RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN’S SOUTH PACIFIC TIANWA YANG PLAYS BRAHMS Photographer: Tony Hauser Photographer: Tony FRED PENNER wso.ca I 204-949-3999 MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR OF THE WSO BOARD We are now moving into the final stages of the WSO’s 2016-2017 season.What a season it has been, kicking off with the star power of Joshua Bell last September and continuing thorough many, many outstanding concerts with guest performers, guest conductors and, above all, our own orchestra. But, it is far from over.There are many more great shows to look forward to this spring. In a special collaboration with Rainbow Stage, we will be performing the music of the amazing Rodgers and Photographer: Leif Norman Hammerstein musical, South Pacific.We will also have a return appearance by the brilliant Tianwa Yang playing the Brahms Violin Concerto in D major, as well as a new collaboration with upcoming stars from our Francophone community.Top that off with a concert featuring the Juno-nominated Winnipeg indie-band Royal Canoe and we have a couple of months not to be missed! Spring is also the time of year when the WSO counts most on its community for charitable support. As you renew your subscriptions, please consider making a charitable donation to the WSO. As most of you know, ticket sales revenues cover only 42% of the costs of maintaining this wonderful orchestra in our community. With public sector grants frozen for so many years, we count more and more on your generosity to make it possible to sustain the work and programs of the orchestra. We thank you for your help in supporting our orchestra. Each year presents particular challenges for the WSO.This year, we have been very thankful for the outstanding support provided by a group of donors that has made it possible for the WSO to perform with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet this year. Special thanks to Susan Glass and Arni Thorsteinson, Richardson Foundation, Frank and Jeanne Plett, Dr. Robert and Mrs. Angela Ross, Dave Johntson and the Johntson Group,The Winnipeg Foundation,Tannis Richardson, and Kathleen Richardson. In closing, I want to recognize the service of the following retiring orchestra members, Brian Sykora, trumpet; Merrily Peters, viola; and Martha Durkin, flute/piccolo, and Principal Librarian Ray Chrunyk. I also urge you not to forget our Summer Season with our 70th Anniversary Community Celebration, and concerts in Assiniboine Park, at The Forks, and in Kenora. Keep an eye out for these shows. Terence Sargeant Chair of the WSO Board April – May 2017 I OVERTURE 1 Photo: Keith Levit Photography Summer means time to get outside and enjoy beautiful music in beautiful surroundings. Join us for a series of concerts in and around the city, plus our annual visit to Kenora. JUNE 3 Lower Fort Garry: Stone Fort Sounds 28 70th Anniversary Community Celebration Centennial Concert Hall 30 WSO in Kenora, Lucia Melnick Stage JULY 1 Canada Day at The Forks 5 Lyric Theatre, Assiniboine Park Stay tuned for the summer 2017 Millennium Noon Hour Concert Series! wso.ca/summer WSO SPONSORS, FUNDERS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The WSO proudly acknowledges the ongoing support of the following sponsors, media and funders: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PARTNER EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS IN MEMORY OF PETER D. CURRY POPS KIDS CONCERTS CLASSICS A SERIES SERIES SERIES WSO IN BRANDON INDIVIDUAL CONCERTS MARTY & MICHELLE ARNOLD & MYRA WEINBERG AND FAMILY FRIEMAN CARMYN ALESHKA & GREG FETTES Credenza MANITOBA HYDRO SOUNDCHECK POPS PRESENTING OFFICIAL RADIO STATION HOLIDAY TOUR PROGRAM MEDIA PARTNER OF THE WSO CLASSICS PIANO RAFFLE CAR RAFFLE CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY Women’s Committee of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra FUNDERS April – May 2017 I OVERTURE 3 CONDUCTORS AND COMPOSERS Alexander Mickelthwate, Music Director German conductor Alexander Mickelthwate is renowned for his “splendid, richly idiomatic readings” (LA Weekly),“fearless” approach and “first-rate technique” (Los Angeles Times). Critics have noted Alexander’s extraordinary command over the Austro-Germanic repertoire, commenting on the “passion, profundity, emotional intensity, subtlety and degree of perfection achieved” in Bruckner’s Symphony Photographer: Grajewski Fotograph Inc. No. 7 as “miraculous” (Anton Kuerti, 2011). Following on from his tenure as Assistant Conductor with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, which he completed in 2004, Alexander Mickelthwate was Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for three years, under the direction of Essa-Pekka Salonen. Now in his tenth season as Music Director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Alexander has significantly developed the orchestra’s profile through active community engagement and innovative programming initiatives like the annual Winnipeg New Music Festival and the Indigenous