Monday, April 17, 2023 • 8 p.m.
The Ohio State University School of Music
Weigel Auditorium
Jae Park, conductor
Mathew Kinnear, guest conductor
Miriam Burns, instructor of record
Jonathan Mitchell
Guest flute soloist
Student of Katherine Borst Jones
PROGRAM
Magic Flute Overture (1791)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Mathew Kinnear, guest conductor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the most prolific composers in music history. With more than six hundred compositions to his name, he has truly left a profound legacy. Mozart’s music career began when he was just a child. He composed his first piece at age five and spent most of his childhood performing across Europe alongside his siblings. Mozart composed several famous operas, such as The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro, as well as over forty symphonies and sonatas, and today, we have the pleasure of playing a famous piece from one of his operas. The Magic Flute is an opera about the search for wisdom and enlightenment, masquerading as a classic fairytale. Let yourself enter this fairytale world as Mozart’s charming melody moves between strings and winds, and try to imagine Prince Tamino and Papageno on their quest to rescue Pamina.
Radetzky March (1848)
Johann Strauss I (1804–1849)
Johann Baptist Strauss I was an Austrian Romantic Period composer. He is well known for his waltzes and other light music, and is often credited with popularizing dance in Austria. He took inspiration from the French music scene during the late 1830s, which is what drove him to his success as a composer.
Radetzky March is a piece you will probably recognize. It is a famous march composed by Johann Strauss Sr. and dedicated to Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, the piece’s namesake. Its fast-paced, celebratory tone made it popular among soldiers when it premiered in 1848.
"Hoe-Down" from Rodeo (1943)
Aaron Copland (1900–1990)
Mathew Kinnear, guest conductor
Aaron Copland was born to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York in 1900. Copland was an American composer and conductor whose pieces were heavily influenced by folk music as he searched to capture the soul of America in his music. Throughout his career, Copland worked with jazz rhythms, Mexican melodies and rhythm, hymns, and dance forms. His music experience began as a child with initial piano instruction from his sister. He began formal piano training at age fourteen and lessons in counterpoint and composition at age sixteen. In 1921, Copland moved to France to study at the Summer School of Music for American Students at Fontainebleau. There, he met the esteemed teacher and conductor Nadia Boulanger, who gave him further composition training in Paris after his time at Fontainebleau had ended. In 1924, Copland returned to the United States to compose on commission for the Boston Symphony Orchestra — a position that Boulanger had secured for him.
Composed in 1943, Copland’s "Hoe-Down" is a movement from the ballet Rodeo, which is a celebration of the American West. Copland based the movement on the square dance tunes “Bonyparte” and “McLeod’s Reel.” Hoe-Down is a lively piece characterized by syncopated rhythms and short bow strokes, alternating between energetic full orchestra sections and more subtle segments in the strings section. Featured throughout the piece are the trumpet, percussion, piano, solo oboe, and solo violin. "Hoe-Down" marks the end of the iconic ballet with three decisive notes.
Romance for Flute and Orchestra, Op. 37 (1871)
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)
Jonathan Mitchell, guest soloist
Camille Saint-Saëns composed Romance for Flute and Orchestra in D♭ major in 1871, during the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War. At the time, although the French composer was in exile in London due to political upheaval, the piece reflects an ethereal, unwavering beauty that transcends the turmoil of its circumstances. One editor writes, “The Romance is a slight piece, but bewitchingly atmospheric. It spins an expressive line with the direct, unsentimental appeal of a lyrical mélodie." Saint-Saëns’ Romance has become an essential part of flute repertoire, and continues to enchant musical audiences today.
Symphony No. 2 (1869–1876)
Alexander Borodin (1833–1887)
i. Allegro moderato
ii. Scherzo. Molto vivo – Trio. Allegretto
iii. Andante
Alexander Borodin was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1833. Although he is known as one of the major Russian nationalist composers of the nineteenth century, Borodin was also a notable chemist. From a young age, he studied the piano, taught himself how to play the cello, and composed music. In his teenage years, Borodin was a budding chemist who began to study at the Medico-Surgical Academy at age seventeen in 1850. After graduating in 1856, Borodin worked as a chemistry professor, physician and science-book translator. He received his doctorate degree in 1858, founded the School of Medicine for Women in St. Petersburg, and made significant contributions to chemistry research. As a devoted chemist, Borodin cultivated music composition as a hobby in his spare time. In 1862, Borodin befriended Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui and Mussorgsky. Together, they are known as “The Five” Russian composers who strove to create distinct compositions from those of other European conservatories. Borodin’s music was heavily influenced by Russian folk songs and dances, and is described as having orchestral color and unusual harmonies that are rich and striking. He is best known for his three symphonies, two string quartets, and the opera Prince Igor.
