University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra Concert

University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra

2022-2023 | 104TH CONCERT SEASON

PROKOFIEV’S ROMEO AND JULIET

COMPOSER SALINA FISHER

Friday, February 3, 2023 | 7:30pm

Singletary Center for the Arts

CKYO wishes UKSO a wonderful 104th season!

We are proud of all CKYO Alumni attending the University of Kentucky and especially want to recognize those playing in UKSO in 2022-2023!

Emma Anderson

Jackson Arnold

Alexis Cerise

Katie Christensen

Garrett Cline

Adam Florence

Alex Gililland

Tala Glass

Katherine Goble

Matthew Goodrich

Bailey Hall

Jessica Harrison

Benjamin Humphries

Serena Hutchens

Shannon James

Anna Jeoung

Madison Jones

Elliott King

Elisabeth Komprs

Andrew Lin

Benjamin Lin

Kylie Meadows

Holly Ratliff

Haerin Seo

Maia Smith

Richard Smith

Anna Watrous

Raymond You

“When the artistry of our students aligns with the passion of a member of our audience, great things can happen. The Ben C. Kaufmann and Janet Zusman Music Fund in the School of Music provides critical support so that music performance and audience enjoyment can be linked for generations to come.”

–Mark Shanda Dean, College of Fine Arts

Friday, February 3, 2023, 7:30 p.m. Singletary Center for the Arts

University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra

John Nardolillo, conductor

Merih Erdem Özden DMA’24, conductor

Salina Fisher, composer-in-residence

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)

SALINA FISHER (b. 1993)

Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture (1869, rev. 1880)

Murmuring Light (2019)

Kentucky premiere

SALINA FISHER Tupaia (2018)

Merih Erdem Özden DMA’24, conductor

Kentucky premiere

SALINA FISHER Kintsugi for Orchestra (2022)

U.S. premiere Intermission

SERGE PROKOFIEV (1892-1953)

Suite from Romeo & Juliet (1935-1936)

