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Music School Festival Orchestra
July 11, 2021
Music School Festival Orchestra

Monday, July 12

Timothy Muffitt, Artistic and Music Director 
Joshua Hong, David Effron Conducting Fellow
Alexandria Ott, Concertmaster
Jesus Linarez Delfines, Principal Second Violin
Pedro Mendez, Principal Viola
Emma Osterrieder, Principal Cello
Broner McCoy, Principal Double Bass
Charles Berofsky, Piano
Beth Robinson, Harp
Pedro Fernandez, Percussion

 

Repertoire

Gioachino Rossini: Overture to William Tell [12']

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Preview of The Marriage of Figaro, K. 492 [10']

Hai già vinta la causa!…Vedrò mentr’io sospiro
Seonho Yu, baritone

Tutto è disposto…Aprite un po’ quegli occhi 
Evan Lazdowski, bass-baritone 

Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring [23']

Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 3 [29']

 

This program is made possible by the Rittman Family Fund for Performing Arts. 

Bios
Timothy Muffitt
Artistic and Music Director
Joshua Hong
David Effron Conducting Fellow
Seonho Yu
Baritone
Evan Lazdowski
Bass-Baritone
About the MSFO

Comprised of top-tier students from conservatories and universities in the U.S. and abroad, Music School Festival Orchestra members participate in a variety of musical activities during their summers at CHQ including chamber music and private lessons along with their meticulous orchestral training. Alumni from the MSFO can be heard in many of the world’s top orchestras and chamber ensembles and can be found on music faculties worldwide.

MSFO Personnel
VIOLIN

Matthew Adams
Stephanie Bonk
Spencer Day
Diego Diaz
Laura Herrera
Jason Hurlbut
Vikram Iyer
Bright Johnston
Natasha Kubit
Gabriela Lara
Jesus Alejandro Linarez Delfines
Emily Monroe
Katherine Morris
Alexandria Ott
Olivia Taylor
Justine Teo

VIOLA

Ruisi Du
Amelia Eckloff
Sydney Link
Pedro Mendez
Alexis Mitrushi
John Ryan
Lukas Shrout
Kaitlyn Walker

CELLO

Katsuaki Arakawa
Catherine Choi
Omkara Gil Guaraco
Hee Won Jeon
Emma Osterrieder
Rachel Rice
Tanner Rodriguez
Andrew Shinn

DOUBLE BASS

Payton Dziekan
Broner McCoy
Cruise Myers
Jose Saavedra Diaz
Danny Sesi
Corey Watzek

FLUTE

Lauren Scanio
Sunju Kim

OBOE

Donovan Bown
Mia Fasanello

CLARINET

Ellé Crowhurst
Olivia Hamilton

BASSOON

Carlos Clark
Christopher Witt

TRUMPET

Joseph Brozek
Aaron DuBois

HORN

Aidan Alcocer
Gretchen Bonnema
Alex Daiker
Rachel Lauson

TROMBONE

Zongxi Li
Felix Regalado
Marco Gomez (Bass)

PERCUSSION

Liam McManus
David Wang

2021 DAVID EFFRON CONDUCTING FELLOW

Joshua Hong

2021 Faculty and Staff
Manager, Chautauqua Schools of Performing and Visual Arts

Sarah Malinoski-Umberger

School of Music Operations Manager and Director of Arts Education

Suzanne Fassett-Wright

Administration

Megan Stefanik, Office Assistant
Igor Gersh, Resident Luthier

Instrumental Faculty

Timothy Muffitt, Artistic and Music Director
Aaron Berofsky, Chair of Strings & Violin
      Faculty
Kathryn Votapek, Chair of Chamber Music
Richard Sherman, Chair of Winds, Brass
      and Percussion & Flute Faculty
Curtis Burris, Bass
William Caballero, Horn
Eli Eban, Clarinet
Pedro Fernandez, Percussion
Shannon Hesse, Collaborative Pianist
Jan Eberle Kanui, Oboe
Roger Kaza, Horn
Akiko Konishi, Collaborative Pianist
Brian Kushmaul, Percussion
Owen Lee, Bass
Eric Lindblom, Bass Trombone
John Marcellus, Trombone
Anna Mattix, Oboe
Karen Ritscher, viola
Beth Robinson, Harp
Jeff Robinson, Bassoon
Almita Vamos, Violin

Instrumental Guest Faculty

Michael Burritt, Percussion

Voice Faculty

Marlena Malas, Chair
Jonathan Beyer, Instructor
Elizabeth Bishop, Instructor
John Giampietro, Stage Director
Donna Gill, Coordinator of Voice Scheduling
Rhoslyn Jones, Instructor
Jaye Simmons, Assistant to the Stage Director

