New Music for Orchestra, December 9, 2021

Robert Blocker, Dean

new music new haven Aaron Jay Kernis, Artistic Director

New Music for Orchestra with the

Yale Philharmonia Ryan Tani, guest conductor

Thursday, December 9, 2021 | 7:30 p.m.

Woolsey Hall

Program Udi Perlman b. 1990

Squeeze Box (2021)

Soomin Kim b. 1995

star / ghost / mouth / sea (2021)

Samantha Wolf b. 1990

Skeleton Pantomime (2021)

Sophia Jani b. 1989

Flare (2021)

intermission Audience members are asked to refrain from mingling.

Joel Thompson b. 1988

“Bundling” from The Snowy Day (2021) Amalia Crevani, soprano (Peter) Elana Bell, mezzo-soprano (Mama) Korin Thomas-Smith, baritone (Daddy)

Jack Frerer b. 1995

Steep (2021)

Lila Meretzky b. 1998

eeanduh (2021)

Harriet Steinke b. 1994

Harrietlehre (2021)

As a courtesy to others, please silence all devices. Photography and recording of any kind is strictly prohibited. Please do not leave the hall during musical selections. Thank you.

Artist Profiles Ryan Tani, conductor

Yale Philharmonia

A driven and versatile conductor, Ryan Tani has been praised for his compelling musicianship in a wide range of symphonic and choral repertoire. Ryan recently completed his master of musical arts degree in orchestral conducting at the Yale School of Music, where he studied under Peter Oundjian and received the Dean’s Prize for artistic excellence in his graduating class.

He also serves as the Music Director of the Occasional Symphony in Baltimore. In 2015, he was declared the winner of the ACDA Undergraduate Student Conducting Competition at their national conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Yale Philharmonia is one of America’s foremost music-school ensembles. The largest performing group at the Yale School of Music, the Philharmonia offers superb training in orchestral playing and repertoire.

Ryan served as Assistant Conductor of the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra, where he was the principal conductor of the Preparatory Orchestra. He also served as Conducting Fellow for the Montgomery Philharmonic. During his tenure as CoFounder and Music Director of the Concerto Chamber Orchestra from 2012–2015, Ryan helped positively shape the orchestral scene in the Los Angeles area by providing a medium for high-level performance opportunities to student musicians of all majors.

Ryan is a graduate of the Peabody Institute, where he studied conducting with Marin Alsop and Markand Thakar, and of the University of Southern California, where he studied voice with Gary Glaze. In addition to his studies at Peabody, Ryan has also studied conducting with Grant Cooper, José-Luis Novo, Larry Rachleff, Donald Schleicher, and Gerard Schwarz.

Ryan remains an active tenor in New Haven, and plays violin, jazz piano, and computer programming for enjoyment.

Performances include an annual series of concerts in Woolsey Hall, as well as Yale Opera productions in the Shubert Theatre.

The Yale Philharmonia has also performed on numerous occasions in Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York City and at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Student Profiles

Staff

Udi Perlman ’26DMA Student of Aaron Jay Kernis » udiperlman.com

Manager Jeffrey M. Mistri

Soomin Kim ’22MMA Student of David Lang » soominkimcomposer.com Samantha Wolf ’22MMA Student of Christopher Theofanidis » samanthawolfmusic.com Sophia Jani ’22MM Student of Martin Bresnick » soundcloud.com/sophiajani Joel Thompson ’26DMA Student of Aaron Jay Kernis » joelthompsonmusic.com Jack Frerer ’22MM Student of Martin Bresnick » jackfrerer.com Lila Meretzky ’22MM Student of David Lang » soundcloud.com/lila-meretzky Harriet Steinke ’22MM Student of David Lang » harrietsteinke.com

assistant manager/ Music Librarian Samuel Bobinski office assistant Matthew Matheny

Program Notes by the composers Squeeze Box udi perlman “Squeeze box” is a colloquial term for the accordion, an instrument I adore and play poorly. The image of expanding and contracting bellows haunted me as I composed Squeeze Box for symphony orchestra. Rather than simulating the sound of the accordion’s vibrating reeds, I envisioned the orchestra as a breathing organism and tried to capture the physical experience of air changing its density, thorough harmony, texture, and timbre. The piece’s narrative arc is a gradual squeeze that culminates in an inevitable moment of over saturation, out of which a more lyrical outlook materializes. star / ghost / mouth / sea soomin kim star / ghost / mouth / sea is a set of four miniatures for orchestra that are named after the four metaphors that are used repeatedly throughout Franny Choi’s book of poetry called Soft Science. The miniatures are not literal translations, but my interpretation, of Franny’s words. Her poems, in which she explores the themes of identity, technology, and violence, among many, not only inspired me but comforted me in times when I struggled to make sense of what it means to look like me, to sound like me, and to be me in this world, in this country.

Hide and seek Flea circus Shadow puppets Midnight Halloween cand Mousetraps Death drops Snakes and ladders Devious licks Danse macabre Big adventures for small creatures Catch me if you can Mischief managed Flare sophia jani The first non-essential item I acquired after arriving in the United States that summer was an anthology of poems by Mary Oliver.