I. Montagues and Capulets (Suite No. 2, No. 1)

II. Young Juliet (Suite No. 2, No. 2)

III. Minuet (Suite No. 1, No. 4)

IV. Masks (Suite No. 1, No. 5)

V. Romeo and Juliet, The Balcony Scene (Suite No. 1, No. 6)

VI. Death of Tybalt (Suite No. 1, No. 7)

VII. Romeo at Friar Lawrence (Suite No. 2, No. 3)

VIII. Romeo at Juliet’s Grave (Suite No. 2, No. 7)

IX. Death of Juliet (Suite No. 3, No. 6)

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

John Nardolillo, Music Director and Conductor

Violin

Stanley Kuo, Jan Karon

Concertmaster

Reisa Fukuda *

Madison Jones *

JeeHee Kang *

Guillermo Arias

Emma Browning

Nicholas Castelluzzo

Katie Christensen

Justyn Douthit

Alex Gililland

Katherine Goble

Jessica Harrison

Saelim Henderson

Serena Hutchens

Marvelous Igwe

Nathan Jones

Andrew Lin

Benjamin Lin

Sean Radermacher

Haerin Seo

Connor Taylor

Emmylou Tidwell

Raymond You

Viola

Guanliang Zong *

Kendra Brown

Lyla Damas

Kristin Earnest

Bailey Hall

Anna Jeoung

Asmita Karki

Aiden Koknat

Elisabeth Komprs

Reese McLaughlin

Kylie Meadows

Mary Meyers

Elizabeth Scoma

Maia Smith

Richard Smith

Raegan Williams

Cello

Pono Santos *

Ian Wasserman *

Jackson Arnold

Morgan Booher

Kevin He

Nathan Johnson

Alvaro Munoz

Anna Watrous

Bass

Eva Reyes-Smith *

Arsonlove Abney

Emma Anderson

Brian Chu

Garrett Cline

Adam Florence

Tala Glass

Elliott King

Dezmond Rogers

Flute

Shannon James *

Lauren Wiedemer *

Claire Baumann

Alex Nguyen

Oboe

Camilla Yoder *

Bethany Trotta *

Dominic Luthje

Holly Ratliff

Clarinet

Braylee Perry *

Matthew Goodrich

Alexander Malone

Saxophone

Zackary Watkins *

Bassoon

Alexis Cerise *

Andrew Payne

Ben Wesley

Horn

Ariel Arney *

Briana Childers *

Benjamin Humphries *

AJ Bernal

Hayden LaVelle

Trumpet

Robbie Collins *

Madison Glafenhein *

Xavier Cross

Jacob Wilson

Victor Yuen

Trombone

Tyler Greer *

Andrew Nichols *

Kamilo Davila

William Middleton

Tuba

Samuel Salazar *

Timpani

Adria Shields *

Percussion

Ford Smith *

Emi Jones

Chris Lucero

Gavin Milby

Harp

Elaine Cook *

Melanie Landsittel

Beth Merrill

Piano

Ni Zhan *

* Principal

Notes on Tonight’s Program

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)

Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture (1869, rev. 1880)

Instrumentation: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals), harp, and strings. Length:23 minutes.

The evolution of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s symphonic output in many ways mirrors his search for his own musical language and the internal struggle created by his interpersonal challenges. His six numbered symphonies are often divided into two groups of three: his early symphonies spanning 18661875, and his more mature compositions beginning with the Symphony No. 4 in F minor in 1878 through to the end of his life. The early symphonies are fascinating experiments in the balance of the Western symphonic form and Tchaikovsky’s Russian musical heritage. The Symphony No. 1 in G minor (1866) explores the creation of a cyclical symphony, one that provides coherence by sharing its themes across the four movements. The Symphony No. 2 in C minor (1872) focuses on the use of Slavic folk tunes around which he organizes the structures of this Western symphonic form. The Symphony No. 3 in D minor (1875), Tchaikovsky’s only symphony in a major key, is divided into five movements, organized symmetrically around a central Andante which evokes the form of a suite or divertimento as much as it does a symphony.

Within this early-life symphonic context, Tchaikovsky conceived of the original version of the work that would be become the Romeo and Juliet FantasyOverture. In consultation with friend and fellow Russian composer Mily Balakirev—a member of the so-called group of Russian composers known as The Five, which also included Alexander Borodin, Modest Mussorgsky, César Cui, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov—to whom the work would be dedicated, Tchaikovsky imagined a programmatic sonata-form movement with the main sections and themes representing different characters or scenarios from Shakespeare’s play.

The original version, premiered in 1870, was not a success, and Tchaikovsky began revisions, which would then represent the growing complexity of his musical and compositional voice. While the early symphonic works seem to be experiments in musical concerns, Tchaikovsky’s later works may be more focused on the expression of internal struggles. The composer’s marriage to Antonina Ivanovna Milyukova in July 1877 lasted just months before Tchaikovsky and she were separated. The aftermath of this ill-fated relationship, along with the precarious state of his finances and professional position, caused both emotional and physical turmoil for Tchaikovsky. The third and final version of the Fantasy-Overture was finished in 1880, after the completion of his bruising Symphony No. 4 in F minor, and it engages more meaningfully with this more mature musical style.

Inspired by Shakespeare’s tragic lovers, Tchaikovsky begins the work with a quartet of clarinets and bassoons intoning a wordless chant, evoking the musical language of the Russian Orthodox Church. Then the main body of the piece is organized around three major themes, the second of which is the famous love theme, first heard in the soulful English horn and expressive violas. Tchaikovsky presents each theme and then takes off into the fantasy section of the work, which presents fragments of the themes, rearranged and reordered (just as in the development section of a sonata form symphonic movement). After a restatement, he ends the work with a poignant coda featuring the heartbeats of the titular couple in the timpani before the love theme, accompanied by the celestial harp, brings the work to a dramatic and touching conclusion. This final version of the work, which is the version that has entered the orchestral repertory, is perhaps less directly narrative than the original, but no less evocative of the overwhelming emotions of love, passion, conflict, and grief that have made this story so well-loved for generations.

