Stringendo and Sinfonia

T. Clark Saunders, Acting Dean
Hartt Community Division
Noah Blocker-Glynn, Director
Presents
Stringendo and Sinfonia
Stringendo
David Kramer, Conductor
Gayl Teo, Manager
Sinfonia
Mickey Reisman, Conductor
Kathryn Pappalardo, Manager
Saturday, May 9, 2015
2 p.m.
Dance Rhythmico
Bluebell
Lincoln Theater
Jeff Frizzi
Yukiko Nishimura
The Dance of Iscariot
Kirt Mosier
Stringendo
David Kramer, Conductor
Gayl Teo, Manager
Symphony No. 9 from The New World
Butterfly and Flowers
Antonin Dvorak
arr. Harry A. Alshin
Elena Roussanova Lucas
The Godfather
Nino Rota
arr, Robert Longfield
Cantabile from Symphony No. 5
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
arr. Robert D. Longfield
Overture to Nabucco
Giuseppe Verdi
arr. Sandra Dackow
Sinfonia
Mickey Reisman, Conductor
Kathryn Pappalardo, Manager
Orpheus in the Underworld (Finale)
Stringendo and Sinfonia
Jacques Offenbach
arr. Sandra Dackow
DVORAK (Arr. Alshin): Symphony No. 9 from “The New World”
Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, commonly known as the New World Symphony
was written in 1893. During this time Dvorak was living in the United States
and working as the director of the National Conservatory of Music. Although
Dvorak was Czech, the New World Symphony is considered an example of
American nationalistic music. Dvorak was very interested in Native American
and African American songs and spirituals. Dvorak believed that American
composers should turn to these groups for inspiration and said, “These beautiful
and varied themes are the product of the soil. They are the folk songs of
America and your composers must turn to them.”
This arrangement includes only the first of four movements from the original
work.
TCHAIKOVSKY (Arr. McCashin): Cantabile from Symphony No. 5
“This arrangement is drawn from the well-know and hauntingly beautiful
second movement of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E Minor. The musical
fabric is woven from the shadows and reflections of the Russian composer’s shy,
if not neurotic, childhood through his tortured but ever-hopeful adulthood.
While the wistful mood of the opening is brooding and somewhat dark, the
melody that follows in the violas, then cellos, combines the intensity of a deep,
impassioned love tinged with a pleading for hopeful delivery from a desperate
emotional state.”
-Notes from Arranger Robert D. McCashin
ROTA (Arr. Longfield): The Godfather
This piece comes from the widely acclaimed movie, The Godfather, was
released in 1972. The music for the original film was composed by Nino Rota, a
widely successful Italian composer of film scores. Rota composed the scores for
the first two Godfather movies as well over one hundred other film scores in
addition to operas, ballets and orchestral music. This arrangement is of the wellknown Love Theme from the original Godfather movie.
VERDI (Arr. Dackow): Overture to Nabucco
“Nabucco is the story of Nebuchadnezzar, Old Testament Emperor of Babylon,
and the Babylonian captivity of Jerusalem. When Verdi wrote the opera in 1841
in Milan, northern Italy was under Austrian rule and the Italian people, eager
for an autonomous republic of their own, embraced the opera as a dramatization
of their own political situation. Nabucco, Verdi’s third opera, was an enormous
success and launched the composers career.”
-Notes from Arranger Sandra Dackow
Stringendo Personnel
Listed in Alphabetical order
Violin I
Valente Castillo
Luke Choi
Aliza Creel
Daniel Deng
Grace Deng
Dylan Errico
Jeslyn Gao
Nahriel Gelly
Natalie Giese
Joshua Lee
Nora Printy
Veronika Verbitsky
Violin II
Caroline Bastarache
Jamie Blois
Fiona Gallagher
Sean Luo
Majesty Moore
Rohan Naik
David Newman
Adam Paszczuk
Destiny Porter
Ava Rozmajzl
Leonardo Sanchez
Elijah Shenk
Cello
Anna Cates
Paige Chapman
Sean Kennedy
Aileen Li
Ace St. Jean
Adam Theodorou
Bella Theodorou
Bass:
Mishi Forman
Viola
Abraham Diesenhof
Sophia Hudson
Brian Palaguachi
Alison Pauluk
Zoe Slap
Cate Wilcox
Concert Etiquette:
Thank you for attending today’s performance. Out of respect for the performers and
other audience members, please turn off cell phones and refrain from talking during the
performance. Applause is customarily given at the conclusion of complete compositions,
but not after individual movements. Also, please remember to enter the auditorium only
during applause and to leave only at the conclusion of the concert, except in the case of
an emergency. Enjoy the concert!
