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BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA James Levine, Music Director Bernard Haitink, Conductor Emeritus Seiji Ozawa, Music Director Laureate 128th Season, 2008-2009 CHAMBER TEA III Friday, November 14, at 2:30 CONCERTI CLUB/KIDS CLUB CONCERT Sunday, November 16, at 3 "CLASSICAL TANGENT" BONNIE BEWICK, violin JULIANNE LEE, violin CAROLINE PLISZKA, violin MICKEY KATZ, cello BENJAMIN LEVY, bass KEN BEWICK, guitar AZIZ D. BARNARD LUCE, percussion JOHN McGANN, mandolin with FRANCESCA BASS, violin ZOE DALE, violin RUBY MERCURE, violin Theme for Anna /La Valser di Mezzanotte Jigs: Andy Dejarlis/Ingonish/Mrs. McGee Song: The Maple's Lament Scottish Set: The Acrobat/The Shelburne/ Allan's /Fiddler's Whim/Kiley's Strathspey /Reel: Highlander's Farewell to Ireland /Farewell (in reel form)/ Foxhunter's Doina/Hora Bucovinci/Hora Galician Set Minor Swing Reel Set: Mother's Delight/ Andy McGann's/ Humors of Scariff Slow Tune /Slip Jig /Reels: Finistere/Silvermore/John Stenson's/ The Aughamore Week 8 INTRODUCTION What are we doing here? What's a nice group of well-trained classical musicians doing playing Latin and Celtic music when there is so much Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert out there? Shouldn't we just stick to what we've spent years master- ing, both when we're performing in the Boston Symphony Orchestra and in our outside endeavors? Classical music will endure forever, and we are honored to be able to perform music of masters such as Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, not to mention Berlioz, Bart6k, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky Stravinsky, and scores of others. But while the music we usually play is art at its finest, the music we play for you here today is entertainment, for the sheer joy of it. With our extracurricular musical time, we have chosen to join the thousands of farmers, miners, millers, welders, cooks, lovers, and just plain folks who have been celebrating life's joys and sorrows through folk music for centuries. It wasn't ever about money, and I don't think many of the musicians we are emulating ever played an Amati or a Galliano or any other fine Italian violin. Skill takes a back seat to enthusiasm in this genre, and fun is what it's all about. These finely honed artists have dared to step out of their perfectionist roles and crank out some tunes. Please clap and shout as the mood moves you! THE MUSICIANS Violinist Bonnie Bewick joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in January 1987 after graduating from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with David Cerone and Aaron Rosand. Since then she has performed frequently in the Boston area in recitals and chamber music concerts. Founder of the First Presbyterian Artists Series in Quincy, she has been a featured soloist with the Boston Pops under John Williams and Keith Lockhart, as well as with the New England Philharmonic and the Cape Ann Symphony. She is on the faculty of the Boston Conservatory, and has also taught at the New England Conservatory Extension Division and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Ms. Bewick has made a specialty of teaching students about the art of auditioning and conducts audition seminars around the country. A member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra violin section since the fall of 2006, Julianne Lee is a recent recipient of the Presser Music Award. Ms. Lee made her solo debut at seven with the Lake Placid Symphonietta, subsequently appearing as soloist with the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Korea and the Baden-Baden Phil- harmonic in Germany. Her chamber music collaborations have included concerts with such renowned artists as Joseph Silverstein, Peter Wiley, Roger Tapping, Samuel Rhodes, and Arnold Steinhardt. In the summer of 2006 she participated in the Marlboro Music Festival, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and a European tour as guest principal violist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Lee received a bachelor's degree in violin performance and a diploma in viola per- formance from the Curtis Institute of Music, studying with Victor Danchenko, Joseph Silverstein, and Joseph DePasquale. In 2008 she received her master's degree from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she was a student of Donald Weilerstein and Kim Kashkashian. Violinist Caroline Pliszka has been a regular substitute player with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras since 2002. Ms. Pliszka holds a master of music degree from the New England Conservatory, where she was a student of BSO concertmaster Malcolm Lowe. She also holds a bachelor of music degree, cum laude, from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. Ms. Pliszka has served as concert- master of the Houston Ballet Orchestra, the New World Symphony, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, and the New England Conservatory Orchestras. She was the recipient of Tanglewood Music Center fellowships from 1999 to 2001 and was awarded the Henri