 PM
Featuring: Fountain City Brass Band
Heroes and Villains April 30, 2016 | 7:30 PM Featuring: Ben Gulley, Tim Hill & St. Joseph Community Chorus
saint joseph
symphony
Rico McNeela A Message from the Conductor Hello everyone and welcome to an evening of fine music and exciting performances. If you are a regular at our concerts - a warm welcome back! If you are new to the Symphony - we’re really glad you have decided to join us. We hope you have a great time tonight and will join us again in the near future. This season we will present a really wide range of musical offerings – lots of pieces written for the concert hall of course, but also some great music written for the opera house, the movie theater, and the Broadway stage. I think we have something for just about every musical taste. So, please settle in to your seat, and enjoy the beautiful music tonight. I think you are going to have a great time. Rico McNeela Music Director and Conductor
Become a Friend of the Symphony! The Friends of the Symphony is a social and fundraising auxiliary group of the Saint Joseph Symphony comprised of men and women from St. Joseph and surrounding communities who are passionate about supporting the arts and their communities. The group has an ever expanding membership of dynamic people who eagerly plan entertaining events that promote and support the Symphony. Members have the opportunity not only to work and learn in a variety of behind-the-scenes environments, but also to meet others who share their love of music. No membership fees or dues are required. If you’d like to join the Friends of the Symphony, please contact the Symphony office at 816-233-7701 or info@saintjosephsymphony.org
saint joseph
symphony
2015-2016 CONCERT SERIES
MISSOURI THEATER | 717 Edmond Street
A Classical Halloween
October 31, 2015 7:30 PM
Broadway Holiday Pops
December 5, 2015 7:00 PM
Out Like A Lion
March 26, 2016 7:30 PM Featuring: Fountain City Brass Band
Heroes and Villains
April 30, 2016 7:30 PM Ben Gulley, Tim Hill and St. Joseph Community Chorus
CHAMBER SERIES CHAMBER CONCERT I November 8, 2015 3:00 PM First Christian Church 927 Faraon St
CHAMBER CONCERT II January 17, 2016 3:00 PM Ashland United Methodist Church 2711 Ashland
CHAMBER CONCERT III February 14, 2016 3:00 PM First Christian Church 927 Faraon St.
For Ticket Information: 816-233-7701 OR www.saintjosephsymphony.org FRIENDS OF THE SYMPHONY
Saint Joseph Symphony Society Board Members
Officers
Sharon Kosek President: Friends of the Symphony
Joshua Bachman Carol Barnett Barry Birr Christopher Bond Donna Jean Boyer Lori Boyer Connie Brock Cynthia Brownfield David Cripe Dick Crowl Gerad Curry Eileen Dyer Jan Mehl David Merrifield Dot Miriani Ray Sisson Bernadine Stevenson Ann Thorne
Education Advisory
Advisory Council
Byron D. Myers President Bradley Weil Vice President Mary Jo Hornaday Secretary Charles Salanski Treasurer Michael Insco Legal Advisor
Jeff Hinton Bob Long
Brad Auge Dr. Robert Spurgat Jane S. Hausman Creath Thorne
Administrative Staff Rico McNeela Music Director, Conductor
Ann Brock Managing Director
S. Elizabeth Stephens Office Staff
Elizabeth Dunning Music Librarian
Richard Yeager Orchestra Personnel Manager
Frank Polleck Stage Manager
Monty Carter Program Annotator
Welcome to the Missouri Theater! Tickets Tickets for all performances are now available online 24 hours a day at saintjosephsymphony.org or by phone at: 816-233-7701, Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm. You may also order tickets by mail by writing: Saint Joseph Symphony, 120 South 8th Street, St. Joseph, MO 64501 or pick them up in person at our office during business hours. Tickets may be purchased on the night of the performance at the Missouri Theater Box Office at 717 Edmond Street, beginning at 5:30pm. We accept VISA and MasterCard. Gift Certificates We offer gift certificates in any amount so you can offer your friends, family or colleagues the gift of live music. Season Subscriptions We now offer four season ticket options: You may choose the full season, with all four major performances at the Missouri Theater and the three chamber concerts; or all four major performances plus one chamber concert of your choice; “Compose Your Own” by selecting three performances of your choice; or all three chamber concerts. Details are available on the website or at the Symphony office Group Tickets Discounts available for blocks of group tickets! Call 816-233-7701, Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm for details. Ticket Exchange Can’t attend a performance? We’d be happy to exchange your tickets for another performance this season or assist you in donating your tickets to a worthy charitable organization in the Saint Joseph area. Admission Theater doors open 1 hour prior to curtain. Latecomers will be seated at an appropriate interval.
