ClassicsWest Side StorySaturday & Sunday, October 29 & 30, 2016Avalon Theatre

CHARLES LATSHAW, MUSIC DIRECTORZULIMAR LÓPEZ-HERNÁNDEZ, SOPRANOANDREW MAUGHAN, TENOR

MENDELSSOHN A Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture ROTA Love Theme from Romeo & Juliet

DELIUS The Walk to the Paradise Garden from A Village Romeo & Juliet

INTERMISSION

BERNSTEIN Suite No. 1 from West Side Story Zulimar L�pez-Hernández, soprano Andrew Maughan, tenor

CORIGLIANO Gazebo Dances

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THIS WEEKEND’S PERFORMANCES ARE SPONSORED BY:

Ruth Gormley

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY:

EXCLUSIVE SEASON SPONSORS:

KKCO

2016-17 Grand Junction Symphony Season

About Zulimar López-HernándezPuerto Rican soprano Zulimar López-Hernández is celebrated for her lustrous timbre and charismatic portrayals of a wide range of roles.

In 2014-2015, the soprano returned to Knoxville Opera as Micaëla in Carmen, made her Nashville Opera debut as Rosalba in Florencia en el Amazonas, and also returned to Annapolis Opera as Despina in Così fan tutte.

The 2013-2014 season brought an important debut with the Royal Albert Hall in London as Musetta in La bohème, as well as a concert appearance with Dayton Opera and her first Violetta in La traviata with Union Avenue Opera. She was also engaged by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, covering Despina in Così fan tutte under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel.

The artist returned to Des Moines Metro Opera as Zerlina in Don Giovanni in summer 2012. Following these performances, she debuted with Opera Memphis as Musetta in La bohème. The spring of 2013 included performances of Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro for her debut with Dayton Opera, and a debut with Opera Santa Barbara for

Norina in Don Pasquale, which she then also performed with Nickel City Opera in Buffalo, New York.

Ms. López-Hernández was recently the Third Place winner in the 2010 Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition. A National Semifinalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2006, and a Gulf Coast Regional Finalist in 2008, she was also awarded Radio Choice Audience Favorite in the 2007 Academy of Vocal Arts Giargiari Bel Canto Competition in Philadelphia. In 2009 she was a finalist in the Greenfield Philadelphia Orchestra Competition.

Ms.López-Hernández began her vocal studies at the University of Puerto Rico. As part of the UPR Opera Workshops she performed the roles of Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Gilda in Rigoletto and Olympia in The Tales of Hoffmann. Ms. López-Hernández took the stage as soprano soloist in the world premiere of The New Millennium Symphony by Raymond Torres-Santos. Together with local opera companies in Puerto Rico, she has performed the roles of Mlle.Silberklang in Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor, Juaniya in the Puerto Rican opera Los Jibaros Progresistas by M.Gonzales and Rosaura in the zarzuela Los Gavilanes. Ms. López-Hernández took the stage with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra in their 2007 Christmas Concert and in 2008 she was the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah, under the baton of Alan Harler.

Ms. López-Hernández holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from the University of Puerto Rico and an Artist Diploma from the Academy of Vocal Arts.

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About Andrew MaughanAmerican tenor Andrew Marks Maughan recently made his Santa Fe Opera debut singing the role of Diener 1 in Richard Strauss’ Capriccio while participating in the Apprentice Program. Andrew also recently appeared in Indiana University’s production of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Carl St. Clair conducting in April 2016. He sang the role of Gabriel von Eisenstein in IU’s new production of Die Fledermaus in the fall of 2015. He has also sung the roles of Rodolfo in La Bohème and Alfredo in La traviata with the Jacobs School of Music.

In 2015, Andrew joined the Glimmerglass Festival as a member of their Young Artist Program. He sang the role of Cacambo and covered the title role in Francesca Zambello’s production of Bernstein’s Candide. Andrew will travel to Toulouse and Bordeaux, France, with the same production in December 2016 – January 2017.

In the summers of 2011-2014, Andrew worked for the Ohio Light Opera as both a young artist and resident artist. He sang many roles to great acclaim, including: Alfred in Die Fledermaus, Freddy in My Fair Lady, Fredric in Pirates of Penzance, Sàndor Barinkay in Gypsy Baron, Camille in The Merry Widow, and many others.

Andrew attended the University of Utah from 2008-2013 where he earned his BM and MM in voice performance. He had the great pleasure of singing many roles, including: Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff; Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte; Sam Polk in Floyd’s Susannah ; Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni; Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea; Ferrando in Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte; and Le Chevalier in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites.

Andrew is also a recipient of two Encouragement awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditons, Wisconsin District (2013) and Utah District (2011). He was also awarded a recital performance with the Florentine Opera Company in 2014.

A native of Salt Lake City, Utah, Andrew had the great opportunity to participate in many outstanding ensembles from a very early age. As a boy soprano he was a member of the Salt Lake Children’s Choir under the direction of Ralph B. Woodward. He was also a student and Head Chorister at

the internationally known Madeleine Choir School. As his voice changed Andrew continued to take part in the Cathedral of the Madeleine Choir, where he was recently a guest soloist for Gounod’s Messe Solennelle.

FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847) OVERTURE TO A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (1826-27) 11 MINUTES

Flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, ophicleide (an obsolete bass instrument whose part is performed by tuba), timpani, and strings.

Last performed by the GJSO in 1984 under the direction of Alan Burdick.

Felix Mendelssohn was born in 1809 to prosperous and prominent German Jewish family. His father was a wealthy banker and his grandfather, Moses Mendelssohn, was a famous philosopher. Mendelssohn grew up in a home filled with music, literature, and many famous and interesting guests.

Many consider Mendelssohn an even more impressive child prodigy than Mozart. Mendelssohn began studying piano at age six. He started lessons in counterpoint and composition at age ten. Mendelssohn was also influenced early on by his aunt, Sarah Levy, who had been a student of W.F. Bach and a patron of C.P.E. Bach, two of J.S. Bach’s sons. She had a vast collection of Bach manuscripts. Mendelssohn studied many of these manuscripts and this influence can be clearly seen in his compositions.

Mendelssohn made his first public performance at age nine, accompanying a horn duet. His early compositions were mainly for string orchestra. These were often performed at home, some as soon as the ink dried. His first complete symphony was written at age fifteen. Mendelssohn’s first well-known work was his String Octet in E-Flat Major, written at age sixteen. The Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream followed a year later.

Originally the Overture was written for two pianos and performed in the home. At the time, many families would read the most popular Shakespeare plays aloud. The Mendelssohn family obtained a new German translation of the plays in 1826. Perhaps the Overture was written to accompany a reading at home. After the piano performance’s success, Mendelssohn then orchestrated his work. It was publicly performed within the year and featured on a concert with Mendelssohn also performing as piano soloist.

In 1843, Fredrick William IV, King of Prussia, who was an admirer of Mendelssohn’s music, asked for incidental music to be performed along with the entire play. Mendelssohn added new music, including his famous Wedding March, but left the Overture unchanged.

The Overture begins with four slow and distinctive chords in the woodwinds, perhaps meant to introduce us to the fairy tale land we are about to enter. After the chords, all the main themes of the Overture are introduced, a fast theme in a minor key to portray the dancing fairies, music for the royal court of Athens, the lovers theme, hunting calls, and the braying of Bottom the Weaver, after he has been transformed into an ass. Throughout the middle section, the themes are explored and transformed, mainly featuring the fairies and the lovers. The four main chords return for the recapitulation, followed by the fairy’s and lovers’s theme throughout. Just as in the play, the fairies seem to have the last word. The piece concludes with the same four chords, setting the stage for our mysterious and magical night to come.

GIOVANNI “NINO” ROTA (1911-1979) “LOVE THEME” FROM ROMEO AND JULIET (1968) 4 MINUTES

Strings only

Tonight is the GJSO’s premiere performance of Rota’s “Love Theme” from Romeo & Juliet.

Giovanni Rota, better known as Nino, was born in Milan, Italy in 1911. Known primarily as a film composer, he was also a pianist, conductor, and academic. He is best known for his collaboration with the Italian filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli. Rota also wrote the scores for the first two Godfather films, earning an Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1974 for The Godfather Part II.

Rota was born into a musical family. Like Mendelssohn, Rota was considered a child prodigy producing his first compositions early in life, including an oratorio at age eleven and a three-act opera at thirteen. He began formal studies at the conservatory in Milan and then moved to Rome to study composition. During his studies, Arturo Toscanini, the famed conductor, encouraged the young Rota to move to the United States. He did so in 1930 and spent two years studying composition and conducting at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He then returned to Milan, completed a degree in literature and began a teaching career.

