EPISODE ONE OUR LOVE FOR PITTSBURGH A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT & CEO

Welcome to the first episode of Front Row: The PSO Virtual Experience, the 2020 fall digital season of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. While it is not how we imagined marking the beginning of our 125th season, the curtain—though virtual—will still rise and will salute our love for Pittsburgh. The city has supported this orchestra since a time when few cities had one, and the orchestra has been a source of joy and civic pride for generations that have followed—and, with you, will continue to be one for generations to come.

We all desperately miss being together in Heinz Hall with the orchestra and you. Current health guidelines and government restrictions mean that we can’t have the full orchestra on stage together with a live audience. But we have prevailed. Since August, the musicians and staff have come together with Flying Scooter Productions, a Pittsburgh-based creative agency and film studio, and worked relentlessly and imaginatively to create this series of newly-invented digital programs. You will be taken on a journey with breathtaking music that embraces the community with love, and, with special friends and partners.

I am grateful to everyone at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for their dedication and optimism. While he could not be here in person because of the pandemic, we are so fortunate to have our Music Director Manfred Honeck provide artistic advice for several episodes. We are also thrilled to welcome Byron Stripling, our new Principal Pops Conductor, whom you’ll see in future episodes. Front Row would simply not be possible without our sponsors, donors and audience members like you. Thank you so much for your continued support of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra—please enjoy Front Row: The PSO Virtual Experience!

With warmest best wishes,

Melia Tourangeau President and CEO, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

2 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE A MESSAGE FROM OUR MUSIC DIRECTOR

For the last 12 years, the fall season found me in Pittsburgh together with you and the great musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, making music that spans the centuries, from Brahms to Bates, and collaborating with some of the world’s most renowned performers.

While the global pandemic has made it impossible to be together at Heinz Hall at this time, what remains unchanged is that music is essential to our lives, and that we must continue to create and share it to lift our souls and to bring us together as a community. In many ways, I feel that this is more important than ever before. That very essence, together with the need to be creative with assembling our musicians in various combinations, was a driving force in the selection of music for this first episode, which features music that reflects our love for Pittsburgh.

We begin with the stirring opening movement of Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, a piece written just a decade before the founding of the Pittsburgh Symphony, and reflective of the generous spirit of Pittsburgh and its people. We are so glad to have the exceptional violinist Alexi Kenney with us as Guest Concertmaster and Leader. The episode continues with works from composers as varied as Jessie Montgomery, a leading contemporary composer and violinist whose work we will perform for the very first time, , the great film composer, and Billy Strayhorn, the quintessential jazz composer whose musical career began in Pittsburgh. It is a glorious musical exploration of Pittsburgh’s beautiful geographic setting and the multi-cultural people that comprise our city — the innovators, the immigrants, and the trailblazers, all deeply reflective of the heart and soul of Pittsburgh.

I am so proud of this great orchestra — and the bold and brilliant playing that comes to life with each performance. I invite you to continue to be a part of the excitement and adventure, and look forward to sharing the journey with you. That very essence, together with the need to be creative with assembling our musicians in various combinations, was a driving force in the selection of music for this first episode, which features music that reflects our love for Pittsburgh. I must acknowledge the creative vision of Mary Persin, the orchestra’s VP for Artistic Planning, for imagining this fantastic program.

With my best wishes,

Manfred Honeck Music Director, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

3 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE THE CURTAIN RISES What are the first sounds to be heard after a nearly seventh month pause, one of the longest in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s nearly 125 year storied history? What is the message to share as the curtain rises to open our fall digital series: Front Row: The PSO Virtual Experience, the stage now set in a very different world than when we were last together in Heinz Hall in March 2020?

These questions were front of mind when imagining and designing this First Episode in our Digital Series: Our Love for Pittsburgh And it is in exactly that spirit, with deep love, generosity and the desire to give and reconnect with our beloved community that our musicians took the stage and this episode came to life.

The appassionato, stirring sounds of Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings came to me immediately for the opening sounds: those generous, heart-on-sleeve notes that yearn and strive, played here magnificently by our PSO , and serving as the perfect frame for this program. As Tchaikovsky himself wrote, “This piece is from the heart,” and so begins our love letter to Pittsburgh. The restrictions of the pandemic (requiring social distancing on stage, and one player on a stand) lent itself to the exploration of new and different corners of the repertoire and a pair of Pittsburgh firsts: the PSO premiere of Geminiani’s “La Follia” Variations scored brilliantly by the exceptional violinist and composer Michi Wiancko, and Jessie Montgomery’s radiant Starburst. We’re excited to present Jessie Montgomery for the very first time and her kinetic work shines brightly and is perfectly reflective of this starburst moment in time for Pittsburgh as we continue to leap forward with invention and progress across the city.

