University Symphony Orchestra Student Showcase

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "University Symphony Orchestra Student Showcase"

Solomon King
6 years ago
Views:

1 Orchestra Series University Symphony Orchestra Student Showcase Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at 8pm Lagerquist Concert Hall, Mary Baker Russell Music Center

2 Pacific Lutheran University School of Arts and Communication and The Department of Music present Orchestra Series University Symphony Orchestra Jeffrey Bell-Hanson, conductor Student Showcase featuring Laura Hillis, violin Emilio Gonzalez, composer and a new work by Scott L. Taube Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at 8pm Lagerquist Concert Hall, Mary Baker Russell Music Center Welcome to Lagerquist Concert Hall. Please disable the audible signal on all watches, pagers and cellular phones for the duration of the performance. Use of cameras, recording equipment and all electronic devices is not permitted in the concert hall. PROGRAM Bright Light Rising... Scott L. Taube (b. 1956) World Premiere Obsession... Emilio Gonzalez (b. 1993) World Premiere Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra, Op Erich Wolfgang Korngold ( ) Moderato nobile Laura Hillis, violin Intermission Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op Dmitri Shostakovich ( ) I. Moderato II. Allegretto III. Largo IV. Allegro non troppo

3 Bright Light Rising by Scott L. Taube Program Notes Each new day arrives with great anticipation and uncertainty. As one opens their eyes to bring in light, a dawn of wonder and eagerness enters. The light, be it artificial or natural, can show us a pathway to an object or simply make us aware of something. Light is an integral part of the process to perceive imaginary thoughts and visual perception. The title implies the dawn of a day with the sun rising. As the sun rises, it may be in full view or hindered by atmospheric conditions (i.e. clouds, fog). One of my fondest memories is watching the sun rise over Mount Rainier, WA. It is as if the mountain is rising with the sun only to reveal the true beauty of nature. There are three intentional concepts for this piece. One is familiarity through the use of a melody. Its simplistic structure implies comfort. Two, the rising line. Thoughout the composition one or two lines are rising giving the music lift (as if to encourage) as well as direction. Three, the timbre of instruments representing the facets of light; especially the opening group of crotales/chimes/glockenspiel/piano. The implied light imagery in this composition are: Rising represented by the rising line first heard in low brass Shimmering implied by trumpet 3-note motif Rays Shining Through flowing lines between instruments; ones of imagination Beams of Light antiphony between instruments and sides of the ensemble Constantly Bright restatements of the familiar melody Full Illumination in sound and understanding Obsession by Emilio Gonzalez I have always been fascinated with movie music and this piece is my interpretation of movie music for the concert hall. In some ways, Obsession became a battle between two opposing themes. The two different themes each have their own section, before the final section, where both themes are layered together almost like some sort of inner battle. Obsession is a piece in three parts, A B A'. The A section is written in F# minor and "obsessively" explores a two bar theme, Theme A, that is first stated in its entirety in the bassoons. This theme is the obsession that is almost always present throughout the piece in one way or another, and is often accompanied by a 32 nd note arpeggio in the harp and trills in the flute. Section A comes to a bombastic end when there is a key change from F# minor to G minor. Theme A, as mentioned, can be found in most everything else that makes up the piece. The other important statement that is made in section A is found in the trumpets. This five bar phrase is Theme B and is the main material of section B. At the end of section B there is one final key change from G minor to C# minor. The final section, written in the key of C# minor, is a layering together of themes A and B. The piece ends, coming full circle, with two final statements of theme A. Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra by Erich Wolfgang Korngold For all of its Viennese charm, Erich Wolfgang Korngold s violin concerto is an American work in most respects. Though Korngold s friend, Bronislaw Huberman, had for years been asking the composer to write such a work, the requests seem to have fallen on deaf ears until he asked once again in Korngold had by that time, taken up permanent residence in the United States, and was writing mostly film music. In truth, some of the initial material upon which the concerto is based was sketched as early as During that year Korngold took a break after his initial success in Hollywood, and returned to Vienna to complete work on an opera. It would prove to be his last such return before the Anschluss. It is tempting to imagine that the concerto s overt romanticism, its traditional form, and its sentimentality might betray the composer s nostalgia for his homeland. Critics of the time saw these traits as flaws. Given the growing influence of the serialists in the Second Viennese School, it was perhaps inevitable that many would read into Korngold s unalloyed romantic style a cinematic (and therefore commercial) influence. Indeed, it was undoubtedly his flair for this type of expression that made him so valuable to Warner Brothers and other film producers of the era. Yet undoubtedly these characteristics also helped to endear the piece to Jascha Heifetz, who premiered it to great acclaim in St. Louis in 1947, and who helped to secure its place in the permanent repertoire.

