Steven Winteregg & Sierra Leone: Expressions (21 minutes)

1. Tenacious
2. Graceful (A Song for Miriam)
3. Radiant
4. Humorous
5. Inspiring
6. Worn
7. Jubilant
8. Dynamic 

Christopher Rouse: Flute Concerto (30 minutes)

1. Amhrán (Song)
2. Alla Marcia
3. Elegia
4. Scherzo
5. Amhrán (Song) 

- Intermission - 

Ottorino Respighi: The Pines of Rome (23 minutes)

1. Pines of the Villa Borghese
2. Pines Near a Catacomb
3. Pines of the Janiculum
4. Pines of the Appian Way 

The Bill and Dianne Schneider Memorial Concert

Thank you to the following sponsors for their support of the 2022-2023 Masterworks Series.

The “Eternal City” could find no more fitting tribute than Respighi’s vibrant Pines of Rome, transporting you to famous pine stands around the Italian capital … a Renaissance family’s splendid estate, near a catacomb suggested by a mournful chant, the moonlit beauty of the Janiculum hill with the haunting song of a nightingale, and, along the Appian Way, triumphant trumpets and the thunder of marching armies. Brandon Patrick George, Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra alum—and hottest young flutist around—connects you to the Celtic inspiration of Christopher Rouse’s Concerto. The season opens with the DPO and Chorus giving the world premiere of beautiful work by Daytonians Sierra Leone and Steve Winteregg inspired by the legacy of Miriam Rosenthal.

At about 5:55pm on Sunday, June 19th, 2022 the Dayton Philharmonic closed the 2021-2022 season performing the beautiful gospel song “Back Where I Belong” by Ray Turner and Schneata Shyne-Turner at New Season Ministries in Huber Heights. With composer Ray at the piano and vocalist Felita LaRock singing Schneata’s inspiring lyrics, it was the perfect close to the orchestra’s third and final Stained Glass Concert of the season. We were all, indeed, back where we belonged, performing an outreach concert in a local church.

Now we—you and I and the Orchestra—are once again back where we all belong, at the Mead Theater of the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, starting a new season together. And it feels great to be back after the summer hiatus!

I consider myself very lucky—in all kinds of ways. One way is that for as long as I can remember, the rhythm of my life has been built around a summer off (or partly off) followed by a re-start in September. My parents were both teachers: my mother a public school music teacher; my father an English prof. So there was always a summer off then a re-start for the new academic year. Same for me between the start of kindergarten and the end of my formal training 23 years later. (Even though my summers of study with Nadia Boulanger in France and at the Monteux School in Maine were filled with intense work, there was always a short break, then a rev-back-up in September.)

Ditto in the professional world. All of my pre-Dayton conducting positions (Assistant Conductor of the Oregon Symphony, Associate Conductor of the Syracuse Symphony, Associate and then Resident Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony) had the same rhythm: 9 months of a regular season, 3 months with some combination of summer concerts and time off, then a big new-season kick-off.

And here we are again, starting a new season of orchestral concerts, ballets, and operas. For me, it’s year 28 at the helm of your Dayton Philharmonic, and, believe it or not, I’m just as excited for the season launch as I was back in September 1995! (Maybe even more so, after all we’ve been through together these past two years.)

For you, it might be the start of your 28th season attending concerts. Or maybe even your 40th or 50th. Or your very first. No matter what the number is, I hope you’re as thrilled as I am to be back. Because if you’re in the audience (and face it folks, if you’re reading this Neal’s Notes, you’re in the audience), then that rhythm of the Autumn re-start is part of your life, too—a time of renewal, a time of being thankful for the return of live performances, a time to be grateful for the beauty and inspiration and escape that music—and all the performing arts—bring to our lives.

All of us onstage are happy to be back performing for you. The musicians are happy to be back from summer layoff, back to work (and play—because their work is to play music). And we’re also so happy to see you in the theater again. We’re all still on the comeback trail from the COVID shutdown of Spring 2022. Your return to concerts last Fall and the gradual momentum of larger and larger audiences over the course of season lifted our spirits onstage so much. And now we’re ready to resume playing our hearts out to bring beauty and inspiration and entertainment to you once again.

Thanks for being with us as we continue the journey of rebuilding!

Thanks for being back where you belong so we can be back where we belong!

There’s so much great stuff ahead of us between now and next June, so let’s get busy!