Our traversal of the city that we love continues with a tip of the hat to the founder of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Carnegie, with a traditional Scottish melody, “Woofin’ the Cat,” played here brilliantly by our Principal Flute Lorna McGhee together with Principal Harp Gretchen van Hoesen. The celebration of the stunning natural beauty of our city and the kaleidoscopic array of multi-cultural people and ethnic diversity that has defined Pittsburgh is showcased in a dynamic series of mini-portraits: Holst’s St. Paul Suite Jig (Mt. Washington), Ravel’s Kaddish (Squirrel Hill), Chopin’s Mazurka (Polish Hill), Morricone’s “Gabriel’s ” featuring Principal Oboe Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida (Bloomfield) and Billy Strayhorn’s Take The A Train, reflective of the rich jazz history of the Hill District.

The people of Pittsburgh and the city’s spiritual and deep soul is brought to life with the stunning slow movement of Elgar’s Serenade for Strings, juxtaposed here with Pittsburgh-born composer Henry Mancini’s beloved and nostalgic “Moon River.” The vitality and virtuosity of the Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings final movement brings this episode to a rousing close with the return of the opening theme wrapping the program in a generous embrace.

As the great American composer Aaron Copland once said, “A great symphony is a man-made Mississippi down which we irresistibly flow from the instant of our leave-taking to a long forseen destination.” We thank you for joining us and look forward to sharing the journey with you.

With my best wishes,

Mary Persin Vice President of Artistic Planning

4 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE Yeokyung Kim HARP Claudia Mahave Gretchen Micah Wilkinson j j MARTHA BROOKS ROBINSON CHAIR ALICEYeokyung VICTORIA GELORMINO Kim CHAIR VanHARP Hoesen TRUMPET VIRGINIA CAMPBELL CHAIR h Cecee Pantikian CharlesMicah Wilkinson Lirette j Claudia Mahave Gretchen EDWARD D. LOUGHNEY CHAIR FLUTE j MARTHA BROOKS ROBINSON CHAIR JeremíasALICE VICTORIA GELORMINO CHAIR Van Hoesen VIRGINIA CAMPBELL CHAIR j Neal Berntsen Sergiani-VelázquezCecee Pantikian Lorna McGhee Charles Lirette h JACKMAN PFOUTS CHAIR Albert Tan FLUTE ChadEDWARD D. WinklerLOUGHNEY CHAIR Jeremías Jennifer Steele SUSAN S. GREER MEMORIAL CHAIR Lorna McGhee j Neal Berntsen Sergiani-Velázquez HILDA M. WILLIS FOUNDATION CHAIR VIOLA JACKMAN PFOUTS CHAIR Chad Winkler Albert Tan MUSIC DIRECTOR ShantaniqueJennifer Steele Moore SUSAN S. GREER MEMORIAL CHAIR Tatjana Mead EQT OTPAAM FELLOW HILDA M. WILLIS FOUNDATION CHAIR Peter Sullivan j Manfred Honeck ChamisVIOLA Q TOMTROMBONE & JAMEE TODD CHAIR ENDOWEDMUSIC BY THEDIRECTOR VIRA I. HEINZ ENDOWMENT JON & CAROL WALTON CHAIR Shantanique Moore Tatjana Mead PICCOLOEQT OTPAAM FELLOW h Joen Vasquez E RebeccaPeter Sullivan Cherian j Manfred Honeck Chamis Q j Rhian Kenny JamesTOM & JAMEE Nova TODD CHAIR RESIDENTENDOWED BY THE VIRACONDUCTOR I. HEINZ ENDOWMENT JON & CAROL WALTON CHAIR FRANK & LOTI GAFFNEY CHAIR Marylène PICCOLO ANN MCGUINN CHAIR h Andrés Franco Gingras-RoyJoen Vasquez L E Rebecca Cherian Rhian Kenny j RESIDENT CONDUCTOR OBOEFRANK & LOTI GAFFNEY CHAIR James Nova PennyMarylène BASSANN MCGUINN TROMBONE CHAIR ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR Lp Andrés Franco AndersonGingras-Roy Brill Cynthia Koledo j MICHAEL & CAROL BLEIER CHAIR j Jeffrey Dee Earl Lee DeAlmeidaOBOE WILLIAM & JACQUELINE HERBEIN CHAIR FORDPenny MUSICIAN AWARDEE DR. WILLIAM LARIMER MELLON JR. CHAIR TROMBONE ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR p LauraAnderson Fuller Brill Cynthia Koledod j MICHAEL & CAROL BLEIER CHAIR Max Blair j Jeffrey Dee FIRSTEarl Lee VIOLIN DeAlmeida TUBAWILLIAM & JACQUELINE HERBEIN CHAIR MeredithFORD MUSICIAN AWARDEE Kufchak p DR. WILLIAM LARIMER MELLON JR. CHAIR Alexi Kenney Craig Knox j GUEST CONCERTMASTER Laura Fuller ENGLISHMax Blair HORN d DR. MARY ANN CRAIG CHAIR FIRST VIOLIN Erina Laraby- GoldwasserMeredith Kufchak p j MarkAlexi Huggins Kenney Kyle Mustain Craig Knox j

