The purpose of the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic Association is to unite and uplift our community through the transformative power of live music, and today’s concert is no exception.
Celebrating the timeless legacy of Antonín Dvořák, WMP joins forces with the talented musicians of our Youth Orchestra under the direction of Alberto Rodriguez for an unforgettable, and first ever, side-by-side concert. Highlighting the depth and breadth of Dvořák's oeuvre, the program features his beloved Cello Concerto in B minor featuring virtuoso cellist Amit Peled. Our combined orchestras will shine in a lively performance of Dvořák's Slavonic Dance No. 1, capturing the folkloric spirit and rhythmic vitality of this beloved collection. The concert will conclude with Symphony No. 8 in G major where both ensembles unite in a grand finale, bringing Dvořák's lyrical melodies and lush orchestrations to life with passion, spirit, and resilience.
Please mark your calendars for our 2025|2026 Season as we continue to feature the works of a variety of American composers culminating in spirited collaborations. From all of us here at WMPA, we wish you and your families a fun and relaxing summer season!
Dvořák completed this work on June 11, 1895 It was premiered on March 19, 1896, in London with cellist Leo Stein as soloist and the composer conducting. It is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, three horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, and strings.
Antonin Dvořák spent three years in the United States between 1892 and 1895. Invited by the president of the National Conservatory of Music in America, located in New York City, Dvořák could not refuse the offer of becoming its director His annual compensation of $15,000 was very impressive for the time, representing twenty-five times the salary he had received at the Prague Conservatory. In today’s currency, his salary represents nearly $400,000. During Dvořák’s American period, he conducted many concerts and composed several works. His first summer was spent in the idyllic Czech village of Spillville, Iowa.
Dvořák’s last American work was his thoroughly Czech-flavored Cello Concerto However, its inspiration was thoroughly American. The motivation came from Victor Herbert, later known as the composer of delightful operettas (Naughty Marietta and Babes in Toyland are the most popular of his more than fifty stage works), who performed his own Second Cello Concerto in 1894 to an audience that included Dvořák. The Czech composer, having been pressed for years by his countryman Hanuš Wihan to compose a cello concerto, was duly impressed and decided to begin composing a new work. The result is more Czech than American, probably due to the homesickness he felt while vacationing in Spillville.
Dvořák’s first movement begins quietly with a woodwind passage. From this gentle whisper, the texture builds to a towering climax Before the cellist enters, both of the main themes are introduced by the orchestra alone, as is the custom in traditional concertos The soloist is finally heard with an ornamented version of the first theme, proceeding to a more straightforward reading of the second melody. One of the most interesting aspects of the first movement is the reversal of the two main themes when they return after the development section.
Marked Adagio non troppo, the second movement shows the Bohemian side of Dvořák’s work First played by the clarinet, the first theme bears the hallmarks of Czech folk music. The second theme is derived from the composer’s own art song, “Let me wander alone in my dreams,” which was a favorite of his sister-in-law (and first love), Josefine Kauric. He decided to quote this work when he received word that she was ill His treatment of the theme is almost that of a conversation between woodwind soloists and the cellist The first theme returns, this time with a flute obbligato.
The finale is a fiery rondo built upon martial rhythms. Near the center of the movement, the
tempo relaxes, and a series of musical reminiscences begins. One account, probably accurate, claims that the return of Josefine’s theme, near the end of the sequence, was added after Dvořák’s eventual return to Prague, where he found that she had died. Regardless of the inspiration, the effect is one of exquisite beauty, occurring just before the final restatement of the march theme.
Slavonic Dance No. 1, Op. 46, B. 83
—Antonin Dvořák
This work was first performed on May 25, 1878, by the Czech Theater Orchestra with Adolf Cech conducting. It is scored for piccolo, pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, percussion, and strings
Antonin Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances proved to be his first compositional success in 1878, selling wildly in central Europe. The impetus for the two sets of Slavonic Dances was Brahms’ suggestion to his publisher Fritz Simrock that the young and talented Dvořák would be a good addition to his catalog After the publication of his Moravian Duets, Simrock asked Dvořák to write a set of dances.
