27 Season 2013-2014 Thursday, December 19, at 7:00 The Philadelphia Orchestra Friday, December 20, at 7:00 Saturday, December 21, at 7:00 The Glorious Sound of Christmas Sarah Hicks Conductor Jennifer Check Soprano Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia Alan Harler Artistic Director Mendelssohn/arr. Harris “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” Traditional/arr. Harris “Angels We Have Heard on High” Mozart “Alleluia,” from Exsultate, jubilate, K. 165 Rimsky-Korsakov Polonaise, from Christmas Eve Various/arr. Bennett & Shaw The Many Moods of Christmas, Suite IV Tchaikovsky “Waltz of the Flowers,” from The Nutcracker, Op. 71 Wade/arr. Harris “O Come, All Ye Faithful” Intermission 28 Faith Brazilian Sleigh Bells Anderson Song of the Bells Leontovich/arr. Dragon “Carol of the Bells” Traditional/arr. Dragon “What Child Is This?” Traditional/arr. Dragon “The Twelve Days of Christmas” Pierpont/arr. Dragon “Jingle Bells” Fantasy Bach—Gounod “Ave Maria” Mason/arr. Harris “Joy to the World” Handel “Hallelujah,” from Messiah This program runs approximately 1 hour, 45 minutes. Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM. Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details. 3 Story Title 29 The Philadelphia Orchestra Jessica Griffin The Philadelphia Orchestra community itself. His concerts to perform in China, in 1973 is one of the preeminent of diverse repertoire attract at the request of President orchestras in the world, sold-out houses, and he has Nixon, today The Philadelphia renowned for its distinctive established a regular forum Orchestra boasts a new sound, desired for its for connecting with concert- partnership with the National keen ability to capture the goers through Post-Concert Centre for the Performing hearts and imaginations of Conversations. Arts in Beijing. The Orchestra audiences, and admired for annually performs at Under Yannick’s leadership a legacy of innovation in Carnegie Hall while also the Orchestra returns to music-making. The Orchestra enjoying annual residencies in recording with a newly- is inspiring the future and Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and at released CD on the Deutsche transforming its rich tradition the Bravo! Vail festival. Grammophon label of of achievement, sustaining Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring Musician-led initiatives, the highest level of artistic and Leopold Stokowski including highly-successful quality, but also challenging transcriptions. In Yannick’s Cello and Violin Play-Ins, and exceeding that level, by inaugural season the shine a spotlight on the creating powerful musical Orchestra has also returned Orchestra’s musicians, as experiences for audiences at to the radio airwaves, with they spread out from the home and around the world. weekly Sunday afternoon stage into the community. Music Director Yannick broadcasts on WRTI-FM. The Orchestra’s commitment Nézet-Séguin triumphantly to its education and Philadelphia is home and opened his inaugural community partnership the Orchestra nurtures an season as the eighth artistic initiatives manifests itself important relationship not leader of the Orchestra in numerous other ways, only with patrons who support in fall 2012. His highly including concerts for families the main season at the collaborative style, deeply- and students, and eZseatU, Kimmel Center but also those rooted musical curiosity, a program that allows full- who enjoy the Orchestra’s and boundless enthusiasm, time college students to other area performances paired with a fresh approach attend an unlimited number at the Mann Center, Penn’s to orchestral programming, of Orchestra concerts for Landing, and other venues. have been heralded by a $25 annual membership The Orchestra is also a global critics and audiences alike. fee. For more information on ambassador for Philadelphia Yannick has been embraced The Philadelphia Orchestra, and for the U.S. Having been by the musicians of the please visit www.philorch.org. the first American orchestra Orchestra, audiences, and the 8 Music Director Nigel Parry/CPi Yannick Nézet-Séguin triumphantly opened his inaugural season as the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra in the fall of 2012. His highly collaborative style, deeply-rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York Times has called Yannick “phenomenal,” adding that under his baton “the ensemble … has never sounded better.” In his first season he took the Orchestra to new musical heights. His second builds on that momentum with highlights that include a Philadelphia Commissions Micro-Festival, for which three leading composers have been commissioned to write solo works for three of the Orchestra’s principal players; the next installment in his multi-season focus on requiems with Fauré’s Requiem; and a unique, theatrically-staged presentation of Strauss’s revolutionary opera Salome, a first-ever co-production with Opera Philadelphia. Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most exciting talents of his generation. Since 2008 he has been music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic, and since 2000 artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain. In addition he becomes the first ever mentor conductor of the Curtis Institute of Music’s conducting fellows program in the fall of 2013. He has made wildly successful appearances with the world’s most revered ensembles, and has conducted critically acclaimed performances at many of the leading opera houses. Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Deutsche Grammophon (DG) enjoy a long-term collaboration. Under his leadership the Orchestra returns to recording with a newly-released CD on that label of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Leopold Stokowski transcriptions. Yannick continues a fruitful recording relationship with the Rotterdam Philharmonic for DG, BIS, and EMI/Virgin; the London Philharmonic for the LPO label; and the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique. A native of Montreal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin studied at that city’s Conservatory of Music and continued lessons with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini and with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick’s honors are an appointment as Companion of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honors; a Royal Philharmonic Society Award; Canada’s National Arts Centre Award; the Prix Denise- Pelletier, the highest distinction for the arts in Quebec, awarded by the Quebec government; and an honorary doctorate by the University of Quebec in Montreal. To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit www.philorch.org/conductor. 30 Conductor Conductor Sarah Hicks is making her third appearance leading The Philadelphia Orchestra. She debuted on New Year’s Eve in 2011 and last summer led the Philadelphians in a performance at Longwood Gardens. In October 2009 she was named principal conductor for pops and special presentations at the Minnesota Orchestra. She also holds the position of staff conductor at the Curtis Institute of Music. Throughout her career Ms. Hicks has collaborated with a range of soloists, including violinists Jamie Laredo and Hilary Hahn; singers Smokey Robinson, Ben Folds, Dianne Reeves, Idina Menzel, Natalie Merchant, and John Mayer; trumpeter Chris Botti; and the Cuban band Tiempo Libre, which she led in the world premiere of Rumba Sinfonica. Ms. Hicks toured with Sting in 2011, conducting his Symphonicity Tour in Europe. In 2012 she led the San Francisco Symphony in the world premiere of Pixar in Concert, a production she also premieres in Europe next spring. She appeared at the 2012 World Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, conducting the St. Petersburg Philharmonic in concert. This past summer she performed with singer Josh Groban and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a July Fourth fireworks spectacular at the Hollywood Bowl. Ms. Hicks has guest conducted extensively both in the U.S. and abroad, including with the Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Oregon, Atlanta, National, Detroit, Milwaukee, Fort Worth, Columbus, Vermont, Charleston, Delaware, and Des Moines symphonies; the Los Angeles, Fort Wayne, Reno, and South Carolina philharmonics; and the Florida Orchestra. This season she debuts with the Boston and Cincinnati pops; the Pittsburgh, Pacific, Victoria, Alabama, and Grand Rapids symphonies; and the Las Vegas Philharmonic. Ms. Hicks’s past positions include associate conductor of the North Carolina Symphony; associate conductor of the Richmond Symphony; resident conductor of the Florida Philharmonic; and assistant conductor of the Philadelphia Singers, which she has led in radio broadcasts heard nationwide. She has also been music director of the Hawaii Summer Symphony, an ensemble she founded in 1991 in her hometown of Honolulu and which she led for five seasons. 31 Soloist Soprano Jennifer Check made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut as the Fifth Maid in the May 2012 performances of Strauss’s Elektra. In the 2013-14 season she sings her first performances of the title role of Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos with Opéra de Toulon; makes her debut with the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, also as the Fifth Maid in Elektra; returns to Palm Beach Opera to reprise the role of Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth; and returns to the Metropolitan Opera to sing Marianne in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier and Falke in Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten. On the concert stage, Ms. Check sings Strauss’s Four Last Songs in her debut with the Shanghai Symphony and Verdi’s Requiem in a performance with the Cathedral Choral Society at the Washington National Cathedral. Last season Ms. Check debuted a quartet of Verdi heroines: Lady Macbeth in Macbeth with Opéra de Nancy et de Lorraine, Elisabeth in Don Carlos at the Caramoor International Music Festival, Leonora in Il trovatore with Utah Opera, and the title role of Aida in concert with Berks Opera in Pennsylvania. She also returned to the Metropolitan Opera, as the High Priestess in Aida and joined the company for its production of Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites.