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dayton philharmonic orchestra personnel

74th Season2006-2007

1st ViolinsLucas Alemán,*  Concertmaster J. Ralph Corbett ChairAurelian Oprea,  Acting ConcertmasterDona Nouné-Wiedmann,  Acting Associate  ConcertmasterIzumi Lund,*  Assistant Concertmaster Huffy Foundation Chair Elizabeth Hofeldt,  Acting Assistant  Concertmaster Sherman Standard Register Foundation ChairMikhail BaranovskyKarlton TaylorWilliam ManleyLouis ProskeNancy MullinsBarry Berndt*Calvin LewisPhilip EnzweilerXiao FuJanet George

2nd ViolinsKirstin Greenlaw, Principal Jesse Philips ChairKristen Wiersum,*  Assistant PrincipalAnn Lin, Acting Assistant PrincipalGloria FioreMarcel Lund Tom FetherstonKara LardinoisLynn RohrYoshiko KunimitsuWilliam SlusserYen-Ting Wu

ViolasSheridan Currie, Principal F. Dean Schnacke ChairColleen Braid,  Assistant PrincipalKaren Johnson Grace Counts Finch Chair

Belinda BurgeLori LaMattinaMark ReisScott SchillingKimberly TroutJean Blasingame

CellosAndra Lunde Padrichelli,*  Principal Edward L. Kohnle ChairChristina Coletta,  Acting Principal Mary Davis Fetherston, Acting Assistant PrincipalJane KatsuyamaNan WatsonPeter ThomasMark Hofeldt*Nadine MonchecourtLinda Katz,  Principal EmeritusTom Guth

BassesDeborah Taylor, Principal* Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Association C. David Horine Memorial ChairJon Pascolini,  Acting PrincipalDonald Compton,  Acting Assistant PrincipalStephen UlleryChristopher RobertsJames FaulknerBleda ElibalNick Greenberg

FlutesRebecca Tryon Andres,  Principal Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Association ChairJennifer NorthcutJanet van Graas

PiccoloJanet van Graas

OboesEileen Whalen, PrincipalCatharine French Bieser ChairRoger MillerRobyn Dixon Costa

English HornRobyn Dixon Costa J. Colby and Nancy Hastings King Chair

ClarinetsJohn Kurokawa, Principal Rhea Beerman Peal ChairRobert GrayAnthony Costa

Bass ClarinetAnthony Costa

BassoonsJennifer Kelley Speck,  Principal  Robert and Elaine   Stein ChairKristen Canova Bonnie Sherman

ContrabassoonBonnie Sherman

French HornsRichard Chenoweth,  Principal Frank M. Tait Memorial Chair Elisa Belck*Amy LassiterTodd FitterNancy CahallSean Vore

TrumpetsCharles Pagnard, Principal John W. Berry Family ChairAlan SiebertAshley Hall*Daniel Zehringer

TrombonesTimothy Anderson, Principal John Reger Memorial ChairRichard Begel

Bass TromboneChad Arnow

TubaTimothy Northcut, Principal Zachary, Rachel and Natalie Denka Chair

TimpaniDonald Donnett, Principal Rosenthal Family Chair in Memory of Miriam Rosenthal

PercussionMichael LaMattina, Principal Miriam Rosenthal ChairJeffrey Luft Richard A. and Mary T. Whitney ChairGerald Noble

KeyboardMichael Chertock, Principal Demirjian Family Chair

HarpLeslie Stratton Norris, Principal Daisy Talbott Greene Chair

Neal Gittleman  Music DirectorJane Varella, Personnel    ManagerWilliam Slusser, Orchestra   LibrarianHank Dahlman, Chorus    DirectorPatrick Reynolds, Assistant    ConductorKaren Young, Junior String    Orchestra Director

*Leave of Absence

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neal’s notesMisconceptions

the world of classical music—like any field of endeavor—has its idiosyncrasies, its strange little

facts and factoids, its commonly held misconceptions. like the fact that the french horn has nothing to do with la belle France or that the english horn is neither english nor a horn.

for some reason misconceptions—both mine and others’—have been on my mind recently.