Modeled after Brahms’ Hungarian Dances, the new work used the rhythms of Slavic music to create a wholly original work for piano four-hands. Simrock was so pleased that he asked Dvořák to orchestrate the piece The dances were so popular that Simrock ordered a second set in 1886
Based on the Czech dance called furiant, which features a fast tempo and alternating duple and triple metric stresses, the first Slavonic Dance boasts masterful orchestration Strong musical ideas are enhanced by variation, ornamentation, and a cornucopia of audible details that add to the charm of the piece Louis Ehlert, a music critic for the Berlin Nationalzeitung wrote:
“I consider the Slavonic Dances to be a work which will make its triumphant way through the world just as Brahms’s Hungarian Dances did. But there is no question here of imitation; his dances are not in the least Brahmsian Divine providence flows through this music; there is not a trace of artificiality or constraint. Everything is so effectively and colorfully arranged, it could be scored forthwith. As always among talents of a high order, humor has an important place in Dvořák’s music He writes such cheerful and original basses that the heart of every musician must laugh within him. [...] I cannot help thinking how splendid it would be if a musician should once again appear among us about whom we should think as little of quarrelling as about the coming of spring.”
Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88
—Antonin Dvořák
This work was first performed on February 2, 1890, in Prague with the composer conducting. It is scored for pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons, with added piccolo and English horn, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings
Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony, unlike his other compositions at the time, was not published by the powerful firm of Simrock His friend and inspiration, Johannes Brahms, had introduced him to the firm, a real aid to a young composer with a career to make. But, as that career progressed, Dvořák became dissatisfied with his monetary returns Simrock paid Brahms 40,000 marks for
PROGRAM NOTES (cont'd)
his Fourth Symphony. But Simrock would offer Dvořák only 3,000 marks for his Sixth Symphony. While Dvořák did not put himself in the class of Brahms, musically or financially, he did think he should get at least 6,000 marks for the new work. When, after the London premiere, he informed Simrock that the symphony “had an exceptionally brilliant success,” he was speaking nothing but the truth, and was making a pointed reminder to the publisher. The London public and critics literally raved over the work. Some listeners compared it favorably with the great Schubert C Major Symphony. Others rated it above the symphonies of Brahms. These judgments, if somewhat on the extreme side, impressed Simrock and when Dvořák insisted upon his 6,000 marks, he got them
This was only one of a number of conflicts between Dvořák and Simrock. For a time the Czech abandoned the firm entirely for another publisher, Novello, and ignored Simrock’s protests that their contract of 1879 was still valid At the root of this conflict – which is interesting today because of the aesthetic argument at its root – was Simrock’s insistence that Dvořák’s larger works earned them little money They wanted him to turn out more songs and piano pieces “I shall simply do what God imparts me to do,” Dvořák replied, and calmly went about his composing By the time Novello had published the brilliant Eighth Symphony and the greatly admired Requiem, Simrock had learned his lesson Thereafter, the German firm published everything from Dvořák’s pen, including two symphonies that emerged posthumously Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony, his penultimate work with that designation, is in four movements, as is usually the case, but shows considerable experimentation regarding its internal musical forms Opening with a brisk tempo of allegro con brio, this G Major work’s first melody is actually in the polar opposite key of G minor According to standard sonata form, found almost universally in opening movements of the day, the first theme must be in the key of the work as a whole – in this case, G Major True to form, Dvořák shattered tradition After all, such a dichotomy of major and minor was probably not so extreme to an Eastern European composer, since the same procedure is common in folk music from Dvořák’s Czech homeland
The second movement, marked adagio, finds its drama in an unstable harmonic palette A vivid pastoral view of Czech peasant life, it is filled with bird calls – even a village band Dvořák’s dance movement (allegretto grazioso) is hardly a scherzo, but more in the character a starodávny, a waltz-like Lachian peasant dance at a moderate tempo. A major-key trio adds an unexpectedly sunny moment to the proceedings.
Beginning with a grand fanfare, the allegro ma non troppo finale is a set of variations on a theme first heard in the cellos. Although it must be considered a sonata form, Dvořák throws another wrench into the works by adding a central march that is completely unrelated to the form. After this diversion, the cello theme and fanfare melody receive a reworking in the development section. The powerful recapitulation gives way to an interesting section in which Dvořák reverses the variation process by simplifying the theme until it reaches a near-barren form. Fast and energetic material then leads to a frenzied coda to end the symphony with a flourish.
