Center for the Performing ArtsOctober 1, 2009Thursday Evening8:00 p.m

Block, Glenn, Music Director/Conductor

Gentry, Sarah, Violin

Lewis, Katherine, Viola

English

ISU ReD: Research and eData

Illinois State University ISU ReD: Research and eData School of Music Programs Music 10-1-2009 Ensemble Concerts: Symphony Orchestra, October 1, 2009 Glenn Block Music Director/Conductor Illinois State University Sarah Gentry Violin Katherine Lewis Viola Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/somp  Part of the Music Performance Commons Recommended Citation Block, Glenn Music Director/Conductor; Gentry, Sarah Violin; and Lewis, Katherine Viola, "Ensemble Concerts: Symphony Orchestra, October 1, 2009" (2009). School of Music Programs. 4680. https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/somp/4680 This Performance Program is brought to you for free and open access by the Music at ISU ReD: Research and eData. It has been accepted for inclusion in School of Music Programs by an authorized administrator of ISU ReD: Research and eData. For more information, please contact ISUReD@ilstu.edu.    Illinois State University College of Fine Arts School of Music        Illinois State University  Symphony Orchestra Glenn Block, Music Director and Conductor  Sarah Gentry, Violin Katherine Lewis, Viola                 Center for the Performing Arts   October 1, 2009   Thursday Evening   8:00 p.m. This is the fourteenth program of the 2009-2010 season. Program    Please turn off cell phones and pagers for the duration of the concert. Thank You.   The Star Spangled Banner                                                             John Stafford Smith    (1750-1836)  Carneval Overture, Op. 92 (1891) Antonin Dvořák   (1841-1904)  Sinfonia Concertante, K 364 (K. 320d, 1779) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  Allegro Maestoso  (1756-1791)  Andante  Presto  ~ Intermission ~   Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36 (1877) Pyotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky   Andante sostenuto – Moderato con anima (1840-1893)  Andantino in modo di canzona  Scherzo; Pizzicato ostinato: Allegro  Finale: Allegro con fuoco    Next ISU Orchestra Concerts: Illinois Tour (Peoria, Urbana, Chicago) – October 6-8 Verdi - Requiem (ISU massed choirs, faculty vocal soloists) November 1 at 3:00 p.m. - CPA Chamber Orchestra (Michael Dicker, faculty bassoon)  November 12 at 8:00 p.m. - CPA  Orchestra Staff Carlos Ávila, assistant conductor/orchestra manager Michael White, librarian/ webmaster  Orchestra Committee Mallory Alekna, chair Timothy Daniels Lindsey Merz Robert Reilly Jennifer Ringsby Illinois State University Symphony Orchestra  Violin I Rebecca Cutler, co-concertmaster – Shell City, MO  Andrew Francois, co-concertmaster – Kankakee, IL Jordan Blitz – Charleston, IL Benjamin Nadel – Buffalo Grove, IL Robert Reilly – Aurora, IL Jennifer Ringsby – South Elgin, IL Stacey Turner – Arlington Heights, IL Annelise Wiering - Hoffman Estates, IL  Violin II Michelle Krewer, principal – Skokie, IL Carrie Schrader, assistant principal – Waukesha, WI Elliott Englander – Buffalo Grove, IL Danielle Fox – Bloomington, IL Amy Hagedorn – Cristal Lake, IL Chloe Hawkins – Parkridge, IL Brittany Johnson – Urbana, IL Rodney McCalister – Hazel Crest, IL Valerie Villa – Chicago, IL Danielle Vovos – La Grange, IL  Viola Matthew Harper, principal – Kankakee, IL Marta Hernandez, assistant principal – San Juan, Puerto Rico Alexandra Anlas – Wall, NJ Gillian Borth – Normal, IL Katie Childers – Saint Charles, IL  Leah A’Hearn – Normal, IL Jessica Lee – Saint Charles, IL Samantha Reno – New Lenox, IL Keun-Young Song – Incheon, Korea Mark Wirbisky – Minneapolis, MN  Cello Eunkyung Son, principal – Namyangju, South Korea Carolyn Parfet, assistant principal – San Diego, CA Katherine An – Cherry Valley, IL Adrienne Boni – Villa Park, IL Abigail Cash – Alton, IL Anthony DiGiacomo – Park Ridge, IL William Huebler – Brookfield, IL Emily Kaplon – Orland Park, IL Deirdre O’Brien – East Dundee, IL Joshua Stewart – Shawnee, KS  Double Bass Mallory Alekna, principal – Rockford, IL Michael White, assistant principal – Flossmoor, IL Alexander Hackel – Decatur, IL Andrew Israelsen – Normal, IL Nicholas Kling – Geneva, IL Marvin Sahs – Homer Glen, IL Jeffrey Schaller – Normal, IL Anna Von Ohlen – Aurora, IL   Flute Stefanie Abderhalden* – Naperville, IL Stephanie Melinyshyn+ – Buffalo Grove, IL Na Yoon Choi – Masan, South Korea Sierra Norris – Tucson, AZ Bethany Padgett– Saranac, MI  Oboe Lindsey Merz, principal – Fairfield, OH Christina Elder – McHenry, IL  English Horn Eileen Pereira – Arlington