ASSOCIATEGUEST CONCERTMASTER CONCERTMASTER Stephanie Tretick ENGLISH HORN TIMPANIDR. MARY ANN CRAIG CHAIR BEVERLYNN & STEVEN ELLIOTT CHAIR Erina Laraby- Goldwasser CLARINETKyle Mustain j Christopher Allen Q Huei-ShengMark Huggins Kao Andrew Wickesberg ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER j ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTER MR. & MRS. MARTIN G. McGUINN CHAIR Michael Rusinek TIMPANI BEVERLYNN & STEVEN ELLIOTT CHAIR Stephanie Tretick MR. & MRS. AARON SILBERMAN CHAIR PERCUSSIONChristopher Allen Q Kelsey Blumenthal Andrew Wickesberg Huei-Sheng Kao CELLO Victoria Luperi dj Andrew Reamer j ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTER MR. & MRS. MARTIN G. McGUINN CHAIR Michael Rusinek Justine Campagna ALBERT H. ECKERT CHAIR Anne Martindale RonMR. & MRS. Samuels AARON SILBERMAN CHAIR PERCUSSION Kelsey Blumenthal j d Ellen Chen-Livingston WilliamsCELLO Victoria Luperi d JeremyAndrew Branson Reamer j SELMA WIENER BERKMAN MEMORIAL CHAIR PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION CHAIR Justine Campagna ALBERT H. ECKERT CHAIR Anne Martindale E-FLATRon Samuels CLARINET Christopher Allen Irene Cheng David Premo d Ellen Chen-Livingston Williams j j Jeremy Branson d DONALD I. & JANET MORITZ AND Victoria Luperi SELMA WIENER BERKMAN MEMORIAL CHAIR PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION CHAIR Sarah Clendenning EQUITABLE RESOURCES, INC. CHAIR E-FLAT CLARINET LIBRARIANChristopher Allen LOIS R. BROZENICK MEMORIAL CHAIR Irene Cheng David Premo d Adam Liu x BASS CLARINETj Lisa Gedris j DONALD I. & JANET MORITZ AND Victoria Luperi Alison Peters Fujito GEORGE & EILEEN DORMAN CHAIR JEAN & SIGO FALK CHAIR Sarah Clendenning EQUITABLE RESOURCES, INC. CHAIR j OLGA T. GAZALIE CHAIR Jack Howell LIBRARIAN LOIS R. BROZENICK MEMORIAL CHAIR Mikhail Istomin MR. & MRS. WILLARD J. Grant Johnson Adam Liu x BASS CLARINET Lisa Gedris j Marta Krechkovsky SUSAN CANDACE HUNT CHAIR TILLOTSON, JR. CHAIR Alison Peters Fujito GEORGE & EILEEN DORMAN CHAIR JEAN & SIGO FALK CHAIR SNAPP FAMILY FIRST VIOLIN CHAIR j OLGA T. GAZALIE CHAIR Jack Howell Bronwyn Banerdt MR. & MRS. WILLARD J. STAGE TECHNICIANS Jennifer Orchard Mikhail Istomin Grant Johnson Marta Krechkovsky SUSAN CANDACE HUNT CHAIR TILLOTSON, JR. CHAIR RON & DOROTHY CHUTZ CHAIR Will Chow Ronald Esposito SNAPP FAMILY FIRST VIOLIN CHAIR Nancy Goeres j Bronwyn Banerdt STAGE TECHNICIANS SusanneJennifer OrchardPark Michael DeBruyn MR.BASSOON & MRS. WILLIAM GENGE John Karapandi DR. ALAN & MARSHA BRAMOWITZ CHAIR AND