Voice Coaches

Donna Gill, Head Coach
Julius Abrahams
Michał Biel
Travis Bloom
Martin Dubé
Kanae Matsumoto
Jinhee Park
Katelan Terrell

Voice Guest Faculty

Claudia Catania
Maxine Davis
Mikael Eliasen
Reneé Fleming
Susan Graham
Ben Moore
Craig Rutenberg
Brian Zeger

Piano Faculty

Alexander Gavrylyuk, Heintzelman Family Artistic Advisor and Artist-in-Residence
Nicola Melville, Co-Chair
John Milbauer, Co-Chair

Piano Guest Faculty

Natalya Antonova
Malcolm Bilson
Alexander Kobrin
Jerome Lowenthal
Jon Nakamatsu
Ursula Oppens
Boris Slutsky

Piano Technicians

Robert Bussell, Concert Piano Technician
Bruce Fellows, Service Coordinator and Tuner

Program Notes
Program Notes by Joshua Hong
 
Overture to Guillaume Tell (1829)
Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868)
 
The overture to Gioacchino Rossini’s 39th and final opera, Guillaume Tell, is one of the most easily recognizable orchestral works due to its many appearances in popular culture and media, from Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse to The Lone Ranger and A Clockwork Orange. The opera itself is a startlingly serious work about a folk hero that leads his nation’s revolution against tyrannical forces. It lasts about four hours and is very rarely performed.
 
The overture is comprised of four distinctive episodes. The first features a lyrical five-voice choir of cellos, supported by the double bass section. Timpani rolls interrupt the cellos’ rapturous song with two distant rumbles of thunder that presage the second episode, a musical depiction of a storm very similar in sound and character to the 4th movement of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. The third episode of the overture is a bucolic duet of English horn and flute, heard later in the opera as a “Ranz des vaches,” a traditional Swiss cattle-call. This leads directly into the overture’s final episode, the “March of the Swiss Soldiers,” perhaps the most iconic galop in music history.
 
 
Orchestral Suite from Appalachian Spring (1944)
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
 
In 1942, Aaron Copland was approached by choreographer and dancer Martha Graham to compose music for a new and entirely American ballet. This ballet was completed and premiered in 1944 at the Library of Congress, and its success led to the composer’s arranging of the music as an orchestral suite. This suite has become one of the composer’s most oft-performed works and is widely credited for helping define the American sound and style of classical composition.
 
The ballet itself is set near the time of the Civil War and describes a shy young couple about to be married and embark on a new life together on a Pennsylvania farmhouse. Throughout the ballet, their fear of an uncertain future is contrasted with the celebration of their union and their shared faith and humility. Toward the end of the work, scenes of the newlywed’s daily activities are presented alongside five variations on the Shaker theme “Simple Gifts.” This is followed by a hymnlike coda that the musicians are instructed in the score to perform “like a prayer.” Copland’s ability to sharply portray a wide range of scenes, from vibrant festivities to intimate reflection, all whilst maintaining flow, thematic unity, and structure, contribute to the deserved popularity of this superlative work.
 
 
Symphony No. 3 in C Major, Op. 52 (1907)
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
 
By the time his Third Symphony was written, Finnish composer Jean Sibelius was hailed as a national hero through the success of his first two symphonies. However, his personal problems were beginning to reach a breaking point. In 1900, Sibelius and his wife tragically lost their youngest daughter to typhoid fever. In the ensuing years, the composer would spend a great deal of time away from his wife and two other daughters while developing a serious drinking habit. Even following the birth of another daughter, he continued to work away from home. Suffering from exhaustion, his wife had to retreat to a sanatorium in January of 1907. The composer resolved to quit drinking and set to work on this Symphony, finishing it in September of that year.
 
Despite these tumultuous circumstances, the Third Symphony is much lighter and classical in style compared with the robust Romanticism of the first two symphonies. This change was deliberate on all fronts: the Third Symphony is written for a smaller orchestra (fewer brass, percussion, and no harp), contains fewer movements, and is fifteen minutes shorter than either of the first two. Nevertheless, the work is full of the hallmarks of Sibelius’s mature compositional language. Barren chromatic soundscapes move in slow motion toward gleaming monolithic triads that serve as the symphony’s structural and tonal underpinning. Folk rhythms and melodies appear frequently, adding the human elements of song and dance to the symphony’s nature. In the end, the symphony arrives at its final C Major triad almost abruptly with zero extraneous fanfare. One might suspect that after his previous successes and his personal difficulties, Sibelius was perhaps not so occupied with making a profound creative statement. Perhaps he was simply searching for a way to give thanks.
Underwriters

The Hultquist Foundation of Jamestown, New York

New York State Council on the Arts
The Music School Festival Orchestra is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Scholarships