You Say Stravinsky, I Say Tchaikovsky: shaun yu, the new program director at Wdpr, was interviewing me recently, and asked for some of my first memories of listening to classical music. one the most vivid was hearing the Boston symphony play a riveting performance of stravinsky’s Rite of Spring in the fall of 1969. my mother had been talking to me about the Rite of Spring for years—how hearing it on a radio broadcast in her youth had sent her running screaming to her bedroom with her hands over her ears. all that time, i had been confusing my russian composers, so when she said “stravinsky” i was thinking “tchaikovsky”! i couldn’t imagine why she would have run from what i then (in my snotty, ignorant, teenage way) thought was boring, sappy music. so imagine my surprise when i heard the Bso launch into this totally un-boring, un-sappy maelstrom of sound. needless to say, i don’t confuse igor and pyotr ilyich anymore. (and tchaikovsky is now one of my favorite composers!)

Big Girls Don’t Cry for Vivaldi: We recently played Spring from The Four Seasons on our concert for area high school students, which makes me think of another snotty-ignorant-teenager story. one of my first classical records

was a gift from my grandfather: vivaldi’s Four Seasons. i did my best to hide my disappointment. you see, i’d never heard of vivaldi’s Four Seasons. the only four seasons i knew sang “sherry” and “rag doll” and lots of other songs that i did not consider at all cool. finally, after about the third time my grandfather asked “Why don’t you play the record i gave you?” i put it on and was very pleasantly surprised. (i eventually came around to frankie valli and those four seasons, too!)

Oh, Those Planets: the big piece on our april classical concerts (and the featured work on the final classical connections program of the season) is Gustav holst’s The Planets. over dinner after his exciting performance as guest conductor in march, carlos miguel prieto told me about his recent performance of The Planets with the huntsville symphony. While the orchestra played holst’s fabulous music, they projected fabulous pictures of the planets supplied by nasa and the Jet propulsion laboratory. (it’s huntsville, alabama, see?) a cool idea, something that many orchestras have done. only thing is, it’s about as appropriate as showing pictures of st. Bernards while playing a Beethoven symphony! holst wasn’t writing about the astronomical planets. he was writing about the astrological planets—about different aspects of human character associated with the planets of the zodiac. so instead of using visuals of heavenly bodies, we’ll try to find a use for the beautiful full-color star charts that i ordered from astrodienst Zurich, an online astrology service: one for Gustav holst (a virgo, born at noon on september 21, 1874 in cheltenham, england) the other for classical connections (a scorpio,

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scheduled to be born at 8pm on april 27, 2007 in dayton, ohio)!

I Heard It in the Trailer, But It Wasn’t in the Movie: Judging from movie trailers, you’d think that O Fortuna, the opening and closing chorus of the last work of this season—carl orff’s Carmina Burana—was hollywood’s most-used piece of classical music. it’s in nearly every trailer for every big, cast-of-thousands, battle-laden epic. only thing is, if you succumb to the hype and go to the film, you almost never hear any of orff’s music. that’s because most movie trailers are made long before filming wraps. But work on a film’s soundtrack doesn’t begin until after the film is shot. they need music for the

trailer, but none of the movie’s music has been written yet. enter O Fortuna, whose massive sonorities, driving rhythms, and infectious melody fit the bill perfectly!

The Season is Winding Down: sure, we’re in the last two months of the dpo’s 2006-2007 season, but “winding down” is hardly the word i’d use. The Planets and Carmina Burana on the classical series, Bach and More on the demirjian chamber orchestra series, an all-new rhythm in shoes show at the superpops, and a stage full of stuffed animals at the family series. sounds like things are just shifting into high gear. so join us as we close the season with a bang!

The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra

and Music Director Neal Gittleman

would like to specially acknowledge the

Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Association’s

generous support of the January

classical concerts featuring

Gustav Mahler’s Third Symphony.