Heights, IL  Clarinet Kara Hale, principal – Joliet, IL Jason Landaiche – Joliet, IL  Bassoon Yazmin Torres, principal – Hoffman Estates, IL Justin Dahlem – Cincinnati, OH Kevin Larson – Downers Grove, IL Kirsten Larson – Bloomington, IL  Horn Elizabeth Jones, principal – Marshfield, MA Allison Bellot, assistant principal – Joliet, IL Danielle Fisher – Shirley, IL Nancy O’Neill – Algonquin, IL Josh Wagner – Crete, IL  Trumpet Andrew Gerbitz, principal – Batavia, IL Kait Fieldman – Tinley Park, IL Rachel Epley – Cedar Rapids, IA  Trombone Michael Klos, principal – Naperville, IL Kyle Renchen – Manteno, IL Jennifer Moder – Peoria, IL  Bass Trombone Christopher Darwell – Lemont, IL  Tuba Douglas Hanna, principal – Rittman, OH  Timpani Derek Boughey* – Longmont, CO Zach Oostema+ – Oak Forest, IL  Percussion Derek Boughey, principal – Longmont, CO Carlos Ávila – San Juan, Puerto Rico Timothy Daniels – Joliet, IL Andrew Novak – Lamont, IL Zach Oostema – Oak Forest, IL  *Principal for Tchaikovsky +Principal for Dvorak  Katherine Lewis is Assistant Professor of Viola at Illinois State University as well as the Master Teacher for the ISU String Project. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, and Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She is in the final stages of completion of her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Rice University¹s Shepherd School of Music where she was a Brown Foundation Scholar. Ms. Lewis has taught viola and chamber music in the preparatory departments of the Shepherd School of Music, The Cleveland Institute of Music, and Fairmount Fine Arts Center in Cleveland, OH. She currently performs as principal viola in the Peoria Symphony, Heartland Festival Orchestra, Prairie Ensemble, and Peoria Bach Festival Orchestra and has previously held the principal viola chair with the Symphony of Southeast Texas, Kankakee Symphony, and Orchestra X. While in Houston she played frequently with the Houston and New World Symphonies, and was a member of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra. She has participated in many festivals including the Aspen and Sarasota Music Festivals, the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France, the Baroque Institute at Longy, and the International Holland Music Sessions. Her teachers include Karen Ritscher, Jeffrey Irvine, James Dunham, Matthew Michelic, and Heidi Castleman. Recently Ms. Lewis has given master classes at Oberlin Conservatory, Bowling Green State University, and Lawrence University, and recitals at Austin Peay State University and Bradley University.  Glenn Block has served as the Director of Orchestras and Opera and Professor of Conducting at Illinois State University since 1990. In addition, he served as Music Director of the Youth Symphony of Kansas City from 1983-2007. Prior to his appointment at Illinois State in the fall of 1990, Dr. Block served for 15 years as Director of Orchestras and Professor of Conducting at the Conservatory of Music of the University of Missouri - Kansas City and Music Director of the Kansas City Civic Orchestra. Born in Brooklyn, Dr. Block was educated at the Eastman School of Music. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California at San Diego.       A frequent guest conductor, he has appeared in over 42 states with all-state and professional orchestras. Foreign guest-conducting have included concerts and master classes at the Fountainebleau Conservertoire in France, and concerts in Spain, Canada, Colombia, Estonia, Russia, Italy, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic. He has served on the Boards of Directors for both the Conductors Guild and the Youth Orchestra Division of the American Symphony Orchestra League. The Youth Symphony of Kansas City and Dr. Block made their Carnegie Hall debut in June, 1997.       Dr. Block has served on the faculty of the National Music Camp at Interlochen as Resident Conductor of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra, and at the Interlochen Arts Academy as Visiting Conductor. In addition, he has served as Music Director of the Summer Festival Orchestra at the Rocky Ridge Music Center in Estes Park, Colorado.      Program Notes   Carnival (Karneval), concert overture, B. 169 (op. 92) In many ways, the 1890s represented for Dvořák a time of creative and personal renaissance. It was during this decade that he made his first forays into the New World, the direct result of which included the production of a wealth of American-inflected chamber music as well as the composer's best- known work, the Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” (1893). The latter proved to be Dvořák's final essay in that form, signaling, perhaps, his increasing interest in other genres. In addition to the operatic stops and starts that occupied much of the composer's attention in the 1890s, Dvořák produced a substantial body of self-contained orchestral works in the guise of overtures and tone poems.  