Kohn Memorial Award in 2001. She also spent two summers as a New Fromm Player, an ensemble of young musicians drawn from recent TMC alumni who have distinguished themselves in the performance of new music. An active chamber musician, Ms. Pliszka has collaborated with Dawn Upshaw, Paul Katz, and Miriam Fried. She was a member of the New England Conservatory Honors String Quartet and now enjoys coaching chamber music at the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. Her principal teachers include Kenneth Goldsmith, Raphael Fliegel, and Fredell Lack. Ms. Pliszka is originally from Spring, Texas. A native of Israel, cellist Mickey Katz joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in September 2004, having previously been principal cellist of Boston Lyric Opera. Mr. Katz has distinguished himself as a solo performer, chamber musician, and con- temporary music specialist. His numerous honors include the Presser Music Award in Boston, the Karl Zeise Prize from the BSO at Tanglewood, first prizes in the Hudson Valley Philharmonic Competition and the Rubin Academy Competition in Tel Aviv, and scholarships from the America Israel Cultural Foundation. A passion- ate performer of new music, he premiered and recorded Menachem Wiesenberg's Cello Concerto with the Israel Defense Force Orchestra and has worked with com- posers Elliott Carter, Gyorgy Kurtag, John Corigliano, Leon Kirchner, and Augusta Read Thomas in performing their music. A Tanglewood Music Center Fellow in 2001, he was invited back to Tanglewood in 2002 as a member of the New Fromm Players, an alumni ensemble-in-residence that works on challenging new pieces and collaborates with young composers. An active chamber musician, he has performed in important venues in the United States, Europe, and Israel, and has participated in the Marlboro Festival and Musicians from Marlboro tour, collaborating with such distinguished players as Pinchas Zukerman, Tabea Zimmermann, Kim Kashkashian, and Gilbert Kalish. A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, he com- pleted his mandatory military service in Israel as a part of the "Distinguished Musi- cian Program," playing in the Israel Defense Force String Quartet, performing throughout Israel in classical concerts and in many outreach and educational concerts for soldiers and other audiences. Double bass player Benjamin Levy was born in Cooperstown, New York, in 1980 and grew up in Pennsylvania and Colorado. While in high school he studied with David Potter, and spent two summers studying with Stuart Sankey at the Aspen Music Festival. Mr. Levy has appeared in performance with soprano Dawn Upshaw, the Borromeo String Quartet, and the Hawthorne String Quartet. In 2002, while a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, he was the recipient of the Maurice Schwartz Prize and was reviewed in the New York Times for his performance of Jacob Druckman's Valentine for solo double bass. A graduate of the New England Conser- vatory of Music, and now on the faculty of the Boston Conservatory of Music, he joined the BSO's bass section in 2003 at Tanglewood. His teachers have also included Todd Seeber, Timothy Pitts, and Paul Ellison. Benjamin Levy was the recipient of the 2002 New England Conservatory George Whitefield Chadwick Medal. Ken Bewick is a guitarist, recording artist, and songwriter based in California. He has been writing, playing, and performing for more than twenty-five years. Along with guitar and voice, he also plays trumpet, bass, drums, and percussion. He has played and performed on his own and as support for many artists, including T-Bone Burnett, Cowboy Junkies, Seals and Crofts, Sam Phillips, Hot Tuna, and Leon Russell. Ken is primarily a folk and rock stylist; his interest in music spans all genres and eras. For the past fifteen years he has been working with the band Mudfrog in Santa Cruz; Mudfrog has released five albums on its own label and has played hundreds of performances locally and nationally. Ken has also scored and produced music for live dance ensemble, film, and commercial audio projects. He is currently working on his second full-length album with the Seattle-based band Bottle Of Sound. Ken is thrilled to be performing again with his sister, Bonnie Bewick. Their diverse styles of playing have melded happily in Irish and Celtic folk music. In this realm, they have performed together in California, Washington State, and Massachusetts. Ken lives in Santa Cruz with his wife Cynthia and their daughter Elena. Percussionist Aziz D. Barnard Luce received his master's degree in May 2008 from the New England Conservatory of Music, which he attended after completing his undergraduate studies at Boston University. This past summer was his second as a Fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center. He has studied with BSO musicians Will Hudgins and Timothy Genis. In his spare time, Aziz enjoys eating fruit and keeping it real. John McGann is a multi-instrumentalist specializing in mandolin family instru- ments, electric and acoustic guitar, steel guitar, and dobro.

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