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dayton philharmonic orchestraNeal Gittleman, Music Director

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classical concert

Thursday

Apr. 2620078 PMSchuster Center

Season Sponsors:

the official automobile dealershipof the dayton philharmonic orchestra

Season Media Sponsor:

Concert Broadcast onWdpr-fm, 88.1WdpG-fm, 89.9saturday, July 21, 2007, at 10 a.m.

Classical Media Partners:ohio magazineWdprthinktv

the official hotel of thedayton philharmonic orchestra

Cosmic Voyage Almer Imamovic is the Erma R. and Hampden W. Catterton Endowed Guest Artist

concert sponsor: Thursday: Hauer Music Saturday: The Milt Kantor Family

Neal Gittleman, conductorAlmer Imamovic, guitarWomen of the Dayton Philharmonic ChorusHank Dahlman, chorus director

meira Warshauer symphony no. 1: living, Breathing earth(b. 1949) call of the cicadas tahuayo river at night Wings in flight living, Breathing earth

Joaquín rodrigo concierto de aranjuez(1901- 1999) allegro con spirito adagio allegro gentile almer imamovic, Guitar

intermission

Gustav holst seven pieces for large orchestra, The Planets(1874- 1934) 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

Saturday

Apr. 2820078 PMSchuster Center

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meira Warshauer studied composition with mario davidovsky, Jacob druckman, William thomas

mcKinley, and Gordon Goodwin. musicians and orchestras have recorded and performed her works to critical acclaim throughout the united states and in israel, europe, south america, and asia. critics have described her music as “. . . spiritually ecstatic, beautifully-felt . . . representation of (the) mystical creative process.”

a graduate of harvard (magna cum laude) with three degrees from the new england conservatory of music and her doctorate from the university of south carolina, dr. Warshauer is an associate music faculty member at columbia college, columbia, sc. her innovative course, The Healing Art of Music, is a cross-cultural, multidisciplinary approach to the experience of music as a source of healing.

her cds include the soundtrack to the documentary Land of Promise: The Jews of South Carolina and Spirals of Light, chamber music and poetry (by ani tuzman) on themes of enlightenment on the Kol meira label and Revelation for orchestra, included on Robert Black Conducts, mmc. paula robison and percussionist cyro Baptista recorded Warshauer’s Bati l’Gani (I entered my garden) on robison’s cd, Places of the Spirit, which the pucker Gallery, Boston, released in 2003. in 2005, mmc released YES! for clarinet and orchestra, written for richard stoltzman, who recorded it with the Warsaw philharmonic.

Instrumentation: 3 flutes (each doubles on piccolo), 3 oboes (two play English horn), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, piano

the dayton philharmonic orchestra proudly presents a Midwest Premiere of Warshauer’s symphony #1, Living, Breathing Earth.

composer’s note:

the title Living, Breathing Earth came to me in contemplating the image of the rainforests as lungs of the earth. i felt our planet, alive with all variety of creatures and plants living in symbiosis with each other, breathing in

and out, and the planet as a whole, pulsing with breath. i also contemplated the earth rotating through space, a spinning orb of blue and green, at just the right distance from the sun to support life, and our protective blanket of air, the atmosphere of the earth, providing the medium for our breath.

We know life on earth is in danger, with many species sick and dying from our pollution, and the atmosphere losing its protective qualities. the very breath of the earth, the relationship between carbon dioxide and oxygen, is out of balance. sometimes it takes a threat of loss for us to realize the blessings we have, and to act to preserve them. Just as when praying for the healing of a loved one we picture the person in perfect health, so in this symphony, i celebrate the earth in her radiant fullness.

the rhythms and shadings of the earth were my inspiration. in summer, 2005, cicada mating calls were exceptionally strong, with 20-30 second waves of overlapping sound filling carolina and Georgia nights and into the days. their energy propels the first movement, Call of the Cicadas. the second movement, Tahuayo River at Night, gently recalls a nighttime canoe ride in the peruvian rainforest, stars and fireflies sparkling reflections in the dark water. Wings in Flight, the third movement, delights in the playful dance of butterflies at river’s edge, sunlight shimmering on the water’s surface, and flocks of birds soaring above. as the daytime creatures settle down for the night, a transition inspired by a peaceful summer sunset leads without pause to the fourth movement, titled Living, Breathing Earth. here, a constant pattern of five beats per measure portrays earth’s breath and her majestic rotation, slowly turning in a kaleidoscope of shifting colors as the sounds of teeming life from earlier movements gradually return.

