Symphony Orchestra Concerto Concert

April 10, 2019

PROGRAM

Nài Hé

Binshan Zhao (b. 1989)

World premiere performance

In Eastern Asian legend, the Nài Hé —  奈何  in Chinese and  三途の川  in Japanese — is a river connecting the real world and the otherworld where souls go after death. Over the river, a bridge (the Nài Hé Bridge) is built to transpose human souls to the other world. If one's soul is merciful and kind, they will cross the river via the bridge; but if the soul is sinful and evil, they will be pushed off the bridge and suffer torments down the river.

Inspired by the legend, this piece describes the mysterious image of the Nài Hé River. Various timbres and dynamic changes are used to portray this occult atmosphere and draw audiences into the story. — Program note by the composer

 

Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor, op. 73

I. Allegro

Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826)

Nathan Murta, clarinet
Brent Levine, conducting

Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra

I. Allegro

Frigyes Hidas (1928–2007)

Hilary Hobbs, oboe

Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, op. 22

I. Andante sostenuto

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)

Yiman Weng, piano
Alexander Gonzales, conducting

 

— INTERMISSION —

La clemenza di Tito:
"Parto, parto, ma tu ben mio"

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)

Sandy Sharis, mezzo-soprano
Alyssa Powell, clarinet

 

Concerto for Alto Saxophone

I. Lento espressivo — Allegro

Pierre Max Dubois (1930–1995)

Francesca Wantuch, saxophone
Brent Levine, conducting

Introduction, Theme & Variations

Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)

Cosmos Fristachi, clarinet

 

The Ohio State University Symphony Orchestra would like to express their sincere appreciation to the entire distinguished School of Music faculty and particularly the applied instrumental faculty for their invaluable and greatly appreciated instruction, guidance and dedication to the Ohio State Orchestra program and students.

 

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Student Artists

 

Cosmos Fristachi is a senior clarinet performance major at the Ohio State School of Music, where he is a student of Dr. Caroline Hartig, professor of clarinet. In addition to his clarinet studies, Cosmos will graduate with a minor in Russian. He has been named to the Dean’s list each semester he has attended Ohio State. A native of Virginia Beach, VA, Cosmos was selected for the Virginia Governor’s School where he studied with Ms. Cathy Ogram. Journeying on to Ohio State, Cosmos has performed in all the top performing ensembles including both the Symphony Orchestra and the Wind Symphony. He also performed in the corsi internazionali di perfezionamento musicale, International Music Festival of Cividale del Friuli, Italy.

Alexander Gonzalez is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at Ohio State. His responsibilities include conducting the University Band, guest conducting various ensembles, and assisting the undergraduate instrumental conducting course. Prior to arriving in Ohio, he taught music in Colorado, Wisconsin and Florida. Alexander received a Bachelor of Music Education degree and a minor in philosophy from the University of Florida. He then earned a master's degree in wind conducting from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he studied with Mr. Scott Teeple, Dr. James Smith, Dr. Beverly Taylor and Maestro John DeMain.

Currently pursuing her master’s degree in oboe performance at Ohio State, Hilary Hobbs studies under Professor Robert Sorton and works as a Graduate Teaching Associate for the School of Music. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Oboe Performance from OSU in 2017, graduating summa cum laude. She was invited to perform at the 2018 International Double Reed Society (IDRS) conference in Granada, Spain with the Buckeye Double Reed Ensemble and participated in the 2018 International Music Mastercourses Festival in Cividale, Italy. Hilary maintains both a reed-making business and a private studio.

Brent Levine is a first-year doctoral graduate associate studying conducting at Ohio State. He completed a Bachelor of Music in music education (2007) and a Master of Music in music performance (2010) at the University of Redlands in California. While at the University of Redlands, he studied under the tutelage of Dr. Eddie Smith. Prior to coming to Ohio State, Brent was the co-director of bands for eight years at Vista Murrieta High School in Murrieta, California. He has previously been on the faculties of Mt. San Jacinto Community College and Riverside City College.

