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.
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