Borodin composed Symphony No. 2 in B Minor from 1869 to 1876; it is considered to be one of his most distinctive pieces. It begins with a victorious, powerful and bold first movement. In the playful and tender second movement, Scherzo, Borodin demonstrates his aptitude for creating orchestral color, which he accomplishes by combining string pizzicato, rapid repeated notes in the horn section, solo oboe, flute, and solo clarinet. The third movement, Andante, continues in the lyrical spirit of the second movement. A more tranquil movement, it grows towards a poignant melody in the violin section before retreating and ending with contributions from the wind section.
Waltz from Swan Lake, Op. 20 (1877)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s work was first publicly performed in 1865. A few years later, he became more established when he introduced the Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor in 1874. Tchaikovsky resigned from the Moscow Conservatory in 1878 and focused more on his composing career. Now, he is most renowned for his ballets, specifically Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty.
Tchaikovsky’s excitement with the ballet, Swan Lake, is shown by the speed of his creation. which he composed within one year. Julius Reisinger, a choreographer at the time, attempted to create a dance for this piece; however, he began to set aside numbers that he dubbed “undanceable.” Tchaikovsky protested, disagreeing with this change. In 1960, George Balanchine choreographed a pas de deux for this music for Violette Verdy and Conrad Ludlow, who performed at the CIty Center of Music and Drama in New York City as Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, as it is known and performed today.
ROSTER
VIOLIN I
D, concertmaster
Kelsey Chen
Lynde Wangler
Bonnie Wu
Zi Lin Chen
Chuyang Deng
Rebecca Tepper
Analee Kobernuss
Nishanth Kunchala
Abigail Richardson
Kathrina Noma
Reanna Wang
VIOLIN II
Brandon Waite, principal
Eve Saltzman
Hunter Kesler
Nicole Li
Mika Nguyen
Cynthia Szeto
Kayla Uhrlen
Yun Yi Thomas
Mia Castro
Rebecca Young
Jakob Gerhard
Bart Snapp
Jayne Griffith
Javen Bell
Xuan Lei
Jennifer Michel
Zari Mahmoudi
Rachel Huffman
Chenguang Wang
Mia Schmittenberg
Kalle Huff
Esha Wankhade
Maggie Smith
Rahma Aden
VIOLA
Nandini Kasam, principal
Hunter Powell
Aidan Okantey
Jane Sovinski
Emma Furlan
Trey Soards
Diana Wendelin
Mason Heithaus
Regan Webber
Daniele Sabaliunaite
Lindsey Long
CELLO
Rhea Garg, principal
Joshua Sims
Vincente Quach
Mateo Zevallos
Savannah Steinkamp
Mia Melde
Nathan Rogers
Corinna Moesle
Julia Zhan
Liam Waselko
Reina Quinn
Claire Sneed
Sean Whelan
Benjamin Thiltgen
CONTRABASS
Zachary Keohler, principal
Claire Cornellier
Ali Triplett
PICCOLO
Kristin L. Thompson
FLUTE
Amy Spears, principal
Hallie Soltis
Sydney Cagnon
OBOE
Ryan O'Donnell, principal
Mallory Justus
CLARINET
Lily Tropple, principal
Zach Grant
BASSOON
Laila Elhamri, principal
Steven Swiderski
HORN
Mirai Nawa, principal
Leila Culp
Rory Leonard
Annalise Johnson
TRUMPET
Adam Exley, principal
Xinyue Fan
TROMBONE
Anthony Frankowski, principal
Ellen Danford
Jacob Zimmerman
Andric McNabb, bass
TUBA
June LoGalbo
PERCUSSION
Hannah Smith
Wyatt Boggs
PIANO
Wyatt Boggs
HARP
Josephine Davis
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