SALINA FISHER (b. 1993)

New Zealand composer and violinist Salina Fisher (b. 1993) is the winner of numerous awards for her music, including a Fulbright scholarship, the Creative New Zealand Award, and the SOUNZ Contemporary Award in 2016 and 2017. She holds degrees from the New Zealand School of Music (in Music Composition and Violin Performance) and the Manhattan School of Music in New York, and she has recently been the Composer-in-Residence at both the New Zealand School of Music - Te Kōkī at Victoria University of Wellington and the At the World’s Edge Festival in Central Lakes, New Zealand. Her music has been commissioned and performed across the world, and her score to the short film Misimpressions was celebrated at the Canberra Film Festival. Well esteemed worldwide, Fisher’s music has been performed by such ensembles as the Seattle Symphony, Ulster Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Albany Symphony, Amici Ensemble, and Marmen Quartet.

Fisher’s music explores the intersection of orchestral music and sound as she employs a wide array of percussion instruments and even asks many of the musicians from across the orchestra to play their instruments in nontraditional ways. The result is as atmospheric as it is melodic—in her words, both “shape and shapelessness”—and immediately immerses the listener in the remarkable sound world of her musical vocabulary, unique to each work. Fisher also draws on the cultural histories of New Zealand and the peoples of the South Pacific, bringing elements of history and the storytelling of this region into the narratives and inspirations of her music.

Fisher offers this reflection on Murmuring Light (2019): “In Studio Drift’s interactive light installation Flylight, many delicate glass tubes light up in unpredictable swarm-like patterns. These patterns are based on the flock

behavior of birds, and are responsive to the viewer’s movement. While birds can symbolize individual freedom, in a murmuration they find safety in numbers, sensing each other’s direction and moving collectively. In Murmuring Light, I explore this delicate balance between the individual and the group. Through various musical parameters, the distinction between ‘individual’ and ‘group’ is heightened and blurred, in a continuous shift of light.”

Murmuring Light won the Manhattan School of Music’s Carl Kanter Award for Excellence in Orchestral Composition in May 2019, and its New Zealand premiere was given by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and Music Director Giordano Bellincampi in November 2019. A solo trumpet pierces through the avian energy, but quickly the orchestra seems to be playing along, guided by the orchestral timbres of the English horn and a variety of percussion. A second section is kicked off by the vibraphone, piano, and cello with a number of solo lines taking prominence, emanating from within the orchestra.

Fisher writes this description of the origination of Tupaia (2018), inspired by a Tahitian navigator: “British explorer James Cook’s first voyage to the Pacific (The Endeavour, 1769) had dual purposes. Firstly, to observe the transit of Venus across the sun as seen from Tahiti, and secondly, to find evidence of the great southern continent Terra Australis Incognita. During their time in Tahiti, the Endeavour crew became acquainted with Tupaia, a master Polynesian navigator and arioi (Tahitian priest). Tupaia had an extraordinary geographical knowledge of the Pacific Islands, and was highly skilled in traditional navigation based on the sea, swells, currents, winds, and stars. At the insistence of Joseph Banks, a British naturalist, Tupaia joined the Endeavour voyage and played a vital role upon their landing in New Zealand, particularly in his ability to communicate with Māori due to similarities between Polynesian languages.

“On board the Endeavour, Tupaia transcribed his extensive memorized geography of the Pacific using newly acquired cartographical skills. Although this surviving Chart of Islands has the appearance of a Western map, the positions of the 74 islands are based on a series of Polynesian island compasses relative to a central island (Tupaia’s home, Ra’iatea), rather than cardinal points; with distances based on sailing durations. This fascinating record of cultural and navigational interaction inspired my compositional process, particularly in terms of the concept of notation as ‘mapping’ or ‘transcription of space’. My work, Tupaia, also draws inspiration from the idea of celestial navigation: the constant and gradual shift in perspective necessary to perceive the ‘rise and fall’ of stars, and ultimately to move forward.”

