Dr. Richard Rognstad

Transcription

1 with Black Hills Chamber Music Society presents the 2016 J. L a iten Weed HONORS ORCHESTRA Dr. Richard Rognstad conducting Saturday, February 20, 2016 First Congregational Church Rapid City, SD 7:30 p.m. Underwritten by Lucy Palermo Weed String Competition

2 2

3 Introducing Dr. Jungho Kim Conductor, The Augustana Orchestra Dr. Jungho Kim is the new director/ conductor of the acclaimed Augustana Orchestra, which was founded in 1922 with the University and the city of Sioux Falls. Upon its debut, it served as the original South Dakota Symphony. Kim began his professional career as a violinist for the Kyung-Ghi philharmonic orchestra in Seoul, Korea. He has two master s degrees from the University of Cincinnati one in violin performance and one in orchestral conducting. An awardwinning musician, Dr. Kim most recently studied with Maestro Neil Varon at the renowned Eastman School of Music, a conservatory at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, where he earned his doctorate in orchestral conducting. 3

4 Open to all interested students, majors or non-majors SDSU-Civic Symphony For information about the SDSU-Civic Symphony, contact the symphony director, Dr. John Brawand, at or SDSU Music Department at or visit our website 4

5 About the J. Laiten Weed Honors Orchestra Twenty-two of the high-school string students who achieved the top scores in auditions for South Dakota All-State Orchestra compose each year's J. Laiten Weed Honors Orchestra. They begin preparing Honors Orchestra music individually in December and arrive on the Thursday evening before the Saturday concert to audition for solo assignments and placement within the group. An intense two days of rehearsals follow, culminating in a performance that invariably proves to be polished, refined and exhilarating. Conductors for the group have been top music educators from South Dakota and around the country, including the late Dr. Weed. J. Laiten Weed was one of the first professional string teachers in South Dakota. Director of the Yankton College Conservatory of Music, he was a charter member of the South Dakota String Teachers Association. An Honors Orchestra to showcase the state's top string students and to provide them with a unique musical learning experience was a goal that Laiten shared with other string teachers for several years. In 1986, SDSTA president Raymond Sidoti secured initial funding for a state Honors Orchestra from the American String Teachers Association and the SD Arts Council. The next February, during one of Laiten Weed's several terms as president of SDSTA, the Honors Orchestra became a reality. When his wife, Lucy, died in 1986, Laiten established a string scholarship fund in her name. The fund soon evolved into the Lucy Palermo Weed String Competition. The generous bequest received following Laiten Weed's death in 1989 enabled the competition to provide financial sponsorship of the Honors Orchestra. Hence the orchestra is dedicated to the legacy and the memory of J. Laiten Weed gentleman, consummate teacher and professional musician. Through his vision and provision for the future, SDSTA has both the Lucy Palermo Weed String Competition and the J. Laiten Weed Honors Orchestra to promote and reward excellence in string music. 5

6 6

7 About the Conductor Dr. Richard Rognstad Rick Rognstad has taught double bass, music theory, and American music at the University of South Dakota since Active as a guest conductor and clinician, he has led orchestras in South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, and Florida. He has studied conducting extensively with Paul Wolfe, Jurgen de Lemos, Abraham Chavez, Giora Bernstein, and at Indiana University. His bass teachers include Stuart Sankey, Barry Green, and Gaston Dufresne. He has served as principal bass for orchestras in Wyoming, Colorado, Florida, and South Dakota, and has appeared as soloist and chamber musician in seventeen states, Canada, Austria, and Germany. An expert in American music, Rognstad has published extensive articles, liner notes, and reviews. As a founding member of the Rawlins Piano Trio, he steered the group toward American music written during the period between the Civil War and World War I, resulting in the group s recording three CDs on the Albany Records label. He has performed at five conventions of the American Music Society, at the American String Teachers national convention, and he recently gave a recital of his American music discoveries at the biennial convention of the International Society of Bassists. 7

8 CLAIRE GIVENS VIOLINS, INC. Established 1977 Fine Violins, Violas, Cellos & Bows WE'VE MOVED 1201 MARQUETTE AVENUE SOUTH SUITE 150 MINNEAPOLIS, MN West Main Street Marshall MN e E e E e E e E e E e E e E e E e E e E e E e E e E e E e E Serving Music Education since 1985 with the most competitive rent-to-own plans. 8