During the 1940s, Rota began composing for film and completed thirty-two scores during the decade. His relationship with Zeffirelli began in 1952. Zeffirelli said “The most precious collaborator I ever had, I say it straightaway and don’t even hesitate, was Nino Rota — between us, immediately, a complete, total harmony…” In all, Rota wrote over 150 film scores in his career. Rota also wrote orchestral and chamber music and several operas.

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Program Notes By Mandy Walters Whitaker

DID YOU KNOW?

• In Mendelssohn’s London conducting debut

in 1829 he was praised for his innovative use of the baton, a novelty for

conductors to use at the time.

• Charles Rosen in his book The Romantic

Generation calls Mendelssohn “the

greatest child prodigy the history of western music

has ever known.”

• Mendelssohn’s older sister Fanny was an

accomplished pianist and musician. Their father,

Abraham, originally thought she would be

the most musical of his children. However, music

was not considered a proper profession for

women at the time.

• During a 46 year period, Rota composed

an average of three complete film scores

every year. In 1954, however, he composed

a remarkable thirteen scores.

GJSO.ORG 23

...continued from pg. 23

Zeffirelli’s version of Romeo and Juliet was released in 1968 with original music by Rota. The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director, among others, and was at the time the most commercially successful film version of a Shakespearean play.

Rota’s film soundtrack is full of lush orchestrations. As befitting the subject, the music is unabashedly romantic. The “Love Theme” has been used widely outside of the film, most notably on the BBC Radio program “Our Tune.” Also, two different sets of English lyrics have been set to the tune. The film’s version is called “What is Youth” with lyrics by Eugene Walter, sung by Glen Weston. A second version, “A Time for Us,” features lyrics by Larry Kusik and Eddie Snyder. This version has been recorded by Andy Williams, Johnny Matthis, and Josh Groban. A third version “Ai Giochi Addio,” has lyrics by Elsa Morante. This setting has been performed operatically by Luciano Pavarotti.

The original manuscript for the soundtrack is believed to be lost. A 2002 rerelease of the soundtrack was largely reconstructed by ear through listening to the original soundtrack recording.

FREDERICK DELIUS (1862-1934) “THE WALK TO THE PARADISE GARDEN” FROM A VILLAGE ROMEO AND JULIET (1901) 10 MINUTES

Flute, oboes, English horn, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, trombones, timpani, harp, and strings.

Tonight is the GJSO’s premiere performance of Delius’ “The Walk to the Paradise Garden” from A Village Romeo and Juliet.

Frederick Delius was born in Yorkshire, England in 1862 to a prosperous German emigrant family. Delius’s father was the owner of a successful wool factory and hoped his son would follow him into the family trade. Delius grew up in a musical home and learned to play piano and violin at a young age.

Delius attended business school and served as an apprentice at his father’s factory. However, he did not enjoy the work and eventually convinced his father to allow him to move to Florida in 1884 to work on an orange plantation. Upon arriving in the United States, Delius quickly found a teacher for theory lessons. He spent about a year and half in Florida, learning theory and listening to African American spirituals, before moving to Virginia to become a music teacher.

By this point, Delius’s father realized his son was never going to be interested in business and paid for Delius to attend the music conservatory in Leipzig. After two years of school, Delius moved to Paris. Delius remained in Paris for the next decade and began composing, starting with smaller works such as songs and instrumental works, before moving on to larger symphonic tone poems. However, Delius’s compositions were not performed often, and it wasn’t until 1897 that a full orchestral performance of one of his pieces was given. Over the next few years, Delius traveled widely throughout Europe and eventually met a German painter, Jelka Rosen, who would become his wife.

Delius’s most active years started in 1901 and continued through the end of World War I. Many of his most popular works, including A Village Romeo and Juliet, were written during this time period. Many of his works are considered pastoral miniatures. Even though the Deliuses had to leave their home toward the end of the war, he continued to compose actively. However, in the late 1920s, he was beset by serious health issues. Delius began to go blind and lost the use of his limbs. He was still mentally acute, however, and a young English musician came to live in the Delius home to transcribe Delius’s last few works.

A Village Romeo and Juliet was the fourth opera composed by Delius. He not only composed the music, but along with his wife, wrote the libretto based on a Swiss short story called Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe (Romeo and Juliet of the Village). The work premiered in 1907 in Berlin. The opera is rarely staged. “The Walk to the Paradise Garden” is the most well-known and performed piece from the opera. The plot follows the main idea of Romeo and Juliet with two lovers who meet, but whose parents do no consent to their relationship. Like the original story, the couple tries to be together, but meets a tragic fate. There is an element of magic in the work because of the character the Dark Fiddler.