Parking There are many parking lots and garages near the Theater available for free parking. Pay lots are offered across the street from the Theater. Facilities Restrooms are located upstairs off the mezzanine lobby. A wheelchairaccessible restroom is located downstairs. Our ushers can direct you to the nearest restroom. Services for Persons with Disabilities The Missouri Theater is committed to providing services for persons with disabilities. Accessible seating is available. Be sure to mention your interest in accessible seating when placing your ticket order. Smoking Policy The Missouri Theater is a non-smoking facility. Smoking is permitted outside the building in public areas. Tours Tours of the historic Missouri Theater are available by calling 816-271-4628. Refreshments Refreshments are sold on the mezzanine lobby during intermission. Coffee, soda and wine are available. Please note: The use of cameras, and/or audio/video recording devices is strictly forbidden. Please turn off your mobile telephones and pagers during the concert. The Saint Joseph Symphony reserves the right to make changes in programs and artists without prior notice. The Saint Joseph Symphony Society, Inc. is a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit corporation. All donations are deductible on corporate, foundation and individual tax returns to the extent provided by state and federal law.
Saint Joseph Symphony Endowment The Symphony’s endowment plays a vital role in providing the financial support and stability that further the Symphony’s mission: to provide the best possible symphonic music by professional musicians for all the people of St. Joseph and the surrounding region. The Symphony’s endowment provides a revenue stream that allows us to plan for the Symphony’s enriching programs. Contributions to the Symphony’s endowment fund can be made as a direct lifetime gift or a planned gift. Cash, securities, and real property are typical assets used as contributions. Whether by a present or deferred gift, participating in the Symphony’s endowment fund offers a way for you to help ensure that the excellent music and meaningful programs you value are available to current and future generations. For more information or to make a donation, please contact the Symphony’s business office at 816-233-7701.
Thank You The Saint Joseph Symphony wishes to recognize and thank those who made our season possible. Guest Artist Circle ($15,000-$24,000) Thanksgiving Fund Anonymous Benefactor Circle ($10,000-$14,999) Mary Boder Charitable Trust Center Stage Circle ($5,000-$9,999) Leah Spratt Charitable Trust, Joyce Rochambeau, Rene McCrary Anonymous Maestro Circle ($2,500-$4,999) Norma J. & William J. Kenney Charitable Trust, US Bank, N.A. Trustee Podium Circle ($1,000-$2,499) Dr. & Mrs. R. Philip Acuff Dr. & Mrs. Edward H. Andres Caterpillar Foundation Matching Gifts Program Eileen Dyer Charles H. Taylor Memorial Trust John & Kay Mallon Jan Mehl Mr. & Mrs. David Merrifield James & Jeanne Murphy News-Press/KNPN Rich Nolf Maurice M. Peve Sarah Hofheimer Charitable Trust Anonymous Principal Circle ($500-$999) Calvin & Mary Ann Bibens Dr. Michael Depriest & Barbara Braznell
Patricia A. Boice & Lawrence T. Goldberg Jo Anne & Marty Grey Hillyard Companies Joe Houts, Jr., Commerce Bank Mike & Linda Kozminski Polsinelli PC Charles Salanski Mr. & Mrs. David Stevenson Anonymous Musician Circle ($250-$499) Jerry & Joanne Anderson John P. Barclay, Jr. Deb & Barry Birr Cynthia Brownfield Susan Carter Mr. & Mrs. James F. Dale Mignon & Dick Deshon Jim & Sharron Guest Clark & Nancy Hampton M. J. Hornaday Bill & Cindy Humphreys Michael Insco Dr. Richard & Alice Jacks Tom & Denise Kiehnhoff Eileen Lockwood Allan Lowenberg Dot Miriani Harold C. Mooney Wesley & Patsy Remington Dr. & Mrs. Robert Spurgat Jack & Janet Steury Ann & Creath Thorne Associates Circle ($100-$249) Joshua & Lindsey Bachman Tim & Connie Brock Dr. & Mrs. Wendell Bronson Pamela Bryson Tim & Merry Burtner Martha Chesney Dan & Susan Colgan Bob & Karen Corder
