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ALLEGRO!
New Haven Symphony Orchestra Newsletter
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May 3, 2007
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Welcome to another edition of the Allegro, NHSO Newsletter. We hope you find this edition informative and enjoyable. As we end another great season, we thank you for your continued support of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and all of our endeavors. Enjoy and we'll see you next season! |
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WILLIAM BOUGHTON NAMED MUSIC DIRECTOR
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The New Haven Symphony Orchestra is pleased to announce the appointment of internationally-renowned conductor William Boughton as its new Music Director. Effective July 1, 2007,. Mr. Boughton becomes the NHSO’s tenth music director in its 113-year history.
“It is a great honor to be the New Haven Symphony Orchestras next Music Director, and I relish the opportunity to work with the Musicians, Administration and Board in developing its role, both within the local community and in its wider potential to build an Orchestra that the region can be proud of,” remarked Mr. Boughton.
William Boughton has guest conducted with many of the world’s leading orchestras from San Francisco to Helsinki. As Founder, Artistic and Music Director with the English Symphony Orchestra (ESO), Boughton developed the Orchestra’s repertoire through the Viennese classics to contemporary music. Together he and the ESO built an impressive discography of internationally-acclaimed recordings with Nimbus Records, a number of which have reached the Top Ten in the US charts. He has also recorded with the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestras.
“William’s appointment presents an extraordinary opportunity for the artistic growth of our Orchestra... " noted NHSO Board President James T. Morley, Jr. "...an equally exciting chapter in the strengthening and diversification of our education and community engagement programs."
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Click here for more information on William Boughton
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TRUE AMERICAN IDYLLS
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| NHSO Principal Clarinetist David Shifrin |
The spectacular March concert introduced us to composers, instruments, virtuosi and themes from China, Korea and Japan. This Thursday, May 3, we return to the U.S. with two of America’s greatest 20th century composers and performers - Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein. Copland’s music celebrated the wide-open, spirit-expanding plains and woodlands, Bernstein’s focused on its tense, raucous and competitive cities. This invigorating program also marks the last NHSO concert conducted by NHSO Music Director Jung-Ho Pak.
Copland and Bernstein both grew up in New York City, and both won fame as composers and conductors of popular as well as serious music. Though friends and comrades in American music, they had dramatically different personalities. Copeland was mild-mannered, moderate in personal habits and essentially a composer, who strived to convey his sense of rural life through music. Bernstein, called ‘a flamboyant showman,’ was thoroughly rooted in New York, and better known as a vigorous conductor than a composer, despite the fame of shows like West Side Story, Candide or On the Town.
The program opens with Copland’s “Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra,” written in 1947 expressly for Benny Goodman, an extraordinary clarinetist who could play Mozart, Bartok, or jazz with comparable sensitivity and power. This concerto, will be played by New Haven Symphony's Principal Clarinetist David Shifrin, opens with “one of the most touching of all Copland’s creations.”
“Appalachian Spring” follows, telling the story of a young pioneer couple building a family life in rural Pennsylvania. Copland composed this work in response to a request from Martha Graham in 1943; it remained for years a staple of her company’s repertoire. Copland won a Pulitzer Prize for the music, termed “a success unequaled by any American work of its kind.” The final section contains variations on the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts.”
Leonard Bernstein takes over after Intermission with the Symphonic Suite from “On the Waterfront,” the 1954 film that won eight Academy Awards. Set on the docks of New York, this gritty film reflects the tense realism of corruption on the urban waterfront, with sporadic violent musical rhythms, rough jazz-tinged harmonies, and even lyrical moments.
Three Dance Episodes from On the Town will close the concert. On the Town, Bernstein’s first Broadway show (1944), follows the adventures of three sailors on leave in New York, and salutes the city he loves, and includes the famous song “New York, New York, It’s a Helluva Town.”
