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Itasca Symphony O r c h e s t r a

K e i t h S w a n s o nM u s i c D i r e c t o r

7 : 3 0 p m

R e i f C e n t e r

7 2 0 C o n i f e r D r i v e

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orch cover 10/21/09 5:51 PM Page 1

P E D R O O V I E D OG U E S T C O N D U C T O R

WITH THE GRAND RAPIDS PLAYERS

is funded in part by the

and

Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund

with support from

District 318 Community EducationDistrict 318 Community Education

Grand Rapids Area Community FoundationGrand Rapids Area Community Foundation

Lady Slipper FundLady Slipper Fund

Reif CenterReif Center

School District 318School District 318

Loggy DomeLoggy Dome

WalmartWalmart

Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program

Board of DirectorsJesse Davis, President

Tom Nelson, Vice PresidentCathy Shields, SecretaryLuke Francisco, Treasurer

Tammy Mattonen, Executive Director

Cindy Aultman • Gary Bordner • Anissa Grotjohn Katie Marshall • Myrna Peterson • Eileen Grosland

www.itascaorchestra.org

218-327-5781

Love to play? Join us.Love to play? Join us.

PRINTING • COPIES • PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTSDESIGN • BANNERS • SIGNAGE • BULK MAIL

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M. Jerry Mariano, M.D.Michael C. Young, O.D.Amy L. Haugeberg, O.D.

www.bonnereyeclinic.com

Grand Rapids1542 Golf Course Rd,

Suite 201Grand Rapids, MN 55744

(218) 326-3433

Hibbing3605 Mayfair Ave,

Suite 2150Hibbing, MN 55746(218) 262-3156

MMMeeerrriiisssttteeemmmsss

FFFooorrreeessstttrrryyy

Helping to

understand the

Biology, culture,

art and

Management of

Minnesota’s

Northern forests.

(218) 326-4909

MMMeeerrriiisssttteeemmmsss

FFFooorrreeessstttrrryyy

Helping to

understand the

Biology, culture,

art and

Management of

Minnesota’s

Northern forests.

(218) 326-4909

Helping to

understand

the biology,

culture,

art and

management of

minnesota’s

northern

forests.

(218) 326-4909

LOW INCOME ASSISTANCE

This scholarship offers financial assistance to students who qualify for free and reduced lunches.

BE A SUSTAINING DONOR

GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT

Because of the generous contributions of our loyal donors who give to us annually, we are able to continue to fulfill our mission. In doing so we help to maintain the vibrancy and richness of our community.

INSPIRE & ENABLE MOTIVATED STUDENTS

COMPETITIVE SCHOLARSHIPS

This newly created program awards partial scholarships based on merit and need. We wish to retain students who are willing to work hard.

The Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program (IOSP), provides opportunities to hear, learn, and perform

orchestral music for the youth and adults in Itasca County.

Here are some ways you can help us to fulfill our mission:

“Where words fail, music speaks..”

- Hans Christian Andersen

*Donations may be mailed to:Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program

P.O. Box 140Grand Rapids, MN 55744

Choice You Deserve.Service You Trust.

Our Experienced Agents are Committed to Our Community and Your Needs!

Visit Our Website for On-line Quotes.

www.itascareliableinsurance.com

1121 Hwy 169 East • Grand Rapids, MN

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AUTO • HOME • BUSINESS • HEALTH

HELP MAKE INSTRUMENTS AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS*The Eleanor Downing Maxine Miller Memorial Fund

This fund supports Itasca Strings Program instrument purchases and repairs. The fund honors the memory of Grand Rapids’ great ladies of the arts. These women held a music appreciation gatherings and referred to themselves as the Music Depreciators. Originally established in memory of long time music educator Eleanor Downing, the fund now includes the funds of her friends Maxine Miller and Roberta Fahlman.

Celebrate the legacy of these ladies significant contributions to the arts and help bring working instruments to the hands of students by making a contribution.

LEAVE A LEGACY

*The Itasca Orchestral Society Endowment Fund

Leave a legacy of music

With a charitable designation in your will, you can help ensure orchestral music and string instruction in our community for years to come. The Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation and your attorney can help you leave a legacy to the IOSP endowment fund. A gift will often reduce estate and transfer taxes.

*Donations may be made to the fund by mailing a check payable to IOSP and sent to:

GRACF350 NW 1st Ave.