Bobbie Cronk Dan W Dudeck Jean & Cliff Duggar Lanny & Janet Ellis Steven E. Goldring & Robert E. Wennersten James T. & Karen M. Graves Roger & Debby Ideker Lucinda & Raymond Kerns, Jr. Dave Brown & Ellen Kisker Dr. Sharon & Mr. Larry Kosek Dr. William Krusemark Lisa C. Logan Don & Sara Mahaffy Dr. & Mrs. Wallace McDonald Terry McKellar Michael & Ronda Meierhoffer Casey & Carol Meyers Howard & Linda Miller Ginevera Moore Phil & Judy Mullins Byron and Phyllis Myers Bill & Roseanne Mytton Gary & Glenda Nelson Richard & Roxanna Phillips June & Gordon Robaska Leo & Mary Ann Schmitz Lee & Judy Schuster Sonya & Dave Shinneman Stephen K. Showalter Ross & Mary Shuman Ronald Sipes Donald & Loah Stallard Bob & Mary Helen Stuber Barney & Dorothy Tietz Dr. & Mrs. Trout Wendy Tyrrell John & Diane Watson Bob & Patti Wayman Fred & Deborah Weems Lin Werner Susan Henley Yeager Joe Zuptich Anonymous Supporters Circle ($25-$99) Barbara Bielby Bob & Dolores Blair E.D. & Loretta Boice Rob & Sue Bolin/Bolin Auto & Truck Parts Co.
Pam & Rick Boyd Donna Jean Boyer Ron & Diane Brown Doug & Barbara Campbell Frank D. Connett Mary Cornett Grace Day Steve & Peggy Dillon Sandra & Erik Dunning Jeannine Glise Stan Hall John & Joan Hickman Janet B. Houston John R. Johnson John & Jane Joseph Edmund & Carlyn Kline W. Dale and Barbara Krueger Jean Lawhon Bill and Nancy Lutes Bill Manville Tom & Margaret Martin Brandon Massin Jerry & Sandra Mogg Charley & Patty Montag Jack & Anne Newton Steven & Jeannie Pitluck Phyllis Popplewell Marianne Kay Ronan Kathleen Schmidt David & Diana Schmidt Thomas P. Smith Sally Smith Rick & Annette Starks Charles Taliaferro Duane & Karla Thies Sonny & Jane Thompson Shirley & Tom Twombly Diane & Bob Waddell Ralph & Marie Walsh Nick & Scotia Washburn Anonymous
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Tribute Gifts In Honor In Honor of Mary Jo Hornaday’s Birthday Eileen Dyer
In Memory In Memory of Gayle Medsker Cordle Dr. Sharon & Mr. Larry Kosek In Memory of Dr. Teresa Humphreys Dr. Sharon & Mr. Larry Kosek
Meet Our Musicians Chun-Chien Chuang
Instrument: Violin Member of the Saint Joseph Symphony since: 2012 Bio: As a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral violinist, Chun-Chien Chuang has performed on stages across the United States, Europe and Taiwan, including the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Music Shed in Norfolk, CT, Musikverein Golden Hall in Vienna, and the National Music Hall in Taipei. Ms. Chuang is the concertmaster of the Saint Joseph Symphony. Chun-Chien holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Violin Performance from the University of Missouri Kansas City and a Master of Music degree in Violin Performance from the University of Cincinnati College C onservatory of Music. Ms. Chuang is a violin/viola faculty at Ottawa University and teaches at her teaching studio in Lee’s Summit, MO. She and her husband, pianist John Villaveces, perform regularly together in different settings. They love spending time with their sons Xavier and Winston, and Bernie the dog. What are the responsibilities of a concert master? My responsibilities include tuning the orchestra before the rehearsals and the concerts, following conductor’s signals and translating that into my playing, and leading the section and visually communicating with the string principals. If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing? I’m not sure, maybe a dog trainer. Any family members also musicians? My husband is a concert pianist. My three year old son plays the violin and I think my one year old son will be a percussionist. If you’re not rehearsing or performing, what kind of music do you listen to? Classical music and nursery rhymes :) As a child, did anyone inspire or encourage your interest in music? I started taking piano and violin lessons simply because my father asked me if I wanted to. Ever since I have not stopped playing the violin. I am very fortunate that several violin teachers really inspired me and kept me going. My parents always brought me to concerts to listen to the masters play and also got me a lot of CDs to study.
