R e s s e v e r a e s t v e r u m g a u d i u m

D C C o n c e r t O r c h e s t r a

Leipzig, Germany: The second Gewandhaus, ca 1900

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B o a r d o f D i r e c t o r s

Robert Myers, PresidentJack Aubert, Secretary

Yolanda ColeDouglas Rathbun

Katherine Mariska, ex officioRandall Stewart, ex officio

O f f i c e r s a n d S t a f f

Randall Stewart, Music DirectorRobert Myers, Executive Director

Lauren Anderson, Assistant to the Executive DirectorGeorge Clarke, Treasurer

Yolanda Cole, Chair, DevelopmentCassie Conley, LibrarianJack Aubert, Webmaster

Franca Barton, HospitalityCecilia Stroud, Graphic Design

The DC Concert Orchestra Societypresents a concert by

T h e D C C o n c e r t O r c h e s t r aRandall Stewart, Music Director

Sunday, January 21, 2018, 3:00 p.m.Church of The Epiphany

Karelia Suite, Op. 11I. IntermezzoII. BalladeIII. Alla Marcia

Idillio Concertino, Op. 15I. PreamboloII. ScherzoIV. Rondo

I N T E R M I S S I O N (15 minutes)

Ballade for Flute and Orchestra, Op. 288

Variations on a Theme by Haydn

Jean Sibelius

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari

Carl Reinecke

Johannes Brahms

P r o g r a m

Yolanda Cole, Flute

Nina Skaya, Oboe

Contributions to the DC Concert Orchestra Society are greatly appreciated.

Randall Stewart has had an active career as a conductor of orchestras, operas, and student ensembles throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. He comes to the DC Concert Orchestra having previously served as the Associate Conductor of the Columbia Orchestra and Music Director of the Baltimore Sinfonietta. His recent guest engagements have included the Catholic University Symphony Orchestra, Anne Arundel Community College Orchestra, and the D.C. Youth Orchestra Program. Maestro Stewart has also been active as an opera conductor, having led performances of Catholic University’s productions of The Merry Widow and L’incoronazione di Poppea, as well as productions of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Die Zauberflöte for coópera (New York City).

A passionate advocate of American composers, Maestro Stewart has led performances of works by Ives, Copland, and Barber, as well as contemporary works by Eric Whitacre and Michael Daugherty.

A hallmark of his professional work is Maestro Stewart’s commitment to education. He presently serves as the Music Director for the SEED School of Maryland in Baltimore, having previously taught in Baltimore and Frederick Counties.

Maestro Stewart has studied with Gustav Meier, Kenneth Kiesler, Dan Lewis, and David Searle. He holds a D.M.A. in Orchestral Conducting from The Catholic University of America.

M u s i c D i r e c t o rRandall Stewart

N i n a S k a y a , o b o e , has worked as an acquisitions editor at an academic press, manufactured her own clothing line, and published numerous nonfiction pieces in Music Alive!, a music-education magazine. She has also recently published several short stories. Having spent the last dozen years working in the field of human resources, she is now the benefits

manager for Legal Services Corporation in Washington, D.C. After moving to D.C. from Connecticut with her husband in 2015, Nina joined the DCCO and has been very happy to return to playing in an orchestra after a nearly 20-year hiatus. Nina holds an A.B. degree in philosophy from Princeton University and an M.M. in oboe performance from the University of Michigan. She studied oboe with Ronald Roseman of the Juilliard School and the New York Philharmonic. Nina also plays English Horn with the DCCO.

Y o l a n d a C o l e , f l u t e , has enjoyed playing music nearly all of her life. She learned to play the piano, followed by the flute, at a young age in Ohio, where her father owned a music store. She later earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education, with a concentration in flute, from The Ohio State University.

In a twist of fate, she moved to New York and pursued a career in architecture, earning a Master of Architecture degree at Columbia University. Yolanda is now Sr. Principal and owner of Hickok Cole Architects, a large commercial design firm in Washington, DC.

After a long hiatus, Yolanda re-engaged her passion in music and joined the DC Concert Orchestra in 2012. She is a founding member of the DCCO Board and serves as its Development Chair. She looks forward to building a strong organization that inspires our members and brings great music to our community.

S o l o i s t s

K a r e l i a S u i t e , O p . 1 1Jean Sibelius

b. Tavastehus, Finland, 8 December 1865d. Jarvenpaa, Finland, 20 September 1957

Jean Sibelius occupies the position of not simply being Finland’s greatest composer, but arguably its most loved national hero. Born to an aristocratic Swedish-speaking family when the Finnish Grand Duchy was still under the rule of the Russian Empire, Sibelius’ music is consciously connected to Finnish nationalism. The Karelia region for which this suite is named has historically been identified as one of the cradles of Finnish culture.

The Karelia Suite was one of his first substantial works, composed in 1893 as incidental music for a series of patriotic tableaux performed by students in Viipuri, the largest city in Karelia. The Suite reflects Sibelius’ early ideas about a Finnish “national” school of composition: the tunes are not folk songs themselves but based on the quasi-improvised quality he heard in Finnish folk music. The harmonies do not necessarily connect to the melody using traditional tonal theory, and a rough and elemental sound characterizes much of the work. It is in this music that we find many of the important aspects of Sibelius’ emerging national style.