4 Even if the musical DNA of this concerto is Viennese, it came to fruition in the United States. Ironically, it may have been the composer s absence from Austria that both provided the impetus for its completion and gave it its ultimate character. Symphony No. 5 by Dmitri Shostakovich The evening of November twenty-first, 1937 was no doubt a stressful one for Dmitri Shostakovich. At the premiere of his Symphony No. 5 in Leningrad, Shostakovich nervously awaited the response of not only his audiences, but also the officials of the Communist party. Symphony No. 5 was Shostakovich s first major work to appear following his official denouncement from party leaders in The denouncement wreaked havoc on the young composer s career, and even constituted a threat to his very life. His music had been previously described as nervous, convulsive, and spasmodic by the official press, and in writing Symphony No. 5, which Shostakovich called a Soviet artist s creative response to justified criticism, Shostakovich sought to prove that he could change his avant-garde and formalist ways, and become an enthusiastic and optimistic Soviet composer. His struggle to do so is mirrored in the piece itself. The first movement begins with a resigned and lurching canon which is passed throughout the orchestra. This canon is elevated and dismantled, especially as it engages with the second main theme, which is first introduced by the violins, contrasting the angular rhythm of the canon with a creeping, ascending line. The movement builds to a great, frenetic apex before it dwindles back to the original canon which fades away as the movement concludes. The second movement, one of Shostakovich s famous and much beloved scherzos, adds a much needed levity to the symphony. The scherzo is made somewhat comedic by way of the heavy, asymmetrical, and at times barbaric waltz that pervades the movement. The third movement of the symphony picks up where the solemn and stoic first movement left off. The melodies unfold with deliberate slowness, as though only produced through great effort. Often described as an elegy, the largo also makes use of solo woodwinds to profound effect.it features the harp, piccolo, and celeste, giving the elegy a foggy, dream-like quality. The contentious final movement of Symphony No. 5 is often characterized as Shostakovich s most direct appeal to the Communist Party leaders. The character of the music varies wildly, beginning with a bombastic and excitable march that calms and then coalesces into a menacing developmental section. It is in the finale of the movement that Shostakovich s compositional intentions are called into question. The finale feels distinctly militaristic and triumphant. Here finally are the optimistic and accessible marches and fanfares that the official Soviet press desired, executed in full form by a masterful composer. However, the final, insistently optimistic and major minutes of the Symphony sound almost forced, with the strings shrieking obsessively underneath stately brass chords and a timpani solo. It is these final moments that beg the question: How justified did Shostakovich really think the critiques of the Soviet Press were, and how sincere an offering was Symphony No. as his apologetic response? About the Composer Note by Piper Foulon, BMA, 2016 Emilio Gonzalez is currently a student at Pacific Lutheran University, where he is studying music composition with Professor GregoryYoutz. He has written a number of pieces covering a wide range of mediums, from percussion solos to wind ensemble pieces. Obsession is his first attempt at writing for symphony orchestra. About the Soloist Laura Hillis is in her third year at PLU, studying Anthropology and Global Studies. She was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, where she studied violin with Rudolf Sternadel and was a member of the South Saskatchewan Youth Orchestra and Regina Symphony Orchestra. In 2011 and 2012, Laura toured with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and was also the Saskatchewan String Representative at the 2012 Canadian National Music Festival. At PLU, Laura has studied with Svend Rønning and Korine Fujiwara, and she has played with the University Symphony Orchestra as well as various chamber ensembles. She was the principal second violinist of the Oxford University Philharmonia during her study away experience there in the spring of Laura would like to thank Dr. Bell-Hanson and the USO for this exciting opportunity, as well as her parents for their unending support. About the Conductor Jeffrey Bell-Hanson is in his fourteenth season as conductor of the University Symphony Orchestra and Professor of Music at Pacific Lutheran University, and has become a sought-after clinician, adjudicator and conductor in the Pacific