Tupaia was commissioned by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (with support from the Albany Symphony Orchestra in the United States). It begins with the slow undulating of the ocean creating a sense of space and vastness. The twinkling of the stars in the sky, reflecting off of the many crests on the

water create an always changing constellation of sound and scope. The brass section seems to call out from the darkness and the ensemble is stirred up into a more insistent energy: the moans of the sea fall away, leaving only the starry twinkles of the percussion and high strings until the flute returns with a more recognizable melody. This spark eventually dissolves back into the texture of the music as well, and we are left with the mystery of the cosmos, back where we started.

Fisher writes of the inspiration for her piano trio, Kintsugi (2020): “Kintsugi is the ancient Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold. All the pieces of a broken bowl or pot are carefully joined back together with gold-dusted urushi (lacquer). Rather than hiding the damage, kintsugi celebrates all the cracks or ‘scars’ for the unique history that they represent. The object is more beautiful for having been broken.

“I am personally drawn to kintsugi as a metaphor for embracing ‘brokenness’ and imperfection as a source of strength. This piece for piano trio is my expression and exploration of kintsugi, and involves musical fragmentation, fragility, mending, and finding beauty in the ‘cracks’.

“While writing this piece, I was very fortunate to meet Wellington-based Japanese ceramicist and kintsugi practitioner Kumiko Jacolin. I am grateful to Kumiko for her work and our discussions on Japanese philosophy in ceramics that have been influential in my creative process.”

Kintsugi was commissioned by the NZTrio in 2020 and performed at Lincoln Center in 2022. Tonight’s work, Kintsugi for Orchestra (2022) is an orchestration of this original work, completed last year.

SERGE PROKOFIEV (1891-1953)

Suite from Romeo and Juliet (1935-1936)

Instrumentation: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, tenor saxophone, timpani, percussion (glockenspiel, xylophone, tambourine, field drum, triangle, bass drum, snare drum, maraca, woodblock, cymbal, suspended cymbal), harp, piano, and strings. Length: 40 minutes.

Serge Prokofiev’s musical biography was inextricably linked to the political narrative of his native Russia. As a young man, Prokofiev studied music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where the faculty included such luminaries of Russian music as Alexander Glazunov, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Anatoly Lyadov. The young Prokofiev would also have the opportunity to travel throughout Europe, where he would be able to perform for and meet with influential figures of the time (including Sergei Diaghilev, the founder of the Ballet Russe and Igor Stravinsky’s balletic collaborator), and hear

performances of some of the great works of modernity, including Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps and Maurice Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé. After his return home, Prokofiev was surprised by the October Revolution of 1918 that saw Vladimir Lenin come to power, and he quickly left for the United States later that year. He eventually returned to the Soviet Union in 1936, reuniting with his family, but now finding himself living and working under Josef Stalin’s artistic censorship and imprisonment policies. His music—along with the music of many Soviet era composers—found new awareness and popularity in the West after the 1942 American premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich’s evocative and harrowing Symphony No. 7, written and performed during the Nazi siege of Leningrad.

Written in the period directly following Prokofiev’s return to the Soviet Union, Romeo and Juliet was one of only a handful of works without an overtly political perspective in a very politically charged setting. The mandate from the government was for Soviet art to celebrate the state and the people, often giving prominence to Russian folk stories of the past or Soviet occasions of the present. This tension between the need to produce works deemed acceptable to the political regime and the desire to create art exploring the contemporary stylistic trends of a more avant-garde modernism was a central friction of Prokofiev’s musical life. Romeo and Juliet was a story somewhat distanced from the specifics of Soviet politics, and with that modicum of freedom Prokofiev set out originally to compose the music for a new production by the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad. The music was initially considered to be quite complex, and the Kirov balked at the presenting Prokofiev’s new work. Despite having been finished in 1936, the work waited two years for a premiere—albeit in the Czech city of Brno—before its Russian premiere, now in the hands of the Bolshoi in Moscow. This extended waiting period allowed Prokofiev to compile two orchestral suites from the ballet aiding the music in finding its way into the symphonic repertory. (He later composed yet a third orchestra suite with additional selections.) The movements performed this evening are drawn from all three suites and ordered to roughly follow the narrative as told in William Shakespeare’s 16th-century drama of the eponymous fated lovers.

