WILLIAM BOUGHTON INTERIM CONDUCTOR
november 10 8:00 pm woolsey hall
program
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Ralph Vaughan Williams
Invocation for Cello and Orchestra Gustav Holst Henry Shapard, cello Intermission
The Planets Gustav Holst Mars, the Bringer of War Venus, the Bringer of Peace Mercury, the Winged Messenger Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age Uranus, the Magician Neptune, the Mystic Video presentation courtesy of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
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about the artists William Boughton, Interim Conductor Born into a musical family - his grandfather (Rutland Boughton) was a composer, his father a professional viola player and his mother a singer. After studies, at New England Conservatory (Boston), Guildhall School of Music (London) and Prague Academy as a cellist, he entered the profession in London playing with the Royal Philharmonic, BBC and London Sinfonietta Orchestras. The experience of playing in orchestras led to a passion to pursue a career in conducting studying with George Hurst and then Sir Colin Davis. In 1980 he formed the English String Orchestra initially focusing on early 20th Century English repertoire but developing it into late 20th and 21st Century Contemporary music commissioning over 20 works from composers such Peter Sculthorpe, John Joubert, Anthony Powers, Michael Berkeley, John Metcalf, Stephen Roberts and Adrian Williams. The depth of his partnership with the ESO was epitomised in 1985 when, as Artistic Director of the Malvern Festival, he collaborated with Sir Michael Tippett to present a musical celebration of the composer’s eightieth birthday which was the subject of a BBC “Omnibus” documentary. With the ESO he built a significant discography of internationally acclaimed recordings with Nimbus Records - predominantly of English music, a number of which reached the Top Ten in the US Billboard charts. Between 1986–93 he was also Artistic & Music Director of the Jyvaskyla Sinfonia in Finland and guest conducted with numerous orchestras including the London Symphony, Philharmonia, San Francisco, Royal Philharmonic, Finnish Radio, Mittel Deutsch Radio, working with artists such as Nigel Kennedy, Leonidas Kavakos, Emmanuel Ax, Radu Lupu and Viktoria Mullova. In October 1993, William Boughton was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Coventry University in recognition of his expertise in British music. In November 1995, he and the ESO presented a weekend of music celebrating the 60th birthday of English composer Nicholas Maw, marking another milestone in his championship of contemporary English music. In 1996 William Boughton commenced a second term as Artistic Director of
the Malvern Festival. The 2005/6 Season was his final year with the ESO in which they celebrated the Orchestra’s 25th Anniversary performing a ‘Complete Beethoven Symphony Cycle’, and created a new series of pre-concert performances of British contemporary music, including works by Birtwistle, Knussen. Watkins, Woolrich, Holloway and Turnage. In July 2007 he became the 10th Music Director of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO), with whom he instituted a ‘Composer in Residence’ Scheme (Augusta Read Thomas, Christopher Theofanidis, Hannah Lash) and started a major Walton Project with concerts, lectures/talks and recordings on the Nimbus Label. With the NHSO he has received two ASCAP Awards (2011 & 2014) for Adventurous Programming and received critical acclaim for the Walton Project, with Gramophones Edward Greenfield nominating it for ‘Record of the Year’ (2010). In October 2014 two new recordings were released with the New Haven Symphony of William Walton and Augusta Read Thomas. His commitment and dedication to the younger generation is epitomized through his teaching – creating a cello studio in one of the poorest areas of New Haven, building the NHSO’s Education Dept, working with the State and Regional Youth Orchestras and teaching at the Yale School of Music. In May 2016 he visited Central China University for Conducting Masterclasses and conducted the Hubei Symphony. He regularly records for both Nimbus and Lyrita Labels and guest conducts in the USA.
Henry Shapard, Cello Henry Shapard, 20, serves as Principal Cello and Assistant Conductor of the Yale Symphony Orchestra and studies with Ole Akahoshi. This past summer, he was a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center, working with Boston Symphony Music Director Andris Nelsons and Herbert Blomstedt, among other notable conductors. In the summer of 2017, he was a member of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra in Germany. He has also served as the Principal Cello of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America under Christoph Eschenbach, Charles Dutoit, and Valery Gergiev. As a concerto soloist, he has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Or-
chestra, the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, among others. His solo and chamber music performances have been featured on BBC Radio 3 and on WCLV 104.9, Cleveland’s classical music station. He has performed on three continents, including in the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, and twice at Carnegie Hall. He returns to Carnegie Hall in February 2019 for a collaborative performance between the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and selected alumni of NYO-USA led by Daniel Harding.