Saint Joseph Symphony conducted by Rico McNeela presents
A Classical Halloween October 31, 2015 7:30 PM Missouri Theater ~Program~ Danse Macabre
Charles Camille Saint-Saëns
Night on Bald Mountain
Modest Mussorsky
Harry Potter Suite
John Williams Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Flight of the Bumble Bee
Bob Harvey, trumpet, as the Bumblebee In the Hall of the Mountain King
Edvard Grieg
“Una macchia e qui tuttora” (Sleepwalking scene) from Macbeth
Giuseppe Verdi
Victoria Botero, soprano, as Lady Macbeth March to the Scaffold from Symphonie Fantastique
Hector Berlioz
~Intermission~ Jaws
John Williams
Isle of the Dead
Sergei Rachmaninoff
“Who You Gonna Call?” from Ghost Busters
Ray Parker Jr. Eric Stark, baritone
Sponsored by
Victoria Botero From baroque to contemporary, from opera to concert to world music stages, her “clear, beautiful, and thrilling” voice (Wichita Eagle) and “considerable charisma” (Kansas City Star) allows Colombian-American soprano Victoria Botero to deftly navigate a variety of musical genres and styles. She has given notable performances with such organizations as the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Union Avenue Opera, Tulsa Opera and Des Moines Metro Opera. Ms. Botero also enjoys a wide-ranging concert and recital career featuring collaborations with many different artists and ensembles. Most recently she premiered a piece with the Atemporchestra at TEDxKC. Also in 2015 she was awarded a grant through the Lighton International Artist Exchange Program to perform concerts in Milan and Venice. She has appeared with Ensemble Ibérica in a variety of Spanish-themed concerts, and collaborated with them to create an award-winning CD, Colonia (Tzigane). Ms. Botero performs throughout the Midwest as part of the critically acclaimed duo BoteroBledsoe with classical guitarist Beau Bledsoe. Their CD Un ramo de voz (Tzigane) was released in 2013. An important facet of Victoria’s career is her collaboration with living composers and experimental music. The music of composers such as Jaime León, Jorge Sosa, Brad Cox and Susan Kander figure prominently in her work. Victoria received her B.M in Vocal Performance from The Catholic University of America, an M.A. Performance and an M.M. Musicology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. For more information please visit victoriabotero.com.
Robert Harvey
Bob is in his 28th year of teaching in the Lee’s Summit R-7 School District, working primarily with 5th and 6th grade beginning band students. Bob has taught applied trumpet at Missouri Western State University and maintains a private studio of junior and senior high trumpet students. Bob has held the position of Principal Trumpet with the St. Joseph Symphony for over 25 years. He played in the T.D. Pack Band for 20 years and was the assistant director and lone trumpeter when the Chiefs retired the band in December 2008. He splits lead-trumpet duties in the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, performs with the Blue and Gray Brass Brigade and the Starlight Theatre orchestra. He can be heard on recordings by Mike Metheny, the Kerry Strayer Or-
chestra, Killer Strayhorn, KCJO, and the Trilogy, New Vintage, River City and Vince Bilardo Big Bands. Bob has performed solos in Carnegie Hall with both Lee’s Summit High Schools. Special extra performances this past year include playing with Mannheim Steamroller and the Kansas City Symphony.
Eric Stark Eric Stark has performed in, and written for symphony orchestras, rock bands, and everything in between. Eric has always been able to quickly absorb whatever musical style he might find himself involved with and bring his own unique flavor to enhance, while maintaining the integrity of the genre. He found himself at an early age performing professionally and working as a musician, singer, arranger and composer for recordings. Whether he is writing for a string quartet or performing with a roots music, blues band, he seems to be comfortable. Since 1991, Eric has served as Music Director of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph. Here he is responsible for leading, preparing and programming the music for all main services as well as many special events held throughout the year. Eric has written a number of the songs used for worship and produced six recordings of original music for worship while at the church. This is at the center of Eric’s musical life. Whatever music he may be doing he wants God to be glorified through it.