The first movement, Intermezzo, is the most loosely connected to its original dramatic scenario, and its opening emerges with an

P r o g r a m N o t e s

“ R e s s e v e r a e s t v e r u m g a u d i u m ”

The motto of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, “True joy is a serious thing,” may perhaps best summarize today’s program. From the studious originality of Sibelius, to the operatic lyricism of Wolf-Ferrari, to the classical rigor of Reinecke and Brahms, the pursuit of joy through well-crafted music links the works on today’s program.

I d i l l i o C o n c e r t i n o , O p . 1 5Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari

b. Venice, Italy, 12 January 1876d. Venice, Italy, 21 January 1948

Wolf-Ferrari was born to a Bavarian painter and Italian noblewoman, giving him a dual identity that he publicly embraced with the addition of his Italian surname around 1895. His life was split between Munich and Venice, and he never belonged entirely to either. His music is eclectic in its influence, building on ideas from Mozart to Wagner, combining a frequently complex harmonic structure with Classical form and a lighter, buoyant texture.

Wolf-Ferrari is known primarily for his operatic output; the Idillio Concertino was Wolf-Ferrari’s first orchestral work in over 30 years when it premiered in 1933. The Idillio, or “idyll” is set by the first movement, whose vivid but light tone painting draws to mind some of the best opening scene painting from Italian opera of Wolf-Ferrari’s day. The second movement, Scherzo, features an opening section that is a virtuosic canon for oboe and orchestra, set apart by one beat. The final movement, Rondo, features some of the most difficult writing of the work, stretching the orchestra into extreme ranges and remote keys. The oboist enjoys the rare chance to imitate a Romantic opera diva, accompanied by orchestral music that seems just one step removed from the stage.

improvisational, almost primal, voice that comes to mark much of Sibelius’ later music. The Ballade was an original song for baritone, used for a minstrel scene set in the 15th century. Based on the form of the ballade of that time period, the original baritone solo part is taken by the English Horn in the Suite. This movement best captures Sibelius’ emerging ideas on Finnish composition: the melodies add to and improvise on the main tunes, and the underlying harmonies break with traditional chordal progressions while still remaining tonal. The third movement, Alla Marcia, was originally attached to a battle scene depicting a Swedish victory over the Russians in the 16th century. (Ironically, most of the Karelia region is today located on the Russian side of the border, including the city of Viipuri.)

V a r i a t i o n s o n a T h e m e b y H a y d n , O p . 5 6 aJohannes Brahms

b. Hamburg, Germany, 7 May 1833d. Vienna, Austria, 3 April 1897

Perhaps no other composer on today’s program, or in all of musical history, would be most emblematic of finding joy in utterly serious music. Brahms’ approach to composition embodied the “classicist” approach to composition in the late 19th century, relying on the aesthetic values of an earlier age. This set of variations, demonstrating his mastery of “early music” as such a concept was in its infancy, is representative of that approach.

B a l l a d e f o r F l u t e a n d O r c h e s t r a , O p . 2 8 8Carl Reinecke

b. Altona (Hamburg), Germany, 23 June 1824d. Leipzig, Germany, 10 March 1910

Reinecke is remembered mainly as a composer today, but he was better known as a conductor, teacher and performer during his lifetime. As a conductor, he premiered numerous works, notably Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requiem. He held (and continues to hold today) the record as longest running Music Director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra from 1860-1895. As a teacher he was an esteemed pedagogue, and was a mentor to dozens of composers, including Max Bruch and Edvard Grieg (both of whose works have appeared in past DCCO concerts). As a performer, he was one of the most respected pianists of his time, specializing in the music of Mozart.

Reinecke penned this work, his last, in 1908 at the age of 84. Many of Reinecke’s works were shorter pieces for piano, and Ballade borrows from this Romantic-era tradition. As a stand-alone instrumental genre, ballade typically implies some sort of literary, programmatic connotation. However, Reinecke offered no insight beyond the music itself. The outer sections of the work feature a mellifluous theme demonstrating the lyric capabilities of the flute, while the contrasting middle section focuses on its technical capacity.

Brahms wrote this set of variations for piano four hands in 1873, arranging it for orchestra simultaneously. Much of Haydn’s music was unperformed at that point in history, with only a few symphonies and chamber works in the standard repertoire. He found the tune, labeled the “St. Anthony Chorale,” in the library of the Vienna Philharmonic; it was the slow movement in a set of divertimenti for wind instruments attributed to Haydn. (Modern musicologists now believe that this theme was written by a student.) Brahms must have been intrigued by the unusual combinations of phrase lengths (five, four, and even seven bars) common in Haydn’s music. Brahms himself was a master of rhythmic displacement and instability, and the theme lends itself to his own experiments.