I had never heard of this outstanding poet before I came across her work in a bookstore in New Haven, and so I discovered her poetry in an unprejudiced and casual way.

Her positive, curious, and thoughtful look at the world and life itself was like a cool mountain stream that refreshed me after this exhausting COVID year and the first stressful weeks in my temporary country of residence. I felt very touched by her work, so it naturally found its way into my music, which is why I named this orchestra piece on which I was working at the time after her poem “Flare.”

Flare (excerpt)

Skeleton Pantomime samantha wolf Tiptoes Squeaky stairs Whispers Giggles

Did you know that the ant has a tongue with which to gather in all that it can of sweetness?

Did you know that?

Program Notes cont.

“Bundling” from The Snowy Day joel thompson

Harrietlehre harriet steinke

Peter wakes up to the sight of his first snowfall full of wonder and excitement.

Mama and Daddy, perhaps a bit reluctantly, get their impatient little boy ready for his day of adventures in the snow.

Harrietlehre gets its name, in part, from John Adams’s orchestral work Harmonielehre (a work that I deeply admire). The other part of the title comes from my name (Harriet).

Adams’s work (which gets its name, in part, from Schoenberg’s music theory textbook of the same name) is German for “study of harmony.” In the same way, Harrietlehre might translate to “study of Harriet.” While I was working on this piece, my current teacher, David Lang, pointed out that this translation meant that all of my pieces could be called Harrietlehre — I thought that was a great idea. The piece itself began as a few musical ideas that, when combined, resulted in a 7-measure phrase. Harrietlehre is, more or less, 24 (studious) repetitions of that 7-measure phrase. As a retired violist, I’d like to dedicate this performance to the orchestra’s viola section who are, by far, the heroes of my piece.

This scene is an excerpt from an opera adaptation of The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, the 1962 classic that was notable for being the first mainstream children’s book to feature a Black protagonist. The libretto was written by Andrea Davis Pinckney.

Steep jack frerer Steep was originally a solo cello work, written in early 2021 for Rachel Siu. The original piece remains untouched in this adaptation’s cello part, but is now surrounded by harmonic and rhythmic information provided by the rest of the ensemble.

The first section places this new material above the cello line, weighing it down.

The piece, which begins in its very highest register, gradually descends until it reaches the lowest C of the celli and basses. What follows is a moment of stasis – low, droning material which waits for the ensemble to pull it back up; back to where it started. eeanduh lila meretzky eeanduh is a playful procession of different moods and characters. The piece alternately marches, crawles, slogs, and dances along until disappearing into the distance.

Yale Philharmonia Roster Peter Oundjian, principal conductor Violin 1 Andrew Samarasekara Minkyung Lee Gregory Lewis Satoka Abo In Ae Lee Ilana Zaks Emily Shehi Freya Liu Riana Heath Guan-Ru Lin Violin 2 Michael Ferri Youngji Kim Tianpei Ai Yasmine Fu Alex Goldberg Nayoung Kim Sophia Steger Wei Zhu Viola Kayla Cabrera Chris Rogers-Beadle Adam Newman Serena Hsu Madison Marshall Emily Rekrut-Pressey Cello Jonah Ellsworth Jakob Taylor Jihyun Hwang William Suh Miriam LiskeDoorandish Hans Emil Sollesnes

Double Bass Dylan Reckner Nicholas Hernandez Xinyun Tu Flute Hyeonjeong Choi Rachel Johnstone Oboe Rachel Ahn Soo Min Ha Michelle Oh Clarinet Lloyd Van’t Hoff Kean Xiong Bassoon Katia Osorio Anjali Pillai Andy Sledge Horn Ava Conway Stephanie Fritz Torrin Hallett Xin He Franco Oritz Kyle Thompson Trumpet Anthony Barrington Shania Cordoba Lizbeth Yanez

Trombone Benjamin Dettelback Addison Maye-Saxon Chandler McLaughlin Matthew Rose David Seder Declan Wilcox Tuba Bridget Conley Vivian Kung Timpani Makana Medeiros Percussion Sijia Huang Yukiko Nakamura Michael Yeung Harp Mia Venezia Jane Yoo Piano Yunhan Gu Ilan Zajtmann Celeste Yunhan Gu Ilan Zajtmann

Staff Manager Jeffrey M. Mistri Assistant Manager Samuel Bobinski Office Assistant Matthew Matheny Stage Crew Shania Cordoba Alex Dergal Ryan Goodwin Jihyun Hwang Seojin Kim Makana Medeiros Stephen Perkyns Chris Rogers-Beadle Matthew Rose Declan Wilcox Deng Zhang Library Stephanie Fritz Nicholas Hernandez Jillian Honn Gregory Lewis

Upcoming Events at YSM dec 13

Lunchtime Chamber Music 12:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall

dec 15

Yale Cellos 7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall

dec 16 Julia Clancy, viola

Doctor of Musical Arts Degree Recital

7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall

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