MR. & MRS. JAMES E. LEE CHAIR RON & DOROTHY CHUTZ CHAIR Will Chow j Ronald Esposito Alexandra DavidNancy Sogg Goeresh ChristopherSusanne Park Wu ThompsonMichael DeBruyn Lee MR. & MRS. WILLIAM GENGE John Karapandi NANCY & JEFFERY LEININGER CHAIR AND MR. & MRS. JAMES E. LEE CHAIR DR. ALAN & MARSHA BRAMOWITZ CHAIR Michael Lipman Philip A. Pandolfi j PRINCIPAL Kristina Yoder Alexandra h h Christopher Wu JANEThompson & RAE BURTON CHAIR Lee David Sogg CO-PRINCIPAL NANCY & JEFFERY LEININGER CHAIR d ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Charlie Powers CONTRABASSOONPhilip A. Pandolfi j PRINCIPAL SECOND VIOLIN Michael Lipman X ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL Kristina Yoder HALEYFESQ CELLO CHAIR j h CO-PRINCIPAL JANE & RAE BURTON CHAIR James Rodgers Q ACTING PRINCIPAL Jeremy Black j d ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL KarissaCharlie Shivone Powers E ACTING ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL G.SECOND CHRISTIAN LANTZSCH VIOLIN LX ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL & DUQUESNE LIGHT COMPANY CHAIR HALEYFESQ CELLO CHAIR HORNJames Rodgers j ACTING ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL pQ ACTING PRINCIPAL Jeremy Black j BASS ON LEAVE d Karissa Shivone William Caballero j E ACTING ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL LouisG. CHRISTIAN Lev LANTZSCH THE MORRISON FAMILY CHAIR Q ANONYMOUS DONOR CHAIR & DUQUESNE LIGHT COMPANY CHAIR Brandon McLean HORN L ACTING ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL d p DennisLouis Lev O’Boyle d x JosephBASS Campagna StephenWilliam CaballeroKostyniak j ON LEAVE LauraTHE MORRISON Motchalov FAMILY CHAIR JeffreyBrandon Grubbs McLean Q ZacharyANONYMOUS DONOR Smith CHAIR x WILLIAM & SARAH GALBRAITH CHAIR d Dennis O’Boyle x PeterJoseph Guild Campagna RobertStephen Lauver Kostyniak EvaLaura Burmeister Motchalov MicahJeffrey Howard Grubbs IRVINGZachary (BUDDY) WECHSLERSmith CHAIR x WILLIAM & SARAH GALBRAITH CHAIR STEPHEN & KIMBERLY KEEN CHAIR Andrew Fuller Peter Guild MarkRobert Houghton Lauver Eva Burmeister John Moore IRVING (BUDDY) WECHSLER CHAIR Lorien Benet Hart Micah Howard Joseph Rounds SPECIAL THANKS TO THE ARLYNAndrew GILBOA CHAIR Fuller AaronSTEPHEN & KIMBERLYWhite KEEN CHAIR REEDMark SMITH Houghton CHAIR HONORING TOM TODD PERRY & BEE JEE MORRISON John Moore STRING INSTRUMENT Lorien Benet Hart Joseph Rounds LOANSPECIAL FUND THANKS TO THE ARLYN GILBOA CHAIR Aaron White REED SMITH CHAIR HONORING TOM TODD PERRY & BEE JEE MORRISON STRING INSTRUMENT LOAN FUND 2