With gratitude for the miracle of life, and with prayer for the wisdom and will to heal our precious home planet, i dedicate this first symphony to the living, breathing earth and her creator.

meira Warshauer2007

meira WarshauerSymphony No. 1, Living, Breathing Earth

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Blind from the age of three due to diphtheria, rodrigo’s early musical studies were under francisco antich in valencia

and paul dukas at the École normale de musique in paris. in 1933, he married the turkish pianist victoria Kamhi; they remained inseparable companions until her death in 1997.

Concierto de Aranjuez (1940, for guitar and orchestra) was acclaimed from its first performance in Barcelona. rodrigo was quickly recognized as one of spain’s great composers. rodrigo died in 1999; he and his wife are both buried at the cemetery at aranjuez.

Instrumentation: solo guitar, 2 flutes (one doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes (one doubling on English horn), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 French horns, 2 trumpets, strings

the dpo last performed this work on november 14, 1973, with morton Gould conducting.

the Concierto de Aranjuez was Joaquín rodrigo’s first attempt in the concerto genre; it quickly became, and has subsequently remained, the most popular and recognizable of his works.

aside from its overt references to spanish folk

Bosnian guitarist Almer Imamovic began playing at the age of seven, under the guidance of the respected teacher of the

Balkan region, mila rakanovic. even during the war that ravished his country in the 1990s, almer spent his time working as a director of music production. in June, 1997, he had the great honor of playing with the london mozart players, where he performed selections of vivaldi in the Bosnian national theartre.

he went on to receive his master’s degree at the royal Welsh college of music and drama with John mills, where he won a teaching assistantship. almer is currently a graduate student at the university of southern california, studying with scott tennant.

in october 2004, almer felt honored to perform with the sarajevo philharmonic and the dayton

JoaQuín rodriGo Concierto de Aranjuez

music and straightforward lyrical disposition, the Concierto de Aranjuez is notable for the way in which rodrigo managed to wed the relatively small voice of the solo guitar to that of the full orchestra. his writing is extremely idiomatic for both guitar and orchestra, and one leaves a hearing of the work with the impression that writing for the two together is quite natural; the guitar never seems overmatched or out of its element.

the opening movement (Allegro con Spirito) is primarily constructed from a single rhythmic motive, introduced at the outset by the solo guitar.

the mood turns melancholy in the second movement (Adagio), as the soloist accompanies a solo english horn with simple chords.

as with the opening movement, the soloist introduces the main idea of the finale – a rather swaying and gentle melody; this theme becomes the basis for a long “conversation” involving many different solo instruments.

Biography by chris morrison composition description by allen schrott source: all media Guide

philharmonic under maestro neal Gittleman in a special concert for the Bosnian leader, president sulejman tihic. in addition to these important solo engagements, almer also is very involved in the promotion of world music and is a highly sought-after studio musician. in april 2005, almer was the first-place winner of the fresno international Guitar competition.

he is working with the popular Bosnian star, al’dino, to record several traditional Bosnian sevdalinkas (folk songs) for two guitars and voice. in the fall of 2004, he won an arts Grant to record a cd of new music for flute and guitar with flutist Jessica pierce. the duo has had many successful concerts, including engagements in paris’s theatre de naples, the tijuana international Guitar festival, and – most recently – sarajevo’s dom armije.

almer imamovicBiography

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Gustav holst was a somewhat sickly child, and although his father taught him the piano from an early

age, neuritis in his right arm made it clear that he was unlikely to have a career as a pianist. he also learnt the violin, for which he had little enthusiasm, and, as a cure for asthma, the trombone, which was to prove useful in his early professional life.

in 1893 he gained admission to the rcm where, after further study of counterpoint, he was accepted into stanford’s composition class; his other teachers included parry. he was awarded a scholarship in composition in 1895, relieving his father of the increasingly difficult burden of supporting him. in the same year he met vaughan Williams, who was to become his closest friend and a profound influence (more so than his teachers).