With a blaring musical clash, the conflict of the drama is obvious right from the outset of Montagues and Capulets. After a brief introduction, a dramatic and forceful march takes over with weighty downbeats and flamboyant leaps in the strings. It is easy to imagine the two families entering the town square of Verona full of self-importance, ready to brawl. Young Juliet introduces us to the energetic and optimistic Juliet Capulet, here depicted through the spritely strings and joyful clarinet, a stark contrast to the warring attitude of her family. The suite moves ahead to the ball at the Capulet’s estate: Romeo attends, thinking he might catch a glimpse of Rosaline but instead finds himself struck by the beauty of Juliet. Minuet, Masks, and Madrigal give us a sense of the formal dancing that might accompany such an affair, full of pomp, grandeur, and expectancy. Everyone is sizing each other up as they make their way through the social activities, perfectly suited for a performed ballet.

Romeo, of course, has eyes only for Juliet, and they meet at her balcony later that night (Romeo and Juliet) where Romeo professes his sincere and heartfelt love, and the pair are married in secret with the help of Friar Lawrence the following day. Prokofiev’s music alternates between the sweet singing of the strings and more agitated strokes in the brass, perhaps foreshadowing the challenges yet to come. Their joy starts to unravel when Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, challenges Romeo to a duel for daring to have snuck into the Capulets’ ball. Romeo initially refuses Tybalt’s challenge, but Mercutio decides to take his place; in the ensuing melee Mercutio is killed by Tybalt’s hand, and Tybalt is then killed by Romeo’s. Prokofiev’s Death of Tybalt captures the energetic combat with an almost joyful vitality. The sprinting strings take on this enthusiasm, and Prokofiev’s score seems in line with the notion that this conflict is about high-minded concepts like honor and love. However, that character quickly and suddenly changes with the malicious percussion and ominous brass: real blood has been spilt, and the stakes have been raised.

Romeo is banished from Verona, Juliet is commanded to marry Paris, and the two stricken lovers seek counsel with Friar Lawrence, in turn. First, he offers Juliet a potion that will mimic death, which would free her from the marriage to Paris and allow her to slip away with Romeo afterwards. Lawrence’s doesn’t communicate this plan to Romeo in time, and when Romeo inadvertently hears of Juliet’s demise, he is despondent and plans to kill himself. With a vial of poison procured from the local apothecary, Romeo visits Juliet’s tomb (Romeo and Juliet’s Grave). Here, Prokofiev beautifully captures Romeo’s misery with white hot intensity, and the music illustrates the gravity of what is about to happen. Finding no respite from his overwhelming grief, Romeo takes a fatal dose of the poison and dies at Juliet’s side. Juliet then wakes hopeful through the haziness of sleep (Death of Juliet). She is ready to find Romeo and live the rest of their lives together, but this excitement is short lived. She sees Romeo lying dead and in her distraught state fatally stabs herself with Romeo’s dagger. The music ends with a terrible stillness as these two young lights are extinguished after burning so brightly, so recently.

Program notes by Daniel Chetel

UK SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

104th CONCERT SEASON

John Nardolillo

music director and conductor

Friday, April 21, 2023 | 7:30pm

MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 2 “RESURRECTION”

UK Symphony Orchestra

John Nardolillo, conductor

University of Kentucky Choirs

Lexington Singers

Jefferson Johnson, director

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