The theme in Variations is orchestrated in a manner similar to the original in the “Hadyn” Divertimento, for winds and pizzicato celli/bass. The subsequent eight variations largely preserve the form of the theme, while utilizing the already unusual phrase structure as a base for undermining the music’s metric stability. The finale is itself a set of 17 variations on a basso ostinato based on the first five bars of the theme, before a final, brilliant statement of the first half of the theme itself in the coda. Composing the Variations allowed Brahms to gain the confidence necessary to complete his First Symphony two years later, a work that itself is indebted to “joy” by its connection to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Technically speaking, the Variations are a catalog of compositional and orchestral practices that mark all of the subsequent orchestral works. As a composer of “serious” classical music, forecast by Schumann to be the “new messiah” 20 years earlier, Brahms in this work reached a footing where he felt up to the challenge.

Program Notes by Randall Stewart

The DC Concert Orchestra Society (DCCOS) is a charitable, non-profit, 501(c)(3) arts organization incorporated in October, 2015 in Washington, DC, with the following mission statement:

Today’s DCCOS is comprised of three operational units: Classical Musicians of Metropolitan DC (CM-MDC), DC Chamber Musicians (DCCM) and the DC Concert Orchestra (DCCO). CM-MDC provides unstructured, home-hosted chamber music performance opportunities. DCCM provides music education and public performance opportunities, in collaboration with our partner the professional New Orchestra of Washington. DCCM’s activities are made possible by a generous grant from the Nadia Sophie Seiler Memorial Fund. DCCO produces orchestral concerts. Membership in all components of DCCOS exceeds 350 musicians. Excluding the Music Director and office administrative support staff, DCCOS is an all volunteer organization.

The Orchestra gave its first public performance in 2012. In January, 2014, Maestro Randall Stewart assumed the position of Music Director. Now in its seventh season, the Orchestra continues to grow and blossom. Under Maestro Stewart’s baton, the difficulty of repertoire has increased, the quality of performance greatly improved, and the exciting voyage of meeting greater challenges has just begun.

A b o u t U s

The DC Concert Orchestra Society brings classical music to the metropolitan region while providing performance opportunities and continuing education for non-professional adult musicians to enjoy a lifetime of music-making. Through the D.C. Concert Orchestra and through public and private chamber ensembles, the Society seeks to provide quality performances for new audiences and under-served populations, enriching the cultural life of greater Washington.

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I n s t i t u t i o n a l S p o n s o r sConnecticut Avenue

Wine & SpiritsHickok Cole ArchitectsNadia Sophie Seiler

Memorial FundNew Orchestra of Washington

P l a t i n u m ($1000+)Jack AubertYolanda ColeCassie ConleyJoAnn LynnRobert Myersd’Andre Willis

G o l d ($500-$999)Franca BartonDanae EngelbrechtDan LeathersSusan RussoDavid SteinhornEric Won

S i l v e r ($250-$499)Sandra AmesJohn MariskaRandy MuellerJoseph RosenJulie SiegelLisa Wagner

B r o n z e ($100-$249)Clio ChimentoMichelle FevolaMolly GillRachel GoldsteinChristopher HermanPhilip HopkoVesper MeiNina SkayaJames StanfordNikila Venkat

N i c k e l ($50-$99)Ivan AcunaJaye BuppSean ForschlerKathleen KellyMaris KramerKathleen McCormacDorothea Schaeffer -- in memory of Robert Walton

Cumulative for the 12 month period ending

December 31, 2017

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D o n o r s

V i o l i n I Katherine Mariska,

Concertmaster

Danae EngelbrechtSean ForschlerDomenica GilbertJules KimPatrick ManchesterVesper MeiAnnie Jihyo ParkKarin PeetersBradley PetersNikila VenkatAnnie Xiao

V i o l i n I IMichelle Fevola,

Principal

Rob BigelowClio ChimentoWendy ChunCassie ConleyLaura EpsteinStacy ErikssonAmirah IsmaelMaris KramerRachelle OlingerJean Stoner

V i o l aSusan Russo,

Principal

Lauren DubranskyMolly GillMonica GreeneFrancesca JimenezLisa WagnerSamantha WinesKenny Yi

C e l l oJon Chen,

Principal

Amanda DurstEdward FizdaleChristopher HermanPhilip HopkoCecilia StroudAmy Suntoked’Andre WillisEric Won

D o u b l e B a s sDouglas Rathbun,

Principal

Jessica Eig*Ruth Kennedy-WalkerLarry MedskerKimberly Parillo* F l u t e Yolanda Cole,

Principal

Robin Pike, Piccolo

Angie Thompson

O b o eNina Skaya,

Principal Taemin Ahn,

English HornEli CampbellJoAnn Lynn

C l a r i n e tJack Aubert,

Principal

Karin Caifa

B a s s o o n Audrey Boles,

Principal

Dan LeathersSusan Wilson*,

Contrabassoon

T r u m p e tRandy Mueller,

Principal

Ivan AcunaWill Schupmann

H o r nJustin Boggess,

Principal

Andrew FordhamEdith GilmoreCarson SmithDavid Steinhorn

T r o m b o n eJulie Siegel,

Principal

Bob SchmertzJames Standford

T u b aDon Resnikoff

T i m p a n iRonald Carlson

P e r c u s s i o nMark Carson*Caleb DeGroote*

* Guest Musician

M u s i c i a n s