9 2016 Honors Orchestra Personnel Bass Cello Viola 2nd Violin 1st Violin (Alphabetically within sections) Ingrid Anderson....Rapid City Stevens Owen Braley...Sioux Falls Lincoln Abby Johannsen....Rapid City Stevens Patrick Knowles...Rapid City Central Anthony Nesland....Rapid City Stevens Jamie St. Clair-Linde Rapid City Central Savannah Ellender...Rapid City Stevens Anastasija Kalanovic...Rapid City Stevens Levi Kent...Rapid City Central Calvin Moehlman...Rapid City Central Elizabeth Nesland...Rapid City Stevens Carmen Richardson....Rapid City Stevens Brigit Blote....St. Thomas More Gillian Hilscher...Sioux Falls Lincoln Emma Porter Rapid City Central Kaleb Wilkening...Rapid City Central Rosie Blote....St. Thomas More Reagan Larson...Rapid City Stevens Isabel Maclachlan...Rapid City Central Jane Walsh... Sioux Falls Washington Johnathan Carr...Rapid City Central Alex Chapman....Rapid City Stevens 2016 Honors Orchestra Teachers School Music Teachers: Karla Chiarello, Mario Chiarello, William Evans, Bruce Knowles, Curtis Peacock Private Teachers: Liz Benusis, Louisa Biteler, Bruce Knowles, Carol Knowles, Elizabeth Knowles, Luka Markovic, Curtis Peacock, Maria Peters, Martha Robinson, Charlie Savot, Amanda Swartz, Tony Thomas 9

10 10 August 1-5, 2016 The Black Hills String Retreat, since 1990, has offered string students in grades 4-12 intensive classes in orchestra, all-state, chamber ensemble, and individual instruction under the direction of an outstanding guest faculty. There are lots of recreational opportunities too, including a rock-climbing wall and zip line, ice-cream making and bowling. The Back Hills String Retreat is held at Cedar Canyon Wesleyan Camp in Rapid City. Day Camp is available for Suzuki students, ages 4-9. Overnight accommodations at camp are not generally available for day camp families. There may, however, be space for tents and small RV s or campers. Direct inquiries to Cedar Canyon Wesleyan Camp. Find more information and download an application after March 1, at or contact: Deb Knowles (605) debknowles1000@gmail.com Charlie Savot (605) charlieviola@rushmore.com

11 J. Laiten Weed Honors Orchestra 2016 Program Dr. Richard Rognstad, conducting The Divine Comedy Trilogy... Michael-Thomas Foumai I. Inferno (1987- ) II. Purgatorio III. Paradiso Suite Creole for String Orchestra... Harry Redman I. Intermezzo ( ) II. Adagio Arr. Rognstad III. Rondo Intermission Adagio for Strings... Samuel Barber ( ) The Incantation of Rudaki...N. Clifford Page ( ) Arr. Rognstad The Honored Dead...John Philip Sousa Funeral March ( ) Arr. Rognstad The St. Louis Blues...W. C. Handy ( ) Arr. Rognstad 11

12 The PPrrecc Plaaa tt Visit our New Shop A Cavallo Violins, LLC 3613 S 149th Street Omaha, NE acvsales@gmail.com We Ship Nationally 12