Sinfonia Personnel
Listed in Alphabetical order
Violin I
Eva Astrachan^
Laura Falk
Patsy Fetzer
Prithvi Gunturu
Ayushi Hegde
Anatole Keshwani
Sunny Kwon
Emma Lavoie
Matei Mandoiu
Rashmi Rajesh
Marwynn Somridhivej
Abby Sowa
Violin II
Kevin Gu
Sabiha Haque
Jessica Hua
Ilinca Johnson
AnnaLeah Lacoss
Zachary LaPolla
Camille Lienau
Caroline Ma
Mirielle Ma**
Nathan Margolis
Christina Zhang
Viola
Grace Cancian**
Maya Flores
Sai Manasani
Francesca Tavano
Cello
Nicole Adomeit
Jerome Jacobs
Mollie Khan
Sasha Lioutikova
Rahul Menon
Julia Michnowicz
Ruben Miras-DeSimone**
Gabriel Tamesis
Bass:
Ethan LaVigne**
John Taylor
^Concertmaster
**Section Principal
FRIZZI: Dance Rhythmico
Dance Rhythmico features syncopated rhythms where some notes are placed on
the off-beats of the measure. The violas, cellos, and double bass begin the piece
with a catchy syncopated tune that is echoed by the violins, and then alternated
between the sections before the entire entire ensemble plays the same rhythm in
unison. This rhythmic motif that has pervaded the introduction forms the
skeleton of the piece. Listeners will notice that all the sections take turns to play
this syncopation, except in the middle section where the music features a calm
and more lyrical tune. Composer Jeff Frizzi ingeniously juxtaposes syncopation
with regular beats, which not only enables the musicians to understand where to
place the off-beats, but also inevitably causes the syncopated rhythm to standout
in contrast allowing the listeners to move to the groove.
NISHIMURA: Bluebell
"Bluebell is a dainty little flower that blooms in spring. Its shape is like
a bell. The main melody is quite simple; however, technique is not important.
I suggest that the students feel the change of coloring in each section of the
music. For instance, the beginning to m. 24 should be light and warm sound.
After that, the atmosphere changes somewhat. At m. 25 there is a gloomy kind
of sound, representing; perhaps, a passing rain or clouds.
The music then moves to a rift in the clouds. Sunshine will come later on.
Please play the piece gently and with a sweet smile."
-Program notes from the composer
MOSIER: The Dance of Iscariot
Written in the key of E minor, The Dance of Iscariot begins with pulsating
eighth notes in the second violins, followed by a descending chromatic scale in
the violas, cellos, and double bass. This sets the mood for an exciting and
mysterious journey through the piece. The middle section features a fugue that
begins with the second violins, and briefly modulates to B minor before
returning to the home key of E minor with the tune that was heard earlier. The
piece culminates with an accelerando into a presto section where the cellos play
the tune for the last time against the rest of the ensemble playing alternating
eight notes to build intensity. Although the piece begins in a minor key, it ends
with an E major chord also known as a Picardy third (because the third of a
chord determines the major or minor tonality of a chord). The expressive
quality of the major chord and the surprise of the Picardy third could perhaps
signify a happy ending to the piece.
LUCAS: Butterfly and Flowers
“Butterfly and Flowers is a musical setting reflecting the bring colors of the Chinese
countryside.” The distinctive feature of this piece is the use of the pentatonic
scale throughout. A pentatonic scale is comprised of only five notes in
comparison to standard major and minor scales that use seven notes. This scale
is commonly found in music through out the world from American Jazz to
traditional Chinese music to Hungarian Folk music.