Elm City Girls’ Choir The Elm City Girls’ Choir is New England’s most highly acclaimed girls’ choral program. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, the Choir has received national recognition, and has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Walt Disney World, and on CBS Television. Since its founding in 1993, ECGC has performed with many respected choral ensembles, such as the New York Virtuoso Singers, CONCORA, The American Boychoir, Yale Schola Cantorum, Yale Glee Club, Yale Camerata, Trinity Boys Choir, Newark Boys’ Chorus and Village Harmony, and with professional orchestras including the Boston Philharmonic, New Haven Symphony, Yale Symphony, and Moscow State Orchestra. In addition, the Choir has been featured at conferences of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and the United Church of Christ Musicians Association. ECGC has toured extensively throughout North America, Asia and Europe, and has appeared on national television performing with Diana Ross at the women’s finals match of the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. ECGC is the premier ensemble of United Choir School LLC, a private, non-sectarian educational institution that provides musical training and performance opportunities to over 550 talented young musicians, ages 6-18. In addition to the Elm City Girls’ Choir, United Choir School operates satellite ensembles (United Girls’ Choir) in Branford, Cheshire, Clinton, Hamden, Killingworth, Madison, Milford, North Haven and Shelton, CT, and is currently in the process of establishing additional chapters in communities throughout the Northeast. The School’s mission is to foster a deep commitment to the realization of personal and artistic potential in an environment that engenders cooperation, creativity, self-discipline, and, above all, an earnest respect for all people.
Rebecca Rosenbaum, Music Director, received her DMA and MM degrees in choral conducting from Yale University and her BA in music from Vassar College. In addition to her experience conducting and overseeing various ensembles of the Elm City Girls’ Choir and United Girls’ Choir, Ms. Rosenbaum served as the Director of Choral Activities at Vassar College, where she taught music classes and conducted the Vassar Women’s Choir for three years. Ms. Rosenbaum has taught at Yale University and Bay Path College, and has also served as a choral advisor to the Spence School in New York, NY. She has appeared as guest conductor and clinician for many regional choral festivals throughout the Northeast.
The Elm City Girls’ Choir Rebecca Rosenbaum, Music Director Thomas Brand, Founder and Artistic Director Princess K. Aggrey Emma Blair Haley Jane Bracken Chloe Chauvot de Beauchene Raquel Farray Alexis Ferreira Emma Leigh Freel Gianna Rose Gassira Kruttika Gopal
Lily Royce Goren Virginia Taylor Grabovsky Amara Rafaella Greenshpun Cora Marieke Hagens Briana Robinson Hambor Sophie Haxhi Natalie Houlton Katherine Huang Aurelia Keberle Annie Kennedy
RoriAnne McCarthy Linda Katherine Nelson Angelina Nucolo Dorothy Parniawski Joy Qiang Gillian Nicole Regan Audrey Rivetta Emma Lydia B. Ross Moriah Thomas
notes on the program Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Ralph Vaughan Williams An English hymn and folksong combine to create a mystical temporal bridge between the Tudor and Edwardian periods. Written for strings Vaughan Williams divides them into three defined sections – string quartet, main orchestra and a smaller orchestra, placed in the distance, which gives it a ghostly quality. Each group have both an independent and join together in a collective role. The work starts with what Vaughan Williams calls ‘magical