Internationally renowned cellist, conductor and pedagogue AMIT PELED is acclaimed as one of the most exciting and virtuosic instrumentalists on the concert stage today. Having performed in many of the world’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center in New York, the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D C , Salle Gaveau in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, Seoul Arts Center in Korea and the Konzerthaus Berlin, Germany. Peled has released over a dozen
Alberto (Al) Rodriguez is an engaging educator, conductor, clinician, and performer, now serving as Music Director of the Washington Metropolitan Youth Orchestra after three seasons as Assistant Conductor. A two-time “Orchestra Director of the Year” winner from the Fairfax Orchestra Directors Association and a Quarterfinalist for the 2024 GRAMMY Music Educator Award, Al has led the orchestras at Mount Vernon High School in
Alexandria, VA since 2017. Under his steady leaders quality, offering students world premieres and gue consistently earn “Superior” ratings at Virginia Ba events. Outside the classroom, Al is an active electric specializing in rock, blues, and funk, and has toured regionally for over a decade. With a strong belief in diverse and engaging repertoire, Al was awarded a 2023 Wolftrap Grant to launch a collaborative music project at MVHS He holds a B S in Music Education from Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Institute of Music (2015) and an M.M. from Ithaca College (2021).
MEET OUR MUSIC DIRECTOR
"Collaborative... Engaging... Audience-ingra
As Music Director of the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic, Music Director/ Conductor of the Naptown Philharmonic Orchestra, the AACC Symphony Orchestra at Anne Arundel Community College, and a frequent guest conductor on the national and international scene, ANNA BINNEWEG repeatedly captures audiences with her enthusiasm and passion for music. Putting her musicians, not herself, in the spotlight, Binneweg brings out the best in them Her orchestras’ shared focus and energy makes orchestral music sound new, fresh and exciting. Her programs and performances are alluring, engaging and attract diverse audiences of all ages, particularly making classical repertoire more appealing to younger generations. Over the course of her career, Binneweg has performed in some of the nation’s most reputable concert venues including the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall Her international conducting experiences include tours to Austria, Spain and debut appearances with the Chernihiv Philharmonic (Ukraine), Lviv Virtuosi (Ukraine) and the Minsk Conservatory Orchestra (Belarus). A committed music educator, Binneweg’s youth orchestra experience includes appointments with the Houston Youth Symphony (Houston, TX) and the San Luis Obispo Youth Symphony, in addition to her guest conducting appearances with colleges and universities throughout the United States She is in frequent demand as an orchestra clinician and adjudicator throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and served on the national executive board of directors for the College Orchestra Directors Association (CODA) from 2014-2018 Binneweg has worked with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Daniel Barenboim, Robert Spano, James Paul, Michael Morgan, Duaine Wolfe, Nurhan Arman and David Effron through various engagements sponsored by the League of American Orchestras, the Conductors Institute of New York and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Most recently, she was elected to the board of directors of the International Conductors Guild (2021) Earning a doctorate degree of music in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University where she studied with Victor Yampolsky, Binneweg has also served on the conducting faculties at Loyola University, the Sherwood Conservatory of Music, and American University. Like all conductors, Binneweg is the most visible part of the orchestra, the advocate and face of the ensembles she leads. As an active conductor of the 2022-2023 season, she remains committed to reigniting her community’s passion for live music and collaboration during these pandemic times. Binneweg is the recipient of the 2015 Annie Award for the Performing Arts awarded by the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County. www.annabinneweg.com
WASHINGTON
PHILHARMONIC WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN YOUTH ORCHESTRA*
Nancy West In honor of John C West and Alan B Prosise, Jr
AARON COPLAND $1,000-$2,499
Angela Stover Anderson^
Samuel & Patricia Boglio
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Joseph Keum**
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Deidre Pistochini
Carole A Pyle^
Mr. David C. Schwark & Mrs. Suzanne C.
Schwark
WILLIAM GRANT STILL $500-$999
Anonymous
Anna Binneweg**
Gary Bravy
Bruce Davies**
Sarah & Michael Fredell
Thomas Helsinki
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Charles Cannon
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WHAT IS WMPA?
SPECIAL THANKS
Program funding provided by our donors, and in part by:
Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic: an adult orchestra for local professional, semi professional, and dedicated amateur musicians
Washington Metropolitan Youth Orchestra: an inclusive youth orchestra for grades 9-12
Washington Metropolitan Concert Orchestra: a beginner’s orchestra for grades 6-9
Lyceum Chamber Series: a summer series of weekly chamber music concerts at the Alexandria History Museum at the Lyceum Community Concerts: A variety of free concert programs presented in underserved communities featuring members of the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic
WMPA’S
PURPOSE, VISION, AND MISSION
WMPA’s PURPOSE is to unite and uplift our community through classical music. Our VISION is to create the audience of the future for classical music.
Our MISSION is to provide programs to:
Educate and engage students through our Youth Orchestras
Perform and promote orchestral music through the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic
Connect and communicate chamber music through our summer Lyceum Series
Expand and enlighten newcomers to classical music through our Community Concerts