The Chautauqua Amateur Musicians Program (C.A.M.P) Scholarship (Thursday Morning Brass and Chautauqua Brass Ensemble)

Alexander W. Bouchal Memorial Scholarship

Ann and Isidor Saslav Violin Scholarship in Honor of Mischa Mischakoff

Anna Mary and Richard M. Maddy Music Scholarship Fund

Barton Family Scholarship

Bennett and Mary Jo Burgoon Memorial Scholarship

Beverly and Bruce Conner Scholarship Fund

Burden-Staples Music Scholarship

Charles John Petre Memorial Fund Trombone Award

Chautauqua - NFMC Dorothy Dann Bullock Award

Chautauqua General - NFMC Directors

Chautauqua General Scholarship

Chautauqua Women's Club Scholarship for MSFO

Dave and Diana Bower Scholarship

David Effron Conducting Fellowship

Dietrich Family Endowment for Music at Chautauqua

Dr. Stephen Fudell Memorial Scholarship Endowment

Elmer S. and H. Lorraine Sachse Scholarship Fund

Everett and Sarah Holden McLaren Scholarship

Frederick Percival Boynton Scholarship

G. Thomas & Kathleen Harrick Music Scholarship

General Chautauqua Scholarship for MSFO

George E. and Susan Moran Murphy Scholarship

Glenn G. Vance Music Scholarship Fund

Harris Scholarship for Performing Arts

Hebrew Congregation Music Award

Hilda Jo Anne Milham Scholarship

Jack I. and Barbara J. Morris Memorial Cello Scholarship

Joseph Clarke Scholarship Fund

Konneker Scholarship

Marianne Elser Markham Endowment Fund

Milks Family Scholarship for Brass Music

Morton and Natalie Abramson Scholarship for Cello

Morton and Natalie Abramson Scholarship for Viola

Morton and Natalie Abramson Scholarship for Violin

Mr. and Mrs. Sanford Nobel Scholarship

Ms. Izumi Hara and Mr. David Koschik Scholarship

MSFO Brass scholarship in memory of Robert Vitkowsky

MSFO Scholarship in memory of Allen and Elizabeth Wood

Mu Phi Epsilon Scholarship

NFMC-New York Federation Award

NFMC-Ohio Federation Award

Peggy and Andy Anderson Family Scholarship Fund

Rebecca M. and Dr. Alan Kamen Cello Scholarship

Robert and Joan Spirtas Scholarship

Robert and Mary Pickens Scholarship

Robert D. Hiller Scholarship Fund

Robert D. Redington Memorial Scholarship

Ronald Perry Smith Scholarship Fund

Ruth Higby Haver and Della and David Higby Music Scholarship

Ruth M. Skinner Hutchins Scholarship Fund

Samuel R. McClure II Brass Scholarship

Shreveport Friends' Music Scholarship

The Arlene Hajinlian Music Scholarship

The Bettsy and Ellis Cowling Scholarship for Music

The Chuck Berginc Scholarship

The Craig J. Luchsinger Memorial Scholarship for Violin

The Daley Family Fund

The Teresa M. Joyce Ph.D. Scholarship

The Dr. William T. and Virginia W. Smyth Fund

The Edna Posner Music Scholarship 

The Elizabeth & Jack Gellman and Deborah & Allen Zaretsky Scholarship Fund

The Ernest W. and Jeannette McClure Polley Scholarship

The Erroll & Elaine Davis Scholarship

The Fayette S. Olmstead Foundation and Pittsburgh National Bank Charitable Trust Fund

The Henrietta W. Schlager Scholarship

The Honorable and Mrs. W.F. Clinger Scholarship

The Howard G. Gibbs Scholarship Fund

The John B. Yoder Music Scholarship

The Kaylor Family Scholarship

The LaPenna-Koch Scholarship

The Lucille J. McClure Memorial Music Scholarship Fund

The Marilyn G. Levinson and Nathan Gottschalk First Chair Award for MSFO Endowment

The Marsha J. Alico Memorial Music Scholarship

The Michael L. Barnett Scholarship Fund

The Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Ivers Music Scholarship

The Nancy and Norman Karp Scholarship Fund

The Penrose-Mahaffey Scholarship Fund

The Ralph J. Miller and Florence L. Miller Memorial Scholarship in Music

The Reed Family Scholarship

The Richard and Eleanor Aron MSFO Scholarship

The Robert Hunt and Mary Campbell Eckhardt Memorial Scholarship

The Sal & Kay Marranca Music Scholarship

The William Cole/King Scholarship

The William F. Northrop Memorial Music Scholarship

Thomas E. Kaufman Memorial Music Scholarship

Virginia Cox Scholarship for MSFO

Ward T. Bower Memorial Scholarship

William and Jane Pfefferkorn Scholarship for Music

William and Pauline Higie School of Music Scholarship