chords’ that shroud the piece with a mystical atmosphere, after which the Tallis hymn tune (Why fumeth in fight) rises up from the lower sections. This tune is in the Phrygian mode, a scale commonly used in English folksong, and is thrown in various guises back and forth across the aisles of the church like an English church choir. The Solo Quartet acts as a kind of pioneer and pilgrim leading the ensemble to ever greater heights through music, now based, on English folksong - we have moved from inside the church to the field. Here there are other parallels as Tallis was tasked to make the church music more accessible to untrained congregations, to achieve this he turned to the popular tunes of the day and balladry, which is exactly what Vaughan Williams did with his Hymnal over 350 years later, a kinship that doesn’t go unnoticed! The two worlds of church and folk music combine to bring this Fantasia to a close with just two of the quartet players (Violin & Viola) William Boughton
Invocation for Cello and Orchestra Gustav Holst Gustav Holst was born in England in 1874 from Swedish parents whom were both musicians and taught Gustav the violin and piano. A frail child who suffered from a rare nerve condition that affected his right hand decided to take up the trombone, which he later played professionally. He started composing at an early age and attended the Royal College of Music in London to study with Stanford in a class with Vaughan Williams. His interests were wide and varied from politics to Hindu mysticism. Composed in 1911 this work precedes the Planets suite but is imbued with similar mystical influences. This Invocation is the summoning of ancient mystical powers. Holst’s Sanskrit works (Savitri, Sita), heavily influenced by Wagner, preceded this period that was to, later, include the Planets suite. This passionate and beautiful prayer is led by the solo cello as a kind of High Priest invoking the spirits. Originally written as a ‘rehearsal’ piece for Venus in the Planets, it was discarded for many years and has only recently taken its place in the concert hall. Holst was awarded the Howland Memorial Prize from Yale University in 1924. William Boughton
The Planets Gustav Holst It is an interesting paradox that one of the two arguably most famous pieces of English music (the other being Elgar’s Enigma Variations) should have so few recognizable “English” characteristics is its musical language. The Planets, begun by Holst in 1914 and completed three years later, marked a turning point in the composer’s oeuvre, a culmination of his own experiments in post-Wagnerian romanticism before choosing a more austere path increasingly influenced by English folksong. Holst maintained a keen interest in eastern philosophy and astrology. The latter gave him the idea for a musical depiction of the different qualities associated with the different planets. The result was a seven movement suite representing all the other planets in the solar system scored for an extravagantly large orchestra, including alto flute, heckelphone (bass oboe), two tubas, a huge battery of percussion, and even an organ. In the last movement, the orchestra forces are supplemented by an invisible choir of female voices. Mars offers an unremittingly violent and frightening picture of war with an insistent nervous rhythmical figure played initially by the strings tapping the backs of their bows on the instrument and later taken up by the full orchestra to great effect. The predominating sonorities of the harps and celeste in Venus form and appropriately soothing counterpoint. Next, Mercury dazzles the listener with its deft orchestration, brilliant colors, and ingenious juxtaposition of opposing tonalities and meters. If the first three movements seem like an opening allegro, slow movement and scherzo in a traditional symphonic structure, the Jupiter is surely a fitting finale, brimming over with youthful ebullience and earthly joie-de-vivre. How effective, then, is the contrast between this and Saturn, which moving depicts the onset of old age. A slow, inexorable march grows to a terrifying climax, with chimes pealing forth in frenzied syncopation, before a calm air of acceptance brings the movement to a peaceful close. Drama gives way to buffoonery in Uranus, apparently rather a bumbling old figure, who nonetheless finally recaptures his old magical powers to bring off a successful spell. The hushed awe surrounding this feat is an appropriate prelude to Neptune, in which the music never rises above a whisper. The wordless choir of women’s voices receded further and further into the distance, leaving us in mystical contemplation of the infinite. Alasdair Neale (written for the Yale Symphony’s first performance of The Planets on October 15, 1988)