Program Notes Monty Carter, Program Annotator Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921): Danse Macabre (Dance of Death), Op. 40 (1874). Our first two selections this evening are among the most eerie tone poems ever written. A tone poem is a piece whose substance and structure are devoted to something describable in words: a narrative, a character, a feeling. Saint-Saëns caught the bug from his friend and mentor, Franz Liszt, and his most famous offering in this genre is based on the poem, Danse Macabre, by Henri Cazalis:
Zig, zig, zig, Death in cadence / Striking with his heel a tomb. Death at midnight plays a dance-tune, / Zig, zig, zig, on his violin.
The winter wind blows and the night is dark; / Moans are heard in the linden-trees. Through the gloom, white skeletons pass, / Running and leaping in their shrouds.
Zig, zig, zig, each one is frisking. / The bones of the dancers are heard to crack – But hist! of a sudden they quit the round, / They push forward, they fly; the cock has crowed.
“Zig, zig, zig” is not quite how I would describe the sound of a bow on strings, but then I haven’t heard Death playing a fiddle (and hope not to for some time to come). What do we hear with the opening “zig”? Why, the Devil’s Interval, of course! That’s the tritone’s nickname. You get a dandy one when you tune your “E” string down a half-step and play it with your open “A.” Spooky! Everything in the poem is right there in the music. The chimes of midnight are courtesy of the harp. Wind and moans merge in the medieval Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) plainchant, recited quite spunkily by woodwinds with harp. The frisky skeletons’ brittle bones are brought to life by the xylophone. And listen for the oboe’s cock-crow at the end. Danse Macabre was not immediately popular. It literally gave audiences the creeps! Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1891): Night on Bald Mountain (1867). Speaking of the creeps, here is perhaps the most barbaric witches’ sabbath ever portrayed in music. Mussorgsky conjured A Night on Bald Mountain in less than two weeks’ time. No rough draft needed; the piece was born to be rough.
Bald (i.e., Barren) Mountain is Mount Triglaf, near Kiev, where each year on St. John’s Eve, a demonic jamboree is presided over by Chernobog (dark god) in the form of a black goat. You laugh? At your peril… This is orchestral grotesquerie at its best. The woodwinds finally reveal their true nature as caw-cawing banshees, brass and lower strings rage into incredible hulks, and everyone else swings to and fro between a wicked case of the shakes and an embrace of Mother Russia’s folk primal ooze. We have Rimsky-Korsakov to thank for this refined mash-up of Mussorgsky’s multiple manuscripts. Here and there one feels the raw core of what Mussorgsky himself referred to as “a wicked prank.” Conductor Mily Balakirev, who championed Mussorgsky and his contemporaries, would have none of it, however. He tore up the score! John Williams & Alexandre Desplat: Selections from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One (2001, 2010), arranged by Michael Story. Time to get away from all that dark stuff – let’s jump into some fun film fare! J.K. Rowling said, “My books are largely about death.” (Uh-oh.) “They open with the death of Harry’s parents. There is Voldemort’s obsession with conquering death and his quest for immortality at any price…” (I guess we’re stayin’ dark.) However, Rowling went on to say (and her readers well know) that her books are an argument for tolerance, a plea against bigotry, and a challenge to seek out truth for yourself. Among her many fans is John Williams, who composed the first three Harry Potter film scores. Williams commented, “The story’s imaginative array of wizards flying on broomsticks and mail-delivering owls … wondrous works of magic, offered a unique canvas for music, and the prospect of sharing it with some part of the great army of readers who love these books is a great joy to me.” Williams’s unforgettable “Hedwig’s Theme” is followed by Alexandre Desplat’s magical music moments from the “Deathly Hallows, Part One.” Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908): Flight of the Bumblebee (1900), arranged by Matt Vandegriff. You are Prince Gvidon, and your aunts are evil. When you’re born, they convince your dad, Tsar Saltan, that you’re not human, you’re a monster! Just why the Tsar buys this no one can say, but before you know it, you and your mom, the Tsaritsa Militrisa, are sealed into a barrel and thrown out to sea! Eventually your barrel washes up on a barren island, and instead of turning into a Gilligan’s Island episode, your lives (and the island) are transformed by the Swanbird, who has quite a bag of tricks, including turning you into a