“The Walk to Paradise Garden” was not originally in Delius’s score of the opera. It was added later to accommodate a scene change. The work utilized themes from the previous scenes, often performed by various winds and passed throughout the orchestra. The climax of the piece restates the couple’s love theme from earlier in the opera, before coming to a quiet close perhaps to foreshadow their impending death.

Delius’s work seems to be greatly influenced by Richard Wagner. Often Delius’s music doesn’t seem to have a specific melody, but has long streams of continuous music that floats and changes. His music also has an element of folk song to it, probably from his admiration of Grieg and friendship with Percy Grainger, a contemporary English composer, well-known for his use of folk song.

continued on pg. 25...

DID YOU KNOW?

• Delius was born Fritz Theodor Albert Delius but later anglicized his name to Fredrick.

• Delius’s favorite composers growing up were Chopin and Greig. Delius eventually met Greig as a student in Leipzig.

• For three years, Delius’s father sent him to different cities to work. In each place, Delius found ways to neglect work and instead attend musical and cultural events. In these travels he met the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.

• During his years in Paris, Delius was friends with the painters Edvard Munch and Paul Gauguin.

• A memorial to Delius stands in Solano Grove, Florida where he lived. The Delius Association of Florida holds a festival to celebrate his music.

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continued from pg. 24...

LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990) SUITE NO. 1 FROM WEST SIDE STORY (1826-27) 20 MINUTES

Flutes, oboe, English horn, clarinets, bass clarinet, bassoons, horns, trumpets, trombones, timpani, percussion, electric guitar, piano, strings, soprano soloist, and tenor soloist.

Tonight is the GJSO’s premiere performance of Bernstein’s Suite No. 1 from West Side Story.

Leonard Bernstein is one of the most well-known American composers. He was also a talented pianist, educator, and conductor. He is probably most known for West Side Story, however during his long career he composed symphonies, ballets, and choral pieces.

Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Bernstein showed an early interest in music and began taking piano lessons early in life. He attended Boston Latin School and then Harvard University. While at Harvard, Bernstein met Aaron Copland. Throughout his career, Bernstein would ask Copland for advice and once said that Copland was “his only real composition teacher.” After Harvard, Bernstein continued his studies at the Curtis Institute and at Tanglewood.

In 1953, Bernstein got his big break. Not long after being named assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein was called on to conduct after the regularly scheduled conductor came down with the flu. He was soon after named the Music Director of the New York City Symphony and began gaining notice with his compositions, such as Fancy Free, On the Town, and his first symphony.

Bernstein became the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in 1957. A post he held until 1969. He also became a well-known figure throughout the country due to his Young People’s Concerts. These network concerts introduced classical music to a wide variety of the American public. Shortly after Bernstein was appointed Music Director, he completed two of his most famous pieces, Candide in 1956 and West Side Story in 1957.

After Bernstein stepped down as Music Director, he was a frequent guest conductor. He completed several major works, Mass, Songfest, Dybbuk, and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Bernstein’s final performance was at Tanglewood on August 19, 1990. He passed away two months later and was buried with a copy of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony.

West Side Story is arguably Bernstein’s best known and most well-loved works. Bernstein had the idea for a contemporary setting of Romeo and Juliet after reading about gang scuffles in the city. Ten years after the original idea, Bernstein and the rest of his collaborators, Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, and Stephen Sondheim, began work. The plot of West Side Story takes major themes from Romeo and Juliet. However, unlike the original Maria survives, perhaps as a message that in the end violence is not the answer. West Side Story was completed in early 1957 and ready for rehearsals. However, the production seemed to be headed for disaster at every turn. There was to be more dancing in West Side Story than in any other Broadway production, Bernstein’s score was filled with unusual and difficult intervals, the backdrops were problematic, and the original producer pulled out. However, the collaborators hard work and belief was rewarded when the show was a critical success.

Suite No.1 from West Side Story features the main musical numbers sung by Tony and Maria. The first song is “Maria” which is sung by Tony right after he spots Maria for the first time across the gym at a dance. Tony serenades Maria underneath her window. She then comes out of her room and joins Tony on the fire escape where they profess their love to each other in “Tonight.” Later in Act One, Tony and Maria sing “One Hand, One Heart” as they imagine their wedding. The final song of the suite is “Somewhere.” In the show, Tony comes to Maria and tells her he killed her brother. Maria is initially angry with Tony, but realizes that she still loves him. As they begin to sing about the imagined place where they can be together, safe and happy and away from the violence that has surrounded them.