Yale Symphony Orchestra Toshiyuki Shimada, Music Director (On Leave) William Boughton, Interim Conductor Thomas C. Duffy, Interim Director Brian Robinson, Managing Director Ian Niederhoffer, Assistant Conductor Henry Shapard, Assistant Conductor Presidents Laura Michael Spencer Parish Librarians Dennis Zhao, Head Librarian Vivian Mayers Ben Tillinger Publicity Epongue Ekille Mary Martin Eli Mennerick Social Alma Bitran Sonali Durham Jacob Miller Alumni Margo Williams Chie Xu Stage Crew Evan Pasternak, Manager Alma Bitran Sam Panner Graphic Design Victoria Gebert
First Violin Evan Pasternak ’19, Concertmaster Vivian Mayers ’21 Co-Concertmaster Alex Goldberg ’22, Asst. Concertmaster Alexander Wang ’19, Principal Albert Cao ’19 Nanki Chugh ’22 Allison Chun ’21 Laura Clapp ’21 Janet Hsu ’22 Oliver Leitner ’22 Phoebe Liu ’22 Sophie Luyten ’21 Jocelyn Ra ’22 Chie Xu ’21 Second Violin Serena Shapard ’20, Principal Margo Williams ’20, Co-Principal Formosa Deppman ’22 Epongue Ekille ’21 Ernestina Hsieh ’22 Won Ho Lee ’22 Sam Panner ’21 Isaiah Schrader ’21 Jasmine Stone ’20 Alice Tao ’20 Stella Vujic ’22 Julia Zhu ’19
Viola Sarah Switzer ’19, Principal Ian Niederhoffer ’19, Co-Principal Brian Isaacs ’22, Sub-Principal Lili Cerise ’22 Daniel Chabeda ’22 Jisoo Choi ’22 Sonali Durham ’20 Queenie Huang ’22 Jacob Miller ’21 Gabriel Sevillano ’22 Timothy White ’20 Grant Young ’20 Ryan Zhou ’22 Violoncello Henry Shapard ’20, Principal Alma Bitran ’21, Co-Principal Jason Campe ’21 Sofia Checa ’20 Anastasia Dalianis ’21 Giacomo Glotzer ’22 Julia Hu ’22 Emery Kerekes ’21 Matthew Udry ’22
Contrabass Connor Reed ’19, Principal Alice Zhao ’21, Co-Principal Archer Frodyma ’22 Aedan Lombardo ’20 Spencer Parish ’20 Arvind Venkataraman ’19 Flute and Piccolo Beatrice Brown ’19 Principal Benjamin Tillinger ’21 Sub-Principal Monica Barbosa ’19 Annie Zhao ’22 Oboe and English Horn Laura Michael ’20 Principal Alec Chai ’22 Sub-Principal Olivia Johann ’22 Kaitlin Kan ’22 Clarinet Christopher Zhou ’19, Principal Dennis Zhao ’19 Sub-Principal Allen Chang ’19 Daniel Kim ’22 Bassoon Dennis Brookner ’19, Principal Kenny Wang ’20 Sub-Principal Brian Kirkman ’21 Maddy Tung ’21
French Horn Mary Martin ’20, Principal Claire Calkins ’22 Esteban Garcia MUS ’19 Steven Harmon MUS ’19 Nivanthi Karunaratne MUS ’20 Stephen Newberry MUS ’19 Trumpet Ryan Petersberg GRD ’21 Principal Megan Ahern ’21 James Brandfonbrener ’21 Joseph Cho ’22 Trombone Eli Mennerick ’21 Mitchell Ostorow ’21 Fernando Trejos Suarez ’22 Tuba Gigi Barrios ’22 Josef Lawrence ’20 Harp Anna Ellsworth MUS ’20 Celesta Miles Walter MUS ’20 Organ Ryan Kennedy MUS ’24 Timpani and Percussion Alvin Chung ’21 Principal Charles Comiter ’20 Max Salata ’22 Kevin Zetina MUS ’20
About the Orchestra Founded in 1965 by a group of students who saw the growing potential for a large ensemble to thrive on campus, the Yale Symphony Orchestra has become one of the premier undergraduate ensembles in the United States. The largest orchestra in Yale College, the YSO provides a means for students to perform orchestral music at a conservatory level while taking advantage of all Yale, as a liberal-arts institution, has to offer. The YSO boasts and impressive number of alumni who have gone on to successful musical careers, but for a conservatory-level musician seeking a strong liberal arts or STEM education, we are one of the few – if not the only – opportunity for a talented orchestra musician to maintain the trajectory of their musical studies in a non-conservatory environment. As a result, most of YSO musicians are non-music majors. That said, the YSO numbers among its alumni members of the New York Philharmonic (Sharon Yamada, 1st violin), the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Haldan Martinson, principal 2nd violin, and Owen Young, cello), the Los Angeles Philharmonic (David Howard, clarinet), the San Francisco Symphony (the late William Bennett, oboe), Philadelphia Orchestra (Jonathan Beiler, violin), Toronto