visit with Dad incognito on his ship, viciously sting your evil aunts in the face, reunite your family, turn back into a handsome prince, and live happily ever after! Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera, The Tale of Tsar Saltan is based on a poem by Alexander Pushkin. This arrangement of “Flight of the Bumblebee” is by Matt Vandegriff, Professor of Music Theory at Long Island University. Edvard Grieg (1843-1907): In the Hall of the Mountain King, from Peer Gynt (1875). “[Peer Gynt] hangs over me like a nightmare,” said Grieg. (Ooh, scary!) In 1874, he was approached by a fellow Norwegian, Henrik Ibsen, about writing incidental music for Ibsen’s forthcoming play, Peer Gynt. Grieg was quite enthusiastic and withdrew to a placid summer house near Bergen to take on the project. But it took him sooooooooo long. Grieg didn’t get the full score published until after his own death. (Only in Halloween program notes will I let that sentence be.) To be fair, Ibsen’s play is no ordinary beast. It sauntered like Frankenstein out of its original form, an epic poem – which Ibsen himself deemed unstageable. But both the play and the music enjoyed a parade of public esteem. “In the Hall of the Mountain King” triggers goosebumps and grins galore. It’s been covered by rock bands from The Who to Metallica and made the undercurrent of many a flick and video game. Who wouldn’t love this theme? Well, Grieg, apparently. He complained in a letter that the music “absolutely reeks of cow pies, exaggerated Norwegian nationalism and trollish self-sufficiency!” (We’ll let you be the judge.) Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901): Una macchia e qui tuttora, from Macbeth (1847, revised 1865) Macbeth is Verdi’s tenth opera and the first of his three Shakespearean ones. He adored Shakespeare as literature but never saw a staged production of Macbeth until after he’d written his operatic treatment. He had firm convictions about the portrayal of Lady Macbeth and insisted the singer make sounds appropriate to the character, rather than simply singing beautifully. Verdi wanted ‘something devilish, hard, stifled, and dark’ in her voice. And he was fascinated with Una macchia e qui tutora, the scene of the Queen sleepwalking, wringing her bloodied hands. He nearly drove his Lady Macbeth bonkers, making her practice the proper moves for months. Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): The March to the Scaffold, from Symphonie Fantastique (1830). From Berlioz: “A young musician of a morbidly sensitive nature and
a feverish imagination poisons himself with opium in a fit of lovesick despair. The narcotic dose, too weak to cause death, plunges him into a heavy sleep accompanied by the strangest visions, during which his feelings, sensations and memories are translated by his sick brain into musical thoughts and images.” Who’s the “young musician”? Three guesses. This is not just a fantastical symphony. It’s the world’s first psychedelic symphony. Berlioz beat the Beatles by well over a century. Pervading and ruling the piece is an idée fixe, an obsession: Berlioz’s beloved. Here a sweet melody with a halo, there a hellish cackle from a soaring broomstick. In the fourth movement, “March to the Scaffold,” all you-know-what breaks loose. The witches shriek. The demons dance. The funeral bells chime. The Dies Irae plainchant storms the stage in self-parody. Snakes writhe. Bones rattle. And Berlioz doesn’t simply give us the chop of the guillotine blade. OH no. In string pizzicati, he gives us the bounce, bounce, bounce of the head, down the steps, from guillotine to basket. Listen for it… John Williams: The Shark (1975). Jazz pianist, arranger and bandleader Johnny Williams moved to