Virginia Wilkinson, NHSO Board Member
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FILM SCREENING LAUNCHES PLANNED GIVING SOCIETY
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On March 14, Board members and friends of the Orchestra gathered in the early evening at the Criterion Theater for an event to launch the NHSO Planning Giving Campaign. After sipping wine and nibbling hors d’oeuvres (graciously provided by Amity Wines and Spirits and Tre Scalini), guests attended the award-winning documentary, Five Days in September—The Rebirth of an Orchestra, which chronicles the opening of Peter Oundjian’s first season as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Ten years earlier Mr. Oundjian, a member of the Tokyo String Quartet, faced an uncertain future as his career as a violinist was threatened by focal dystonia, a neurological disorder that interfered with the fine motor skills of his hands. (It is the same disease that caused Leon Fleischer to abandon, until recently, his career as a concert pianist) Oundjian turned to conducting.
At the time Oundjian was building his new career, the Toronto Symphony was facing its own severe financial and structural challenges, issues in some ways similar to those faced by almost all symphony orchestras today. The orchestra had a debt of $7 million; it had no music director; and morale of directors, musicians, and patrons had plummeted. Oundjian was chosen Music Director of the TSO in 2003 and took the post in 2004.
The film combined great music with insight into the workings of a symphony orchestra. Special guests Renee Fleming, Yo Yo Ma, and Emanuel Ax appeared with the TSO in that opening week, and the film offered a window into their soaring talents. It also documented the rehearsal process, giving fascinating glimpses into the interaction between the soloists, the orchestral players, and the conductor. The camera followed Oundjian as he performed his non-musical duties, dealing with TV interviews and coping with the publicity mill. On camera interviews suggested the role of the board in wrestling with finances and the work of the staff who run the day-to-day operations of the orchestra.
Judging by the applause at the end of the screening, Five Days in September was both thought -provoking and entertaining.
Carol Wright, NHSO Board Member
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SPOTLIGHT ON EDUCATION
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NHSO Associate Conductor Jerry Steichen teaches a young protégé how to conduct at the Young People's Concerts.
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Young People’s Concerts demonstrate The Power of Percussion!
The 75th annual Young People’s Concerts showcased an array of percussion instruments and musical styles in The Power of Percussion. Led by Jerry Steichen, the NHSO performed 8 concerts in homage to percussion in Woolsey Hall, Shelton Intermediate School, Hyde Cultural Center and Seymour Middle School the week of April 2, 2007. Over 7,000 students were wowed by the striking sounds of the NHSO percussion section, and many were so delighted they clapped and danced along. Students also participated by conducting the orchestra, shouting words together in rhythm and answering questions posed by Maestro Steichen. Children, teachers and parents alike left the concert hall in awe.
First ever CT Youth Orchestra Festival a whopping success!
The New Haven Symphony Orchestra hosted the first Connecticut Youth Orchestra Festival on Saturday, March 24, 2007. Over four hundred young musicians gathered in Woolsey Hall to begin their day of performances, workshops and master classes. Each youth orchestra had a chance to perform for their peers, showcasing their dedication and musicianship. Workshops were led by Jin Hi Kim, Masayo Ishigure and Min-Xiao Fen, soloists who performed that evening in the NHSO Symphony Series concert, “Asia’s Silk Road.” The master classes were led by New Haven Symphony musicians (Steven Thomas, Stephan Tieszen, Scott Cranston, Ken Tedeschi, Sue Zoellner-Cross, Olav van Hezewijk, Marvin Warshaw) and Jung-Ho Pak, and many young solo players had the opportunity to gain professional feedback on their performances. Participating orchestras ended the evening on a high note by attending the NHSO Asia’s Silk Road concert. All in all it was a fascinating day, filled with the energy and enthusiasm of young musicians.
Julianne Givoni, Education Intern |
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GALA FUNDRAISER SET FOR MAY 8TH
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Celebrate with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra as we present:
A First-Class Affair
Gala 2007
Tuesday, May 8th at 5:30 p.m
Lanman Center at Yale University (inside Payne Whitney Gymnasium)
70 Tower Parkway, New Haven
Join us for a night of elegance and surprise with an exciting cocktail hour, live and silent auction, dinner and dancing.
Auction highlights include:
and much more!
For reservations and information, call 203-865-0831, ext. 12 or lkelly@newhavensymphony.org
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We'll see you in the fall. In the meantime, check out our website for updates on next season and current events.
newhavensymphony.org
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114th SEASON