Symphony (Harry Sargous, oboe, ret.) and the Israel Philharmonic (Miriam Hartman, viola), as well as music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, National Public Radio commentator Miles Hoffman, composers, Michael Gore, Robert Beaser, Conrad Cummings, Stephen Paul Hartke, Robert Kyr, and more. Although the YSO is an extracurricular ensemble within a liberal arts university, its reputation and output rival those of conservatories worldwide. Throughout its history the YSO has been committed to commissioning and performing new music. Notably, the YSO presented the European premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass in 1973, the world premiere of the definitive restoration of Charles
Photo by Harold Shapiro
Former Ives’ music Three Places directors in New include England, Richmond the U.S. Browne, premiere John of Mauceri, Debussy’s C. William Khamma, Harand wood,the Robert East Coast Kapilow, premiere Leif Bjaland, of Benjamin Alasdair Britten’s Neale,The David Building Stern,ofJames the House. Ross,InJames every Sinclair, season Shinik the Hahm, YSO works and George to program Rothman. and perform orchestral works written by new and emerging composers, as well as lesser-heard works by established and obscure composers. The YSO has performed with internationally recognized soloists, including YoYo Ma, Frederica von Stade, Emmanuel Ax, David Shifrin, Thomas Murray, and Idil Biret. Each year the YSO is proud to present student winners of the William Waite Concerto Competition the opportunity to perform major solo works alongside the orchestra. Outside New Haven’s Woolsey Hall, the YSO have performed at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In 2011, the YSO joined the Yale Glee Club at Carnegie Hall in celebration of their 150th anniversary, and was hailed by New York Times music critic Zachary Woolfe as “the excellent Yale Symphony Orchestra.” In the past decade, the YSO has toured domestically and internationally, including a 2010 tour of Turkey with acclaimed pianist Idil Biret. Ms. Biret rejoined the orchestra for a recording of Paul Hindemith’s piano concerti, which were released in 2013 on the Naxos label. Past tours have brought the orchestra to Portugal, Korea, Central Europe, Italy, and Brazil. The YSO just completed its first tour of Russia in May of 2017. Beyond its season concerts, the YSO is famous for its legendary Halloween Show, a student-directed and -produced silent movie, whose score the orchestra performs at midnight in full costume. Long a Yale tradition, the Halloween Show sells out Woolsey Hall days in advance, and the production remains a closely guarded secret until the night of performance; recent cameo appearances include James Franco, Woody Allen, Alanis Morisette, Rosa DeLauro, and Jimmy Kimmel.
The Yale Symphony Orchestra would like to thank the following for their support: $5,000 or more $100—499 The William Bray Fund for Music Yale Symphony Orchestra Director’s Resource Fund Dr. David Lobdell
$1,000—4,999 Anonymous Nancy Gutman Dr. Elizabeth Petri Henske ’81 B.A. Mr. Robert C. Henske ’81 B.S. Mr. Kenneth Richard Kato ’11 B.A. Dr. Robert L. Perkel, M.D. ’72 Mr. Feng Wang
$500—999 Richard Dumas James M. Ford, M.D. ’84 B.A., ’89 M.D. Mr. Steven M. Kaufman ’81 B.A. Dr. Judith L. Ostrow
Anonymous Yichun Chung Prof. Lori Fisler Damrosch ’73 B.A., ’76 J.D. Mr. Thomas C. Duffy Prof. Edwin M. Duval ’71 M.Phil., ’73 Ph.D. Mr. Charles D. Ellis ’59 B.A., ’97 M.A.H. Mr. Phillip H. Falk ’10 B.A. Ms. Mayumi Fukui ’77 B.A., ’83 M.B.A. Mr. Paul J. Gacek ’67 B.A., ’70 Mus Ms. Pamela J. Gray ’74 B.A. Mr. Richard W. Hadsell, Ph.D ’71 M.Phil., ’75 Ph.D. Michel Jackson Mr. Kevin G. Lawrence Jonathan Lewis Mr. Daniel Lombardo Ms. Linda Koch Lorimer ’77 J.D. Mr. Patrick P. McCreless ’98 M.A.H. Mr. Benjamin I. Nathans ’84 B.A. Ms. Isabel Padien O’Meara ’99 B.A. Carolee Rainey Donald Redmond Mr. Charles Michael Sharzer ’12 B.S. Mr. Justin Daniel Stilwell ’09 B.S. Mr. William McHenry Strom ’05 B.A. Ms. Victoria Yu-Than Su ’96 B.A. Vendini Mr. George Vosburgh Dr. Wenbin Xu Lawrence Young
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