L.A. after graduating from Juilliard (after serving in the Air Force, after attending UCLA). There he worked as an orchestrator for composers including Alfred Newman, Elmer Bernstein, and Henry Mancini. A decade later, with many t.v. music credits and his first Oscar under his belt, Williams was approached by a young director to compose music for his feature film debut. The director was Steven Spielberg, and “The Sugarland Express” was a success. Their next collaboration was a suspense film about a killer shark on the loose. It catapulted Spielberg to fame, won John Williams his second Oscar (his first for original music), and sealed an extraordinary partnership. E natural. E natural to F natural. E to F and back. E to F and back, then F again. E to F, E to F, E-F-E-F-E-F-E-F… It wasn’t quite what Steven had in mind, and he told John so. But John told him, “The sophisticated approach you would like me to take isn’t the approach you took with the film I just experienced. This is a huge, over-thetop pirate movie.” The rest is huge, over-the-top history. Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943): Isle of the Dead, Symphonic Poem for Large Orchestra on the Painting by A. Böcklin, Op. 29 (1909). Arnold Böcklin’s “Isle of the Dead” was quickly recognized as a major symbol of late Romanticism. In 1880, when Böcklin’s friend Marie Berna visited the artist and saw it on his easel, she immediately commissioned it as a memorial to her late husband, asking Böcklin
to add to the canvas the images of a draped coffin and a shrouded female figure. Rachmaninoff saw the painting in 1907 in a blackand-white reproduction in Paris, and he was moved to paint his own reproduction in music. Sounds of the strokes of oars in water are with us throughout. The beginning of our journey is dark and mysterious, just low strings, timpani, and harp. Long before the island is ‘in sight’ we feel little progress to our destination, yet urgency unmistakably builds. Does the violin solo reflect a break in the mist, or an inner gleam of hope? Dies irae’s most memorable 20th-century references are in the music of Rachmaninoff, and he presses it upon us here. But suddenly there is light, joyous and undeniable, passionate and thrilling, until … we are in the shadows once more, and rowing, always rowing.
Ray Parker, Jr. (b. 1954): Ghostbusters (1984). The movie was in the bag. The film score was great (Elmer Bernstein). But it screamed for a main song. Columbia Pictures spent a pretty penny on multiple musicians’s efforts, but no winner. Music exec Gary LeMel called his recording-artist friend, Ray Parker, Jr., and suggested he give it a shot. We just need a song people can sing along to, he told Parker, “without much meaning.” Oh, just one more thing, he said: we need it in two days. Did that freak out Ray Parker, Jr.? Heck no … he just couldn’t think of anything to rhyme with “Ghostbusters.” Call and response, a vocal structure used for centuries in musical cultures around the world, came to the rescue. WHO YA GONNA CALL?
Musicians Violin 1 Chun-Chien Chuang† Keith Stanfield° Teresa Edgar Jin-Wha Lee Kenya Patzer Michalis Koutsoupides Violin 2 Catherine Root* Marcus Dowty Connie Elting Katie Benyo Signe Sandquist Liz Codd Joseph Toma
Oboe Meribeth Risebig* Bonnie Krutz English Horn Katherine Woolsey*
Bassoon Claudia Risebig* Aaron Ahles Kim Krutz, contra Horn Peter Jilka* Liz Dunning Sara Giovanelli Jan Cohick Andrea Bailey Adam Paxson
Cello Hyerim Mapp* Jan Kobialka Amy Harris Janelle Clark Sofia Hwang
Trumpet Bob Harvey* Bill Richardson Steve Molloy
Flute Lory Lacy* Elaine Brown Adrienne Garstang
†Concertmaster
*Principal Clarinet Randy Cunningham* °Assistant Concert Master Chris Gibson Richard Yeager, bass
Viola Monty Carter* Noel Good Kenton Lanier Ashley Stanfield Mary Tuven Kitty Hammond
Bass Matt McGrory* Chance Dunaway Daniel Bates
Percussion Roger Caliman* Ken Eberhart Danny Watring
Trombone Phil Fink* Michael Dragen Nate Gay, bass Tuba Paul Weissenborn* Harp Wesley Kelly* Timpani Mark Lowry*
Friends of the Symphony present Pre-Concert Talks with Rico McNeela Music Director Rico McNeela’s entertaining and highly informative lectures introduce you to the concert program, helping you to more deeply understand and enjoy the music.