Grand Rapids, MN 55744

®®

Office: (218) 245-1768Cellular: (218) 259-8148

748 Co. Rd. 440Bovey, MN 55709

Kris Ferraro • Steve RileyKris Ferraro • Steve Riley

(218) 326-9693(218) 326-9693604 NW 1st Ave, Grand Rapids604 NW 1st Ave, Grand Rapids

508 NE 4th St.Grand Rapids, MN 55744

(218) 326-6652FAX: (218) 327-2673

Acheson Tire, Inc.New Tires

Wholesale

Retail

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326-4319

Our Guest Conductor

Conductor Pedro Oviedo has been the Director of string instruction for the Itasca Strings Program since July 2020. He is artistic director for this concert as well as principal violist. Mr. Oviedo is a Paraguayan Violist and Orchestra Conductor with vast experience in music education and string pedagogy. Mr. Oviedo received his BA in Viola Performance from Wichita State University while performing with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and the Bloomfield String Quartet, and Master’s degrees in Viola performance and Orchestral Conducting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In Madison Mr. Oviedo was conductor for The All-University String Orchestra at the University of Wisconsin- Madison and was instructor of the string methods class. Mr Oviedo previously served as orchestra conductor for Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Music Makers and has guest conducted several orchestras including the Wichita State University Symphony Orchestra.

Passionate about the transformative impact of music in society, he is a member of the prestigious Global Leaders Program, pursuing an executive graduate certificate focused on building and cultivating skills in social service, innovation, pedagogy, organizational management, and entrepreneurship.

As a violist, he has collaborated with a number of professional orchestras including Uninorte Symphony Orchestra (Paraguay) as Principal Viola, National Symphony Orchestra of Paraguay, Asuncion City Symphony (Paraguay), Centro de Conocimiento Symphony (Argentina), Orchestra Crescendo (Germany), Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Ohio Light Opera. An avid chamber musician, Mr. Oviedo is a prize winner of a number of competitions.

Currently serving as the Associate Principal Viola at the Symphony Orchestra of Northwest Arkansas in Fayetteville, AR, he is also an Assistant Director and Chamber Music Coach at Bows at the Barn Summer Music Camp (Wichita-KS) and Viola Faculty at Emporia State University String Camp (Emporia-KS).

Our Strings Program Staff

Pedro Oviedo – Director of Strings Instruction – See bio above

Elise Campbell received her BA in Education, with a major in Music from the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD), a BS in Elementary Education from UMD, and a Master of Science in Education from the University of Wisconsin Superior. Ms. Campbell is currently a music teacher at Van Dyke Elementary School in Coleraine. She has taught cello and piano through her own teaching studio and as faculty at the Lowell Music Magnet School and the John Duss Conservatory. Ms. Campbell also taught classroom music, conducted choirs and delivered piano instruction. Ms. Campbell has performed with the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra and the Itasca Symphony Orchestra.

Kristina Bock is a graduate from UMD, having received her BA in Music and Marketing. Ms. Bock has completed Suzuki training for Books 1-3. She has experience teaching group lessons, chamber groups and private lessons. She has performed with the UMD Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, Chequamegon Symphony Orchestra and the Mesabi Symphony Orchestra.

Vincent Osborn holds a Master of Music degree in Double Bass Performance UMD and has Bachelor of Arts Degrees in music performance and music literature. He has a rich world-wide history in bass performance including major solo performances and has several recordings. Osborn is currently the assistant principal bass at the DSSO.

Continued on next page

Magdalena Sas Polish Cellist Magdalena Sas is a prize winner of international competitions, she has performed across Europe, Asia and the Americas, and appeared in renowned concert halls such as Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, BOZAR in Brussels, Witold Lutoslawski Studio in Warsaw, NCPA in Mumbai.

Ms. Sas presents masterclasses and workshops across the globe in collaboration with MusAid Organization, El Sistema, Global Leaders Program, Neemrana Foundation Delhi, and Jeunesses Musicales Belgium. Since 2020, she is also the Global Outreach and Program Coordinator at the International Cello Institute in Northfield, MN. In 2015/16 Ms.Sas was head of the cello program at the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation in Mumbai, India.

Recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship and Paul Collins Wisconsin Distinguished Fellowship, Magdalena is currently a doctoral candidate at UW Madison and alumni of the Global Leaders Program and holds an Executive Graduate Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship, Cultural Agency, Teaching Artistry, and Civic Leadership. Ms. Sas is a graduate of music conservatories in Poland, Belgium, and Austria, and was a member of the acclaimed European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) in Vienna.

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(218) 327-9627Fax: 218-327-0864

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www.itascaorchestra.org

218-327-5781

Holiday Chamber ConcertDecember 2020

String Quartet No. 12 in F major, B. 179, op. 96, “American”

Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)I. Allegro ma non troppo

II. Lento

III. Molto vivace

IV. Finale: vivace ma non troppo

Antonin Dvorak lived in America for three years, lured by a generous offer to be the star composer with European pedigree for a newly formed Conservatory of Music in New York City. The highlight of his American sojourn, however, was his extended vacation to the Czech–American community in Spillville Iowa, where he composed two of this most successful compositions: The New World Symphony and the “American” quartet, on the program today. The first performance of the quartet took place in Spillville, with Dvorak accompanied by his hosting family, that of Jan Josef Kovařík, who also served as interpreter and host.