5 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE 2 ADMINISTRATION

PRESIDENT & CEO FINANCE LEARNING & ORCHESTRA Melia Peters Bridget Meacham COMMUNITY OPERATIONS Tourangeau Kowalski ENGAGEMENT Tabitha M. Pfleger RANDI & L. VAN V. DAULER, JR. CONTROLLER Suzanne Perrino VICE PRESIDENT OF ORCHESTRA PRESIDENT & CEO CHAIR Linda Mason SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF LEARNING & OPERATIONS Lisa G. Donnermeyer COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MANAGER OF PAYROLL AND Harold Chambers MANAGING ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT EMPLOYEE BENEFITS Amy Cale RECORDING ENGINEER PROGRAM MANAGER OF LEARNING & SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Eric Quinlan Ronald Esposito COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & COO CASH MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANT SYMPHONY STAGE TECHNICIAN Christian O. Schörnich David Swendsen Alex Arbeitel John Karapandi PROGRAM ASSISTANT ACCOUNTANT SYMPHONY STAGE TECHNICIAN SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE & CFO Katie Schouten Austin Kilpatrick DIRECTOR OF LEARNING & Scott Michael PRODUCTION MANAGER HALL MANAGEMENT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Carl A. Mancuso Harrison Mullins ARTISTIC PLANNING VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER MANAGER OF ORCHESTRA OPERATIONS Mary Persin OF HEINZ HALL MARKETING & SALES Beth Paine VICE PRESIDENT OF ARTISTIC PLANNING Richard Aversa Aleta King DIRECTOR OF ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL Jesse Montgomery STAGE TECHNICIAN VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING & SALES Joe Scriva ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATOR Kevin Berwick David Blosser ASSISTANT MANAGER OF ORCHESTRA ENGINEER COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATE PERSONNEL Mark Cieslewicz Andy Coleman DEVELOPMENT CHIEF ENGINEER MARKETING MANAGER Bryan Abbott POPULAR Richard Crawford Julie Goetz PROGRAMMING MANAGER OF EVENTS MAINTENANCE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS Shelly Fuerte Rebecca Anthony Thomas Furey Brian Hughes POPULAR PROGRAMMING CONSULTANT COORDINATOR OF INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT STAGE TECHNICIAN SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Adam Gillespie Steve Fowler Jeffrey Hough Allison Lambacher MANAGER OF POPULAR PROGRAMMING MANAGER OF INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT MAINTENANCE MARKETING MANAGER, SUBSCRIPTIONS

Rachael Lane Susan M. Jenny Erin Lynn DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT TECHNOLOGY & MANAGER OF HEINZ HALL OPERATIONS DIRECTOR OF SALES INNOVATION Dawn McWilliams Michael Karapandi Christine Mouser DIRECTOR OF EVENTS Fidele Niyonzigira MANAGER OF PATRON ENGAGEMENT STAGE TECHNICAL DIRECTOR VICE PRESIDENT & TECHNOLOGY OFFICER AND MARKETING Tracey Nath-Farrar Arthur Nixon SENIOR MANAGER OF FOUNDATION T.C. Brown MAINTENANCE Steven Turkovich & GOVERNMENT SUPPORT ANNUITY DATABASE ADMINISTRATOR Mary Alice Ryan DIRECTOR OF PATRON ENGAGEMENT Camilla Brent Pearce AND DIGITAL MARKETING Edward DeArmitt MANAGER OF RETAIL & SPECIAL PROJECTS SENIOR GIFT OFFICER VIDEO PRODUCER Patron Services Becky Rickard William Weaver Carolyn J. Friedrich STAGE TECHNICIAN Steven Ascencio DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE SUPPORT ARCHIVIST PATRON SERVICES REPRESENTATIVE & SPECIAL PROJECTS Stacy Weber Terry Rock Ethan Riley MANAGER OF HEINZ HALL Ryan Clark SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR SCHEDULING & RENTALS MANAGER OF PATRON SERVICES MANAGER OF CORPORATE SUPPORT Chrissy Savinell

Andrew Seay Eric Wiltfeuer Nate DelleFave MULTIMEDIA MANAGER ENGINEER PATRON SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE GIFT OFFICER Brian Skwirut James Guzman PATRON SERVICES REPRESENTATIVE INTERIM VP OF DEVELOPMENT HUMAN RESOURCES Myra Toomey Kimberly Mikolay Liesl McGouldrick PATRON SERVICES REPRESENTATIVE GIFT PLANNING OFFICER DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES

Jodi Weisfield Ticketing Services FUNDRAISING CONSULTANT Stacy Corcoran Jessica D. Wolfe DIRECTOR OF TICKETING SERVICES MANAGER OF DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONS Lori Doyle TICKETING SERVICES REPRESENTATIVE Bill Van Ryn TICKETING SERVICES REPRESENTATIVE

6 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE PITTSBURGHSYMPHONY.ORG 2019-2020 SEASON 7 FRONT