5 Northwest. He brings to the podium a dedication not only to high standards, but also to performances informed by scholarship. His research in the rhetorical conventions of eighteenth-century orchestral literature enlivens his renditions of even the most contemporary works. His thirty-five year career on the podium and as a teacher has also included faculty appointments in Kansas, Louisiana and Michigan, where he won recognition for excellence in teaching both from Michigan Technological University and the State of Michigan. In addition to his academic positions, Dr. Bell-Hanson has conducted orchestras and wind ensembles throughout the United States and in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, including the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra, the Vratza Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Bulgarica. Student Showcase is an event sponsored each year by the University Symphony Orchestra as a service to the musical community at PLU. Upper class students studying with one of our many studio faculty members are eligible to audition. The soloists are chosen in November by a panel of non-plu-affiliated judges from among a talented group of candidates, who all represent their respective performance areas with distinction. Beginning in 2010, this award concert has also featured the premiere of a short work by a student composer, commissioned by the composition faculty. This year we are also including a program note authored by one of our candidates for the Bachelor of Music Arts degree, Piper Foulon. Her senior research project on Bed Bug, an early theater work by Dmitri Shostakovich, made her an ideal choice to author the note in your program about the same composer s best-known symphonic work. Members of the University Symphony Orchestra offer congratulations and thanks to the soloists and the featured composer on tonight s program and the PLU Wind Ensemble program on Sunday May 15. We also wish to thank our judges for this year: Shari Shull, Minister of Music/Organist is an Associate in Ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Shari serves Agnus Dei Lutheran Church in Tacoma as organist, choir director, worship planner, and overseer of the entire music ministry. She is a member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, and is past dean of the Tacoma Chapter of the American Guild of Organists where she served as director of the Pipe Organ Encounter Technical program in the summer of 2013 for the National AGO. As an organ recitalist, she has been heard on Pipedreams on National Public Radio and in organ concerts in several states on the east coast and in Washington. Jennifer Krikawa is Artistic Director of the Vashon Opera Company on Vashon Island. Krikawa, a soprano, sang for several opera companies including the New York City Opera, Virginia Opera, and Connecticut Opera. She appeared on the stage of the famed Carnegie Hall as a soloist for Francisco Scarlatti s Dixit Dominus, Vaughan Williams Benedicite and Francis Poulenc s Gloria. Tim Christie, affiliate artist faculty at the University of Puget Sound, is the artistic director and founder of the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival. He is a member of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra and is active as a chamber musician, recording artist and teacher. In addition to his engagements in the Northwest, Mr. Christie performs as a chamber musician throughout the United States. He is the solo violist of the contemporary ensemble Brave New Works, violinist with the IRIS Orchestra in Memphis, TN and is on the violin faculty at the Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina, where he serves as Principal Second Violin of the Brevard Music Center Orchestra. Before moving to Tacoma, Tim was a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Fla. Please support our local partnered arts organizations

University Symphony Orchestra 2015-2016 Jeffrey Bell-Hanson, Conductor Flute/Piccolo Jennifer Dyer Jessica Fletcher Meagan Gaskill Hannah Reierson Oboe/English Horn Lydia Robinson Kelsey Johnson

Justice Trumpet Robert Layton Claire Rehmke Georgia Eastlake Trombone Frances Steelquist Collin Ray Bass Trombone Nathan Tunheim Tuba Alan Young Timpani/Percussion Emilio Gonzalez Amy Arand Shayla

6 University Symphony Orchestra Jeffrey Bell-Hanson, Conductor Flute/Piccolo Jennifer Dyer Jessica Fletcher Meagan Gaskill Hannah Reierson Oboe/English Horn Lydia Robinson Kelsey Johnson Clarinet Devin Turner Karsten Hendrickson Lyndi Knox Bassoon Megan Cummings Alex Orlowski Tianna Bennett Contrabassoon Alex Orlowski Horn Taylor Mills Lucas Batanian Michaela Thompson Alexander Justice Trumpet Robert Layton Claire Rehmke Georgia Eastlake Trombone Frances Steelquist Collin Ray Bass Trombone Nathan Tunheim Tuba Alan Young Timpani/Percussion Emilio Gonzalez Amy Arand Shayla Chaykin Timothy Hager Matthew Kusche Ingrid Smith Keyboard Amy Arand Harp Miranda Campos Violin I North Foulon Laura Hillis Hannah Gorham Jonathan Lee Hansol Hyon Carl Johnson Erika Query Siobahn Warmer Mark Jasinski Samantha Rodahl Violin II Dylan Nehrenberg Kate Schneider Anita Zeng Jeeny Chung Bryn Benson Hannah Sinnes Ruby Reagan Nicholas De Los Santos Elena Oelfke Samantha Rodahl Viola Sophie Robinson Phyllis Jenkins Sonja Schaefer Arden Phu Ethan Warwick Sarah Moore Helen Wagner Nathan Rodahl Cello Kaitlynn Turner Piper Foulon Soren Iverson Katie King Holly Ellis Christiaan Garcia Bass Jordan Hamilton Tomick Necessary Adam Masucci Emily Fields Taylor Whatley Community Member Orchestra Librarian, Claire Rehmke Logistics Manager, Alex Orlowski

Studio Series. String Kaleidoscope. Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 8pm Lagerquist Concert Hall, Mary Baker Russell Music Center

Studio Series. String Kaleidoscope. Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 8pm Lagerquist Concert Hall, Mary Baker Russell Music Center Studio Series String Kaleidoscope Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 8pm Lagerquist Concert Hall, Mary Baker Russell Music Center Pacific Lutheran University School of Arts and Communication / Department of Music