Upcoming Events Holiday High Tea: Tuesday, December 8th at 12:30 PM Shakespeare Chateau 809 Hall Street St. Joseph, MO 64501 $40 per person RSVP with payment by Dec. 1 Menu: Savories, Finger Sandwiches, Sweets and Afternoon Tea of Warm Home-Made Ginger Lemon Scones served with Lemon Curd and Devonshire Cream. Accompanied by a Signature Tea Blend. Pre-Concert Luncheon: Tuesday, January 12th at Noon Cabbage Roll 2641 Lafayette Street St. Joseph, MO 64507 $30 per person RSVP with payment by Jan. 8 Menu: German (cabbage roll, pierogi, polish sausage, red cabbage; hot German potato salad), American (oven baked crispy chicken breast, American potato salad, seasoned green beans) or Vegetarian (pierogi smothered with grilled onions, cottage cheese, apple sauce) Pre-Concert Luncheon: Tuesday, February 9th at Noon Luna’s 214 N. 20th Street St. Joseph, MO 64501 $30 per person RSVP with payment by Feb. 5 Menu: Chicken Alfredo Pasta or Vegetarian Pasta; Salad; Vegetable, Beverage, Dessert (featuring homemade whipped cream and fresh berries) Pre-Concert Dinner: Tuesday, March 22nd at 6:30 PM Benton Club 402 N. 7th Street St. Joseph, MO 64501 $45 per person RSVP with payment by March 18 Menu: Stuffed Pork Loin (spinach/cheese/garlic) Honey Glazed Carrots, Roasted Red Potatoes; or Red Snapper with Mixed Vegetables in Parchment with Rice Pilaf, or Vegetarian: Mixed Seasonal Vegetables in Parchment. Salad, Bread Basket, Dessert: Passion Fruit Mousse with Fresh Berries in Dark Chocolate Cup; Beverage. Pre-Concert Dinner: Tuesday, April 26th at 6:30 PM Galvin’s 6802 S. 22nd Street St. Joseph, MO 64504 $40 per person RSVP with payment by April 22 Menu: Galvin’s Family Style Fried Chicken or Vegetarian Plate: Pasta Prima Vera; House Salad, Corn, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Fresh Homemade Bread, Beverage, Dessert.
For more information visit the Friends section at saintjosephsymphony.org
Rico McNeela
This season marks the beginning of Mr. McNeela’s seventh year serving as the Music Director and Conductor of the Saint Joseph Symphony. He is also a member of the Missouri Western State University music faculty where he serves as Director of Orchestral Activities, and plays violin in the Faculty Piano Trio. Before coming to St. Joseph he taught at the University of Toledo, the University of Arkansas, Illinois Wesleyan University, and Allegheny College. Mr. McNeela holds Bachelor and Masters degrees from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he studied with Paul Makanowitzky, Eugene Bossart, Steven Errante, and Gustav Meir. He also studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music with David Cerone and Linda Sharon. Mr. McNeela has performed extensively throughout the United States as conductor, violinist, violist, and chamber musician. He has conducted ballets for the Arkansas Ballet, and the Toledo Ballet. He has performed as concertmaster with orchestras including: the North Arkansas Symphony, the Saginaw Symphony, the Allegheny Symphony, and the Canary Islands International Opera Festival Orchestra. He has a deep commitment to music education, and has over thirty years experience teaching at colleges and universities. He regularly presents clinics, workshops, and concerts throughout the northwest Missouri northeastern Kansas region. While teaching in Arkansas he conducted the North Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra for over eight years. Mr. McNeela has conducted Honors Orchestras in the northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan regions, and throughout Arkansas. He has also performed and taught at several summer music festivals including the Lake Luzerne Music Festival, the Allegheny Music Festival, the Arkansas Music Festival, and the Hot Springs Music Festival.
saint joseph
symphony Missouri Western State University and the Saint Joseph Symphony have share a special relationship for more than two decades. Following a long tradition of cooperation, Symphony Music Director Rico McNeela is also a member of the University’s music department faculty. He conducts the University orchestra, teaches music classes and gives individual lessons to student string players. The Symphony and the University share the salary for the position, allowing the conductor to serve both organizations and enhance the quality of music education and entertainment in the community. A number of University music instructors are regular members of the orchestra. Several members of the University faculty and staff serve on the Symphony’s board of directors, committees and task forces. Many music students work as volunteers in Symphony programs and the Symphony provides free or discounted tickets to all members of the University community. Both organizations continue to develop new ideas to enhance and strengthen the partnership and with it, the arts across our region.
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