Said to a friend, “When I wrote this quartet in the Czech community of Spillville in 1893, I wanted to write something for once that was very melodious and straightforward, and dear Papa Haydn kept appearing before my eyes, and that is why it all turned out so simply. And it’s good that it did.”

Like his own Czech folk traditions, Dvorak found the indigenous music of America attractive and inspirational. Commentators over the years have made the case that the quartet eschews the sophisticated complexities of the European tradition in favor of a lyrical ease appropriate to the bucolic setting of Spillville. The pentatonic scale, with only five principle notes, is frequently the basis for many kinds of folk music, and does characterize some of the main themes in the quartet. On this basis scholars have attempted to identify Dvorak’s source material in Negro spirituals or Indian ceremonial music, and have noted his mention of a bird, the Scarlet Tanager, as an inspirational sound of nature in the third movement. Moreover, scholars have also claimed to hear the distant sounds of a locomotive in the fourth movement, together with a section reminiscent of church singing (Dvorak played organ for some services while in Spillville).

Continued on next page

If you do not hear these rather personal references in the quartet, do not despair. This quartet is not so simple, but rather a highly sophisticated masterpiece that meets and exceeds European compositional methods and forms. Indeed, the referential content of this music presents the pastoral sounds of a generalized American Nature, but it also includes the sounds and styles familiar to both the Bohemian emigrant, and the erudite listener. We can make one personal observation regarding the prominence of the viola in this quartet, and the Quintet (Op.97) composed immediately afterward. Dvorak played the viola, as does the leader of our performance, and Itasca String Program instructor, Pedro Oviedo. All in all, there is very good reason why this Quartet is deemed “American.”

Selections from the Nutcracker for String Quartet P. I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Arr`. Lorento Golofeev -March

-Dance of the Reed Flutes

-Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy

-Russian Dance (Trepak)

A Christmas highlight for decades, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet has been the source for a myriad of arrangements, from classical ensembles to jazz quartets to rock-infused jingles on television. There is the famous Walt Disney animation of the Nutcracker in the movie Fantasia, and even musical comedian Spike Lee has cashed in on the work’s popularity. This arrangement for string quartet is offered here for your festive delight.

The Nutcracker is often paired with Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake as dance company staples, yet Tchaikovsky had his doubts about the Nutcracker, and its initial performance was not successful. How times have changed! But you might be surprised to know that this popularity came about only somewhat recently and in mostly in America. It was not until the late 1950’s that it became the Christmas-time juggernaut that it remains today.

******The following selections continue the seasonal cheer!

Pop Christmas • The most wonderful time of the year

• Let it snow!

• White Christmas

Traditional Christmas Carols with Readings by members of the Grand Rapids Players

Reading 1: Christmas in the Heart by Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872-1906

Read by Kathy Lepak

Continued on next page

Chamber Concert Personnel

Adeste Fideles God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Hark the Herold’s Angel Sing

[little tree] by e e cummings

Read by Steve Jaeger

Il est né, le divin enfant Jingle Bells Les anges dans nos campagnes

O Du Fröhliche

Christmas Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807-1882

Read by David Marty

What Child is this? O Tannenbaum We wish you a Merry Christmas

Stille Nacht.

Thank you to our concert sponsor

ViolinEvgeny Zvonnikov

String Quartet

Natalia Korenchuk String Quartet

Mary LaPlantKolton Graf

ViolaPedro Oviedo

String Quartet

Jesse Davis

CelloMagdalena Sas

BassTom Nelson

Thank You to Our 2020-2021 Annual Fund Donors!

BENEFACTORS $500 and Up:Mimi Barzen • Gary & Donna Bordner • Mary & Mike Ives

Daniel & Leah Lemm • Tom Nelson • Jim and Nyla Schneeweis

SUSTAINERS $250-499Daniel & Lila Dezelske • Kathy Dodge & Steve Downing • Pat & Holly Downing

Daryl & Audrey Erdman • Andrea Johnson • Betty Kaupi Music Fund Tara Makinen & Philip Imholte • Karen Karls • Nancy & Roger Ralston

Mary Shoaff – Maxine Miller/Eleanor Downing Fund • Emilie & John Zasada

SPONSORS $125-249Kristen & Ed Anderson • Lois Bendix • Christa Berg & Dr. Tom Viren

Rich & Kathleen Blake • Sharon Burt • Jaci & Andy David • Karen & Allen GilbertsonPeter & Chris Friedlieb • Mark Hawkinson & Carol Anderson • Lee & Mary Jo Jess

Charlie Kampen & Pam Rajala • Jerry Kleven • David & Kathy KoodaDavid & Sharon Marty • Carol Morrill • Katie Marshall & Sam Miltich • Myrna Peterson