Gustav holst Biography

in 1905 holst was appointed head of music at st paul’s Girls’ school, hammersmith, where he was to remain until the end of his life. among other teaching posts he held was that of director of music at morley college from 1907 until 1924, where he acquired a great feeling for amateur music-making. in 1911 his students there gave the first performance since 1695 of purcell’s The Fairy Queen.

holst’s reputation had been steadily growing during the years before World War i. But it was not until The Planets (1914–16) received its first performance in 1918 (by the new Queen’s hall orchestra under Boult), given privately as a gift from his friend Balfour Gardiner, that he achieved genuine recognition.

Biography by Grove music

Instrumentation: strings

the dpo last performed this work on november 3, 1995, with William eddins conducting.

Gustav holst spent a good portion of his musical life dealing with students and other non-professional musicians. in 1903, he succeeded his good friend ralph vaughan Williams as the director of the school orchestra at James allen’s Girls’ school in london. two years later, he became musical director at the st. paul’s Girls’ school, a post he kept for the rest of his life. along with his teaching, holst continued to compose in his spare time and around 1907 began to explore english and scottish folk music. those folk tunes started making their way into compositions like the St. Paul’s Suite for

string orchestra, written in 1912-13 for his students at the st. paul’s school.

the suite opens with a slightly dark Jig, based on a memorably rustic tune. the ostinato second movement features a tender melody and an accompaniment spiced with pizzicati. a passionate modal theme, announced by the full string body and later taken up by a quiet solo violin, dominates the third-movement Intermezzo. the rousing Finale takes up the folk tune The Dargason (which holst also employs in the finale of his second suite for military band), repeating it 30 times with harmonic and rhythmic variations. towards the end of the movement, the famous tune Greensleeves makes an appearance as a countermelody.

composition description by chris morrison source: all media Guide

st. paul’s suiteOp. 29/2, H. 118 (Performed on April 27 program)

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Instrumentation: 4 flutes (2 doubling on piccolo, one doubling on alto flute), 4 oboes (1 on English horn and doubling on bass oboe), 4 clarinets (one on base clarinet), 4 bassoons (one on contrabassoon), 6 French horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, tenor tuba, 2 timpani, percussion, 2 harps, celesta, organ, strings

the dpo last performed this work on January 12 and 13, 1994, with isaiah Jackson conducting.

vuaghan Williams once described The Planets (1914-16), by Gustav holst, as “the perfect equilibrium” of the mystic and the melodic sides of the composer’s nature. shortly before its composition, holst told a friend, “as a rule i only study things that suggest music to me . . . recently the character of each planet suggested lots to me.”

typically known as a miniaturist, holst expanded his reputation when he wrote this work of symphonic proportions for an impossibly large orchestra. containing seven tone poems, the composition, which is comparable in size to those by strauss, mahler, and schoenberg, has become known as his biggest and most important work. accustomed to composing only for special purposes, holst luxuriously allowed himself everything he wanted in this work.

The Planets was composed while holst was employed as music master at a school in dulwich and at st. paul’s Girls’ school. under the influence of Wagner, strauss, rimsky-Korsakov, stravinsky, the french composers, and additional russians, holst started to sketch No. 1: Mars, The Bringer of War, just as the first World War began. insistent on the stupidity of war, with all its horrors, the composer opened The Planets with this movement of relentless and brutal power. the

entire work bears the feel of vulgarity, pleasantly accompanied by the richness and emotional warmth of humanity.