Nathan Murta is a second-year performance major in the clarinet studio of Dr. Caroline Hartig at Ohio State. A native of Portsmouth, Ohio, Nathan has participated in festivals throughout Ohio and beyond. He has performed with the Miami University Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra, and was a founding member of the Miami Legacy Woodwind Quintet. At Ohio State, Nathan is a member of the Wind Symphony and Symphony Orchestra as well as the OSU ClariNetwork Ensemble and the iconic clarinet quartet, Three Nickels and a Blamaha.

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Sandra Sharis is a first-year master’s student in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy, currently studying with Dr. Scott McCoy. Sandy was a Young Artist at the Festival Lyrique en Mer in Belle-Ile, France during the summers of 2015 and 2016 and at the Aquilon Music Festival in 2018. At both Aquilon and Ohio State University, she performed the role of Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Outside of Ohio State, she has studied under voice teachers Bruce Schoonmaker and Bradley Howard. Sandy received her Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Furman University.

Saxophonist Francesca Wantuch is a member of the 100th Army Reserve Band in Ft. Knox. She has been awarded the Corbett Mayerson Award, was selected as a winner of the 2017 Ohio University Concerto Competition, and has performed at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Wantuch also performs with a New Orleans-inspired funk brass band — Largemouth Brass Band — which recently released their first album. Wantuch holds a Bachelor of Music degree in saxophone performance from Ohio University where she studied with Dr. Matthew James. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree at Ohio State while studying saxophone with Dr. Michael Rene Torres.

Yiman Weng, a native of China, received a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Capital University. Currently, she is pursuing the MM degree at The Ohio State University under the guidance of Dr. Caroline Hong. Ms. Weng won the Second Prize at the Fourth Young Artist Music Festival in China. She is also the recipient of the Music Scholarship, the Music Grant, and the Special Grant for Successful Students at Capital University. In 2016 Ms. Weng received an award from the Larry S. Lane Piano Accompaniment Fund.

Binshan Zhao, a DMA candidate in composition at The Ohio State University, was born in Inner Mongolia, China and grew up with Mongolian folk music and western classical music. His composition teachers include Zheliang Zhao, Mark Engebretson, Alejandro Rutty, Steven Bryant and Thomas Wells. Inspired by multiple contemporary music styles, Binshan creates his sound based on his music culture, background and creative thoughts. His music displays a variety of styles including electronic music, minimalism, microtonality, serialism, spectralism and musical visualization. He recently was selected as the composer of commission for the 2018 Barnett Symposium and as the Ohio State Symphony Orchestra composer-in-residence for 2018–2019.

 

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Symphony Orchestra

Ching-Chun Lai, conductor

All Symphony Orchestra musicians rotate seats and parts assignments throughout the season.
 
VIOLIN I
Nohemi Perez Barradas
Liam Botos
Anita Chiu, concertmaster
Nia Dewberry
Jiaxu Du
Nora Dukart,
   associate concertmaster
John Li

VIOLIN II
Kelsey Broker
Emily Chen
Noah Cisneros
Mathew Kinnear *
Valeriya Nedviga
Abi Norman
Adrian Slovenec

VIOLA
Alex Figueroa
Fatima Gassama *
Vince Huzicka
Ivy Leibner
Logan McFall
Meredith Reber

CELLO
Alex Britt
Rachel Caserta
Thomas LaMon
Aubrey Liston
Patrick Park
Andrew Scott
Drew Speas
Sarah Troeller *

DOUBLE BASS
Drew Postel
Nicholas Young *

FLUTE
Grace Forrai
Peyton Sandri *

OBOE
Michael Rueda
Samantha Zelnik *

CLARINET
Austin Suarez
Gabrielle Valladares *
Noah Wise

BASSOON
Dustin Gourley
Maris Haugrud *

HORN
Anna Dorey
Greg Eberwine
Benjamin Hottensmith *
Cameron Reed

TRUMPET
Ted Clark *
Nic Cruz

TROMBONE
Zach Irwin
Jack Pauley *

TUBA
Austin Crumrine *

HARP
Nathan Hay

TIMPANI / PERCUSSION
Michael Mayer
Hannah Moore *
Clay Schneider

LIBRARIAN
Nicholas Young

* principal

 

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School of Music ​Instrumental Faculty