Judy Pittack • George & Cathy Shields • Mark & Kim Young

PATRONS $75-$124Kristine & Jon Arntson • Michael & Nancy Bellomy • Steven Blanchard • Tim & Joan Bonner

Paul & Donalyn Dealy • Mary Jo Gibbons • Patty Feld • Laura Hannah Len Hedman & Carol Rasmussen • David & Vicki Holmstrom • Larke Huntley & Lana Bjorgum

Grand Rapids Kiwanis Noon Club • Jan & Greg McKinney • Jerry & Molli OphovenBill Rutherford • Alice Sarkela • Tom & Nancy Saxhaug • Nancy & Jeff Scrivner

Marney & Bob Smith • John Soll • Roberta Zimmerman

DONOR $35-74Marcia Anderson & Ross Williams • Will & Bernie Backes • Carol Brandon

David Broberg & Jacquelyn Tofte • Ann Clark & Mike McGinnis • Dr. Thomas & Judy DimichPatricia Dorn • Kris Ferraro • Luke & Anna Francisco • Diane Gallagher • Ms. Syd Gray Scott and Frieda Hall • Suzanne Koprowski • John & Marty Licke • Jim & Vera Mahon

Bill & Peggy Marshall • James Marshall • Jim & Patty Marshall • Jan MilandLoree & Matthew Miltich • Margaret Pecha • Darcy Reich • Bruce Robinson

Richard & Kathy Schneider • Donald & Yvette Schultenover • Deena And Kevin SkajaDoug & Barb Veit • Mary B. Vergin • Ken & Barbara Zimmer

ADDITIONAL GIFTSMichael Hagley • Sally and Dave Hagman

A special thank you to Lloyd LaPlant for his assistance in maintaining the Strings Program rental instruments.

Evgeny ZvonnikovRussian violinist Evgeny Zvonnikov is a lecturer of violin at West Texas A & M University and previously taught at Wichita State University. He is a member of the Harrington String Quartet in Canyon, Texas. While in Kansas he served as Associate Concertmaster of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and Concertmaster of the Wichita Grand Opera Orchestra. Mr. Zvonnikov has taught master classes in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Singapore, Dallas, Eureka Springs, the San Francisco Conservatory, and Manaus Conservatory, and has served as a jury member of chamber music competitions.Mr. Zvonnikov studied at Rimsky-Korsakov Specialized Music School and The St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia. In the United States, he earned a Master of Music degree with Chamber Music emphasis at Wichita State University.

Mr. Zvonnikov has extensive experience performing globally as soloist as well as in ensembles and orchestras, in both classical and contemporary repertoire. He has toured with ensembles including the Grammy nominated St Petersburg String Quartet in Japan, Finland, France, Switzerland, Mexico, Spain, Thailand, Italy, the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom. Mr Zvonnikov has performed in the main concert halls of St Petersburg and in New York at Orchestra Hall.Evgeny has taken part in many competitions as a solo performer and ensemble member. He won second prize in the Maria Udina Chamber Music Competition. In 2012 Evgeny won the Hays (Kansas) Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition and performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Ft. Hays State University Symphony. Evgeny won second place of American Protégé International Concerto Competition, where he performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2015.

Natalia KorenckukNatalia Korenckuk began studying violin at age 6 in Russia and graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory and the Rimsky-Korsakov Music College, in St. Petersburg.

Continued on next page

Guest Musicians

Ms.Korenchuk currently resides in Texas. She holds a Masters degree in Music Performance degree from Wichita State University and a graduate certificate from Park University’s International Center of Music. While in Kansas she was a member of Wichita Symphony Orchestra and currently is an assistant concertmaster of Symphony of Northwest Arkansas. Natalia Korenchuk has taken part in many concerts in the main concert halls of St.Petersburg as a chamber player and an orchestra member. She has toured with orchestras inAustria, Italy, Germany, France, and Belgium. Also, she participated in “Mozarteum” MusicFestival in Salzburg, Austria, “Operetta in Kaunas Castle” Festival in Kaunas, Lithuania, and shewas a member of “Opera in the Ozarks” in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.In 2013, Natalia won “The Best Gershwin Performance”, and “Audience Prize” in“Gershwin Brooklyn International Competition” in New York City. In 2014, as a first violin ofBloomfield String Quartet, she won First Prize at the KMEA Competition in Wichita, KS, USA.In 2015, they received First Prize at the Wolff Bing Chamber Competition in Wichita. As amember of Violin/Marimba Duo, Natalia won Second Place of American Protégé InternationalPiano and String Competition, where they performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City in2015.

520 First Ave, NE Suite 1Grand Rapids, MN 55744Phone: (218) 326-6631

Fax: (218) 326-9956

Keith W. Anderson Jerry S. Ophoven Joseph C. Stauffer