With the exception of earth and pluto, each planet in our solar system has its own movement in holst’s composition. Mars opens the work in a broad aBa form, each section rising to a climax, concluding with a crashing unison of the entire orchestra.

Venus follows, dissipating the brutality of the first movement, by peacefully presenting several figures and closing with a rich and calm amplification of its opening.

Mercury, which is in two keys in nearly every bar, leaves an impression of winged lightness and speed by rapidly swinging between chords.

in Jupiter, the composer sought to embody the radiant happiness of a person who enjoys life, in an aBacaBa form.

Saturn beautifully and peacefully brings old age, in a march that penetrates unlike any other work by the composer.

although holst did not hear Sorcerer’s Apprentice dukas’ prior to composing Uranus, the two have remarkable similarities, particularly in the use of staccato bassoons. it is one of his supreme tuttis.

this atmospheric composition closes with the delicately scored Neptune. meant to be a tuneless, expressionless, and shapeless pianissimo movement, the piece fades away to a close with a memorable wordless six-part female chorus.

composition description by meredith Gailey source: all media Guide

the planets Op. 32, H. 125

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classical connectionsneal’s notesFacsimiles

over the years, i’ve accumulated a large library of orchestra scores. at last count, my study housed 2,333

pieces of music. i’m in a never-ending war between new scores and dwindling shelf space. so the last thing i should be doing is buying music that i don’t use on the podium.

But i can’t resist facsimiles.

facsimiles are copies of composers’ manuscripts, and i have a slowly-but-steadily-growing collection that includes Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, mozart’s Jupiter Symphony, Beethoven’s Pastorale sketchbook, Brahms’ first symphony, schumann’s piano concerto, the final scene from strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, and the latest addition—a facsimile of Gustav holst’s manuscript score of The Planets.

The Planets is a long piece—about 50 minutes—with lots of interesting stuff to cover during the “discussion and demonstrations” portion of tonight’s program. so most of the tidbits i’ve gleaned from the manuscript didn’t make it into tonight’s program.

But i can share a few with you here.

The Title: it’s not called The Planets! it’s called Seven Pieces for Large Orchestra. the manuscript’s title page lists the movements exactly as you’ll find them on page 39: The Bringer of War, The Bringer of Peace, The Winged Messenger, and so on. But not a single planet’s name to be found. the first page of the second movement has Venus added in lightly, as if in pencil. same thing for Jupiter, added to the first page of the fourth movement. Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are added—in ink—to the titles of the last three movements, but again, somewhat after the fact.

It’s Not an Autograph Manuscript: holst suffered from neuritis in his right arm for much of his life. this made the physical

act of writing music on paper difficult for him. holst employed two colleagues and one former student from the st. paul’s Girls’ school as copyists on The Planets and even drafted his then-ten-year-old daughter imogen to write in the names of the instruments on the first page of The Winged Messenger. everything else for that movement is in holst’s own handwriting, as well as passages in Mars, Venus, and Saturn.

Use in Performance: though i prefer to use the published, typeset score on the podium, it’s clear that holst did use this manuscript as a conducting score. there are lightly penciled notes that he added at one of the early rehearsals: an indication of “only forte” in the middle of Mars, a hastily scribbled “poco accel[erando]” on page 37 of Jupiter, the word “organ” written as a reminder in the margin just before the organ enters in Neptune—right after a page turn.

Changes: for such a big piece with so many instruments and so many notes, the manuscript is surprisingly pristine. there are a few cross-outs in Venus—removing some notes in the horns to thin the texture and a couple of completely deleted bars. in addition, holst made several changes in other movements by taping new measures over something old. and because it’s covered up, we may never know what’s hidden beneath!

For the Future: to prepare to conduct The Planets, you don’t need to see the manuscript score. all you need—and what’s really important—is the printed score that matches the orchestra’s parts. But from now on, every time i conduct The Planets i expect i’ll sit down and spend some time with the manuscript, communing with the spirit of Gustav holst. it’s one of the great joys of being a conductor.