The Carnival Overture, Op. 92 (1891), is the second of a group of three Dvořák works he collectively titled Nature, Life, and Love. An operatic spirit – striking by certain Carmenesque flashes, for example – informs the overture throughout, as does a prevailing ebullience and stomping, folk dance-like energy. A brief central Andantino con moto episode of sedate, almost nocturnal character is notable for its more expansive melodies and the use of the English horn, one of Dvořák 's favorite instruments, in an unusual role: sounding an ostinato accompaniment rather than the melody proper. The overture ends in a spirit similar to that in which it begins, aptly embodying the festal atmosphere suggested by its title.   Notes by Michael Rodman  Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra in E-flat major, K 364 (K. 320d)   A cherished product of Mozart’s early maturity, the E-flat Sinfonia Concertante has rather mysterious origins. Considering the importance and subsequent popularity of the work, it is surprising that the circumstances neither of its composition nor its first performance are a matter of record. The revised Köchel listing of 1964 (K. 320d) bears witness to the difficulty of placing this masterwork in its proper chronology. It is fairly certain that the work was written during the late summer of 1779, toward the end of Mozart’s Salzburg years. Finally published by Johann André in 1801, the original manuscript was subsequently lost. Aside from the André edition, all that exists from Mozart’s own hand is a fragmentary sketch of the first movement, with some of the cadenza material on the reverse side.   The Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat was Mozart's last effort in this combination form of symphony and concerto for multiple soloists. Written after his violin concertos, the work was regarded by Mozart scholar Alfred Einstein as the composer's "crowning achievement in the field of the violin concerto." Even more remarkable is the presence of the viola, for this is Mozart's only solo use of a lovely instrument that was too often neglected in the classic era. Passed through generations of violists was Mozart’s avowed preference for playing their instrument rather than the violin. Since no information to the contrary is available, it is generally assumed that Mozart himself played the viola solo and his father, Leopold, the violin solo, when this work was premiered in Salzburg. Mozart’s writing for the solo viola is more than fair; if anything, the larger instrument is slightly favored in terms of grateful passagework. In order to ensure an equal balance of the instruments, Mozart originally wrote the viola solo part in D major with the intention that it would gain additional brilliance by being tuned up one-half tone higher than normal. It is very rare that a contemporary violist would choose to adopt this scordatura (retuning); virtually all prefer to maintain the normal tuning of their strings and play it in E-flat major.   Allegro maestoso. Traces of Mozart’s recent travels to Mannheim and Paris echo in the orchestral exposition of the movement's themes. The horns' opening phrase utilizes the rhythm of a Carl Stamitz symphony, the tutti violas are divided into two parts, while the passage prefacing the soloists' first entrance is a characteristic "Mannheim crescendo." Entering with a long-held octave E-flat, the soloists converse through the rich thematic material of this imposing movement. After a condensed reprise of the themes, Mozart's own cadenzas are heard;    Andante. A dark passion seems to underlie the elegiac expression of the Andante. There is a poignant shift to E-flat major, but soon a shroud of Mozartean C minor envelops the gentler mood of the major mode. After a cadenza, the opening phrase returns to close the movement.   Presto. The soloists' sprightly rondo theme returns three times between episodes of interrelated material. The vigor and strength of this finale seems to dispel what one commentator called the "proud, dark splendor" of the earlier movements; here the music yields itself to joyous virtuosity.  