Music Festival. Chosen to perform at the Carnegie Hall Spring For Music Festival in New York, May 2014, due to “creative and innovative programming” (CBC Manitoba Scene), the orchestra was the only Canadian ensemble in the showcase. Julian Pellicano, Resident Conductor Julian Pellicano’s boundless musical appetite makes him a formidable interpreter of the symphonic repertoire as well as a versatile conductor in a wide range of genres. He is currently the Resident Conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Artist in Residence at the Norfolk Chamber Music festival, and Music Director of the University of Manitoba Symphony Orchestra. From 2009 to 2013, he served as Music Director of the Photographer: Nardella Photography Inc. Longy School of Music Conservatory Orchestra where he established a rigorous and distinctive new orchestral program. Pellicano has conducted the Orquestra Sinfonica de Porto Alegre (Brazil), Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Connecticut Symphony, New Britain Symphony,The Kallisti Ensemble, Boston’s Dinosaur Annex Ensemble and Milwaukee's Present Music. He has worked in masterclasses with Kurt Masur, Peter Eötvös, Zsolt Nagy, Martyn Brabbins, and Carl St. Clair. An autodidact, he was accepted to the Peabody Conservatory as a percussionist without typical classical training. He also holds degrees from the Royal College of Music (Stockholm), and the Yale School of Music where he was awarded the 2008 Presser Music Award and the Philip F.Nelson Award. Harry Stafylakis, Composer-in-Residence,WNMF Festival Director Harry Stafylakis (b. 1982, Montreal) is a Canadian–American composer based in NYC. He is the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra's Composer-In-Residence and Festival Director of the WSO's Winnipeg New Music Festival. His works have been performed by the American Composers Orchestra, the Toronto,Winnipeg, Spokane, Stamford,Victoria, and PEI symphonies, McGill Chamber Orchestra, Mivos Quartet, Quatuor Bozzini, and Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, among others. Awards include the Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the ASCAP Foundation’s Leonard Bernstein Award, four SOCAN Foundation Awards for Young Composers, and grants from the Canada Council and NYSCA. Stafylakis holds degrees from McGill University and The Graduate Center, CUNY,and lectures at the City College of New York. His doctoral research, supported by SSHRC, examines rhythm and meter in progressive metal. www.hstafylakis.com 4 OVERTURE I April – May 2017 WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 2016-2017 SEASON MUSIC DIRECTOR CELLOS TRUMPETS Alexander Mickelthwate Yuri Hooker, Principal Isaac Pulford, Acting Principal Leana Rutt, Assistant Principal Paul Jeffrey RESIDENT CONDUCTOR Alex Adaman Brian Sykora Julian Pellicano Arlene Dahl TROMBONES COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE Carolyn Nagelberg Steven Dyer, Principal Harry Stafylakis Emma Quackenbush Keith Dyrda Sean Taubner FIRST VIOLINS BASS TROMBONE Gwen Hoebig, Concertmaster BASSES Julia McIntyre, Principal The Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt- Meredith Johnson, Principal Gramatté Memorial Chair, endowed Andrew Goodlett, Assistant Principal TUBA by the Eckhardt-Gramatté Foundation Travis Harrison Chris Lee, Principal Karl Stobbe, Associate Concertmaster Paul Nagelberg Mary Lawton, Assistant Concertmaster TIMPANI Bruce Okrainec Chris Anstey Mike Kemp, Principal Mona Coarda Daniel Perry Rodica Jeffrey PERCUSSION Hong Tian Jia FLUTES Frederick Liessens, Principal Meredith McCallum Jan Kocman, Principal Jane Pulford Martha Durkin HARP Sonia Shklarov Richard Turner, Principal Julie Savard PICCOLO Endowed by W.H. & S.E. Loewen Jun Shao Martha Durkin ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL SECOND VIOLINS OBOES **Jeremy Buzash, Principal MANAGER Beverly Wang, Principal Chris Lee *Darryl Strain, Principal Robin MacMillan Elation Pauls, Assistant Principal PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN Karen Bauch ENGLISH HORN Raymond Chrunyk Kristina Bauch Robin MacMillan, Principal **Teodora Dimova ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN *Elizabeth Dyer Laura MacDougall Bokyung Hwang CLARINETS Susan McCallum Micah Heilbrunn, Principal Takayo Noguchi Michelle Goddard *On Leave Claudine St-Arnauld **Temporary Position BASSOONS VIOLAS Alex Eastley, Principal Please note: Non-titled (tutti) Daniel Scholz, Principal Kathryn Brooks string players are listed Anne Elise Lavallée, alphabetically and are seated Assistant Principal HORNS according to a rotational system. Laszlo Baroczi Patricia Evans, Principal Margaret Carey Fred Redekop is the official Piano Ken MacDonald, Associate Principal Richard Bauch Tuner and Technician of the WSO. James Robertson Greg Hay *Merrily Peters Caroline Oberheu Mike Scholz Michiko Singh April – May 2017 I OVERTURE 5 Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific: in Concert SOUNDBYTES Music by RICHARD RODGERS AIR CANADA POPS Lyrics