SEASON FINALE LEONARD SLATKIN

Friday, May 20, 2022,  8 pm
Paramount Theatre, Oakland

Tonight, the Oakland Symphony’s bittersweet 2021-22 season comes to its conclusion.   The loss of our beloved Michael Morgan added a poignancy to every memorable evening of music here at The Paramount.    Still, after a season and a half, it was beyond thrilling to return to you with live performances starting last November, each under a different conductor even as variants and surges challenged the presentation of some events.  

And tonight is no exception.   Though “A Child of Our Time” has long been on the Oakland Symphony’s “must do” list, the continuing depletion of members of our chorus  has made it impossible to present Sir Michael Tippett’s complex oratorio.  More than 30% of the singers have had to withdraw, bringing the size of the group down to less than 50 singers, not nearly enough to properly do justice to this monumental music. 

So as this memorial season comes to an end as we welcome esteemed conductor Leonard Slatkin to our podium.   As Music Director in Saint Louis, Washington, Detroit, and Lyon he needs no introduction.   Highly regarded as one of the finest conductors America has produced, Maestro Slatkin has reinstated many American masterworks to the repertoire, has given us many new works, and his performances and recordings of music’s established repertoire have been widely acclaimed.   

What is less known is his relationship to the Oakland Symphony.    Following the tragic death of Calvin Simmons, he served as Artistic Advisor to the orchestra for a time (though he never conducted here).   Later, as Music Director of the Saint Louis Symphony, Leonard Slatkin gave a young American conductor his first big break as his Assistant Conductor.  That young conductor was Michael Morgan. 

So, it seemed natural to invite Maestro Slatkin to make his debut with the Oakland Symphony and conclude our memorial season.

Tonight’s concert begins with a colorful work by the noted American composer Cindy McTee (who is also Leonard Slatkin’s wife.)   Next is the magnificent American showpiece “The Mysterious Mountain” of Alan Hovhaness.   To replace the Tippett, Maestro Slatkin has devised a typically ingenious solution: Sir Edward Elgar’s great and noble “Enigma Variations.”  

The Variations can be considered a Victorian Facebook of Elgar’s family and friends; some present, some away.   It serves as our final memorial to Michael Morgan this season.   He will forever sing in our hearts as we softly and gently release his spirt from our embrace. 

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This is the Oakland Symphony’s au revoir until October here at The Paramount.  Information on the 2022-23 season is available at the Oakland Symphony table in the lobby.   And information of the SummerStage concerts will also be available shortly, so watch your mailbox!  

Above all, thank you – all of you – for making this difficult season such a celebration.   It is your enthusiasm and continued support that has kept the Oakland Symphony together through these two difficult years.  

Sincerely,

Dr. Mieko Hatano, Executive Director

CINDY McTEE
Circuits

SAMUEL BARBER
Adagio for Strings, Opus 11

ALAN HOVHANESS
Symphony No. 2, Opus 132 (Mysterious Mountain)

I. Andante
II. Double Fugue: Moderato maestoso--Allegro vivo
III. Andante espressivo

INTERMISSION

EDWARD ELGAR
Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36 (Enigma)

Theme: Andante

1. L'istesso tempo
2. Allegro
3. Allegretto
4. Allegro di molto
5. Moderato
6. Andantino
7. Presto
8. Allegretto
9. Adagio
10. Intermezzo: Allegretto
11. Allegro di molto
12. Andante
13. Romanza: Moderato
14. Finale: Allegro--Presto

The 2021-2022 Season of Oakland Symphony is generously funded in part by the East Bay Music Fund at the East Bay Community Foundation; the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; and supported by the Oakland City Council and funded by the City of Oakland’s Cultural Funding Program.

VIOLIN 1
Robin Mayforth, Concertmaster
Stephanie Bibbo, Assistant Concertmaster
Matthew Vincent 
Carla Picchi 
Deborah Spangler 
Emanuela Nikiforova 
Shawyon Malek-Salehi 
Karsten Windt 
Lyly Li 
Yuri Cho 
Philip Santos 
Matthew Oshida 

VIOLIN 2  
David Cheng, Principal
Sharon Calonico, Assistant Principal
Candace  Sanderson 
Baker Peeples 
Sergi Goldman-Hull 
Cecilia Huang 
Alison Miller 
Rae Ann Goldberg
Adrienne Sengpiehl 
Ilana Thomas 

VIOLA  
Tiantian Lan, Principal
Tatiana Trono, Assistant Principal
Jill Van Gee 
Darcy Rindt 
Patricia Whaley 
Stephanie Railsback 
Kathryn Juneau 
Linda Green 

CELLO  
Daniel Reiter, Principal
Joseph  Hebert, Assistant Principal
Beth Vandervennet 
Mike Graham 
Paul Rhodes 
Elizabeth Struble 
Julie Feldman 
Byron Hogan 

DOUBLE BASS  
Alden Cohen, Principal
Andy Butler, Assistant Principal
Ben Tudor 
David Arend 
Carl Stanley 
Raymond Vargas 

FLUTE  
Alice Lenaghan, Principal
Amy Likar 
Sarah Holzman 

OBOE  
Andrea Plesnarski, Principal
Robin May
Max Hollander /EH

CLARINET  
Diane Maltester, Principal
Karen Sremac 
Dan Ferreira /Bass Clarinet

BASSOON  
David Granger, Principal
Jarratt Rossini 
Cynthia Hanson /Contra Bassoon

HORN  
Alex Camphouse, Principal
Sarah  Ference 
Sophia Chen 
Ross Gershenson 
Keith Green

TRUMPET  
Bill Harvey, Principal
Leonard Ott 
John Freeman 

TROMBONE  
Michael Cox, Principal
Esther Armendariz 

BASS TROMBONE  
David Ridge 

TUBA  
Rod Matthews, Principal

TIMPANI  
Tyler Mack, Principal

PERCUSSION  
Ward Spangler, Principal
Allen Biggs 
Mark Veregge

HARP  
Meredith Clark, Principal

KEYBOARD/CELESTE  
Kymry Esainko, Principal