Notes by Roger Ruggeri  Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36  The temptation to read a program into Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony is as old as the work itself. Since Nadezhda von Meck allowed Tchaikovsky to dedicate the symphony to her (without mentioning her name) and was contributing generously to support his career, she demanded to know what the work was about. Tchaikovsky's response, often quoted, is a detailed account, filled with emotional thoughts and empty phrases—words written after the fact to satisfy an indispensable patron. When Tchaikovsky mentions fate, however, his words ring true; this was a subject that had haunted him since 1876, when he saw Bizet’s Carmen and was struck by the “…death of the two principals who, through fate, fatum, ultimately reach the peak of their suffering and their inescapable end.” He wrote to Nadezhda von Meck: “The introduction is the seed of the whole symphony, undoubtedly the main idea. This is fate, that fatal force which prevents the impulse to happiness from attaining its goal, which jealously ensures that peace and happiness shall not be complete and unclouded, which hangs above your head like the sword of Damocles, and unwaveringly, constantly poisons the soul.”  Indeed, the icy blast from the horns that opens this symphony returns repeatedly in the first movement (and once in the finale), each time wiping out everything in its path.  In fact, the lilting main theme of the opening movement (marked “in movimento di valse”) and the whole of the two inner movements—the slow pas de deux with its mournful oboe solo, and the brilliant and playful Pizzicato Scherzo—remind us that the best of Tchaikovsky's ballet scores are symphonic in scope and tone. The finale is more complex, emotionally and musically, swinging from the dark emotions of the first movement to a more festive mood. There is one final intrusion of the fateful horns from the symphony's opening, but this time the music quickly recovers, rousing itself to a defiantly triumphant and heroic Beethovenian ending, in intention if not in substance.  Notes by Phillip Huscher, program annotator for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.    Biographical Notes  Sarah Gentry is an Associate Professor of Violin at Illinois State University. In addition to teaching violin, Dr. Gentry also coaches string ensembles and serves as a music advisor. She studied violin with Sally O'Reilly at Louisiana State University, where she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Music. As a student of Sidney Harth, she received her Master of Music degree from Yale University. Dr. Gentry received her Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University, where she studied with Franco Gulli and Henryk Kowalski. While at Indiana, she was awarded a full tuition scholarship plus stipend as an Associate Instructor of Music Theory. Dr. Gentry currently performs as Concertmaster of the newly founded Heartland Festival Orchestra and as Concertmaster of the Sugar Creek Symphony and Song Music Festival.     Also as a member of the Mount Vernon Chamber Players, Dr. Gentry performed several concerts in Arizona this past February. Previous performance positions include Concertmaster of the Opera Illinois Orchestra for fifteen years, Concertmaster of the Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana, and Assistant Concertmaster of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra for seven years. Dr. Gentry is also an active chamber music performer, having studied with members of the Tokyo String Quartet. She performs as first violinist of the ISU Faculty Quartet and violinist of the Ricard Trio, which was featured in the Canterbury (England) Music Festival. Other recent performing activities include recitals in Louisiana and Missouri, solo appearances with the Lake Charles Symphony (LA), Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana (IL), the Millennium Strings of Morris, NY and performing and teaching as Faculty Artist at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. Dr. Gentry adjudicates for numerous high school and collegiate events, such as the Midwest Young Artist Competition, Peoria Symphony Young Artist Competition, IMEA All-District and All-State Orchestra Auditions, Central Illinois Youth Symphony Auditions, University of Illinois Concerto Competition, University of Illinois Paul Roland Competition, Illinois Wesleyan University Concerto/ Aria Competition and the Central Illinois Youth Symphony Senior Concerto Competition.    

Ensemble Concerts: Symphony Orchestra, October 1, 2009

https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5765&context=somp

Ensemble Concerts: Symphony Orchestra, October 1, 2009

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