The music and lyrics for West Side Story are incredibly powerful. They leave the listener filled with a range of emotions, but mostly importantly with the hope that love will always triumph over hate.

continued on pg. 36...

DID YOU KNOW?

• Bernstein was the accompanist for the

Harvard Glee Club for a time while a student

there.

• He was named Louis when he was born

at his grandmother’s insistence. However, his family always called him

Leonard or Lenny. At age fifteen, he formally

changed his name to Leonard shortly after his

grandmother’s death.

• Fritz Reiner, Bernstein’s conducting teacher and

conductor of the Chicago Symphony, apparently only gave one A in his

teaching career, to Bernstein.

• Lorne Michaels wanted Bernstein to

host Saturday Night Live during its first season.

Chevy Chase asked Bernstein in person at a party hosted by Kurt

Vonnegut, but when Bernstein found out

they wanted a Bernstein conducted SNL version

of West Side Story, Bernstein declined the

invitation.

• In Bernstein’s recording of Beethoven’s Ninth

Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

the trombones miss their entrance at the climax

of the fourth movement. Apparently an audience member fainted behind them right before their

entrance.

GJSO.ORG 25

continued from pg. 24...

JOHN CORIGLIANO (B. 1938) GAZEBO DANCES (1974) 16 MINUTES

Flutes, piccolo, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, piano, and strings.

Tonight is the GJSO’s premiere performance of Corigliano’s Gazebo Dances.

John Corigliano is a contemporary American composer who has written over one hundred pieces, including symphonies, string quartets, film scores, and an opera. During his career he has won the Pulitzer Prize, five Grammys, and an Oscar.

Corigliano was born in New York City. His father was concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic and his mother was an accomplished pianist. Corigliano studied composition at Columbia University and the Manhattan School of Music. Before starting out his composition career, Corigliano was an assistant to the producer of Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts.

In 1964, Corigliano first rose to prominence when his Sonata for Violin and Piano won an award at the chamber music festival in Spoleto, Italy. After receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship, Corigliano began teaching, first at the Manhattan School of Music, then at Lehman College. Corigliano’s early works include concertos for clarinet, oboe, and flute, and a film score.

In 1987, Corigliano was named the first ever Composer-in-Residence for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. While there, he completed his first symphony (recycling some music from an earlier film score) as a reaction to the AIDS crisis and as a tribute to friends that he had lost. This symphony won several awards, including a Grammy. In 1991, the Metropolitan Opera premiered Corigliano’s only opera, The Ghosts of Versailles. The work was originally commissioned in 1980 for the centennial of the company, their first commission in over thirty years. Later in 1991, Corigliano joined the faculty of the Juilliard School.

Some of Corigliano’s more recent works include the film score for The Red Violin, for which he won an Academy Award, his Symphony No. 2, which won the Pulitzer Prize, a song cycle One Sweet Morning, for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan, which earned a Grammy award.

Corigliano strives to make his music accessible. He writes in a wide variety of styles, sometimes even within the same piece. While most of his work is for orchestra, he has composed for a wide variety of groups, including string quartet, symphonic bands, and voice.

The Gazebo Dances were originally written as a four hand piano duet and dedicated to some of Corigliano’s pianist friends. Corigliano later arranged the piece for both concert band and orchestra. He took the title for the piece from the band arrangement. Corigliano imagined these dances being performed in a small town park with a gazebo where bands would often perform in the summer.

The piece contains four different dances. The first is an overture that takes its inspiration from the operatic overtures of Rossini. The next dance is a rather uneven and lilting waltz. The third section is a slower, melodic Adagio. The final dance is a Tarantella, an Italian folk dance meant to counteract the poison from a spider bite. While this piece is not directly related to Shakespeare, it does evoke the type of community performance that people would attend, much like communities did in Shakespeare’s day.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Corigliano’s father played in the New York Philharmonic when Leonard Bernstein was the conductor.

• Corigliano’s flute concerto was written for James Galway and is called the Pied Piper Fantasy.

• His work Chiaroscuro is played by two pianos that are tuned a quarter tone away from each other.

• The Corigliano String Quartet is named after him, with his blessing.

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