13 About the Music W. C. (William Christopher) Handy ( ) was the self-proclaimed Father of the Blues. The son of a preacher in Florence, Alabama, Handy was influenced by church music, and was given organ lessons as a youth. On his own he learned guitar and cornet, and utilized the music of African-Americans in the South as the basis for much of his music. Though he probably did not invent the blues, he was the first to codify its form and make it popular. The St. Louis Blues was first written in 1914, and this transcription was made from a vocal/piano edition published the same year, with significant formal alterations and the addition of a more modern coda. The tango, a dance from Argentina, had become very popular in Europe and the United States just the year before, and Handy utilized the Habanera bass line common to tangos for his blues. Nathanial Clifford Page ( ) was a hornist, arranger, and composer in San Francisco during the late 19th century. He later was an editor for Ditson and Carl Fisher, Inc. The Incantation is freely adapted from his song, The Regrets of Bokhara published in Rudaki was a Persian poet, the first to write in modern Arabic. The text of the poem used by Page tells the story, perhaps apocryphal, that demonstrates the power of Rudaki s music/poetry. The ruler of Bokhara (the capital city of the province of the same name in what is now Uzbekistan), Amir Nassr II, had always wintered in the capital, after travelling during the spring and summer. When he once decided to winter in Harat, the entourage appealed to Rudaki to help change his mind, as it would be a great hardship for them, given substandard quarters and separation from their families. Upon hearing Rudaki s song, the Amir immediately left for home, leaving the entourage to pack up and follow. The parallel with the story behind Haydn s Farewell Symphony is evident. The three solos represent Rudaki s voice demonstrating great range and expressiveness, while the tuttis constitute the group singing of the entourage. Harry Redman ( ) was born in Mount Carmel, Illinois. He studied piano, violin, composition, and theory at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, beginning in One of his theory and composition instructors was George Chadwick, who had studied at both the Leipzig and Munich Conservatories and brought that training to the conservatory when he returned to the US. Redman was appointed to the faculty of his alma mater in 1897, and taught piano, theory and composition until He then took up oil painting and examples of his art can be found in the Museum of Fine Arts Continued on p

14 ChamberOrchestra at Northwestern College Scholarships available Open to students from all majors Several performances each year Opportunities to perform in other ensembles Excellent facilities for performance and rehearsal Outstanding faculty Integration of faith and learning 14

15 About the Music (continued) in Boston. The Suite Creole is transcribed from his first string quartet, titled Creole, published in Though the actual Creole themes he used are not known, the pieces are dramatic and tuneful works, with a folk-like simplicity and singing quality. John Philip Sousa ( ) is rightly known as The March King due to the many masterpieces in that genre that poured from his pen. However, he also wrote numerous other works, including 15 operettas, 70 songs, symphonic suites and many other pieces. His first instrument was violin and the experience of playing in string-based groups, including in the first violin section of Jacques Offenbach s touring orchestra, is evident in his melodic style in these works. The Honored Dead, a funeral march, was written for President Grant s funeral in 1886, and shows real depth of emotion and melodic lines worthy of Italian opera. Samuel Barber ( ) was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and wrote his first piece at the age of 7. It took 3 more years for him to complete his first opera. He entered the Curtis Institute of Music at age 14 where he had voice, piano, and composition lessons. He is said to have played Bach every day of his life, and he also had a fondness for Brahms. His style has been described as conservative, eclectic, and polished, with pieces criticized for being too romantic, too harsh, too derivative, and too original. Interestingly, in the 1930s when serialism was all the rage, the conductor Arturo Toscanini was criticized for programming the Adagio, which many thought to be too conservative. In essence the slow movement of his string quartet, it is probably Barber s most famous piece, having been played at significant times in our country s history: played on national radio after the deaths of Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy, and at the funeral of Albert Einstein. Michael-Thomas Foumai (b. 1987) was born in Hawaii and received an undergraduate degree in music composition from the University of Hawaii. He received both masters and doctoral degrees in composition from the University of Michigan, has won many prizes and honors in his career, and has had four recordings made of his music. The Divine Comedy Trilogy was written in 2009, and was inspired by Dante s literary masterpiece. The three movements Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso are all based on Renaissance music, that of Gesualdo, John Dowland, and Guillaume de Machaut, respectively, with bits of the old themes breaking through thoroughly-modern textures. Program notes by Richard Rognstad 15

16 Brick oven pizza, pasta & a whole lot of freshness! 5955 S Highway 16 Rapid City, South Dakota 1301 W Omaha St, Suite 101, Rapid City SD

17 MUSICwww.usd.edu/music Contact: Dr. David Holdhusen, Chair Department of Music

18 PERFORMANCES March 6, 2016 March 7, 2016 May 8, 2016 AUDITIONS May 20, 2016 May 21, 2016 May 22, 2016 CONTACT US TO SCHEDULE AN AUDITION! (605) EXT

19 19

20 20

21 21

22 22

23 8o More than fine arts performance scholarships awarded annually. FINE ARTS SCHOLARSHIP AUDITION DAY 4Friday, March 4 4Register to audition at usiouxfalls.edu/finearts-q. UPCOMING CAMPUS PREVIEW DAY 4Friday, April 22 4Schedule your own visit at usiouxfalls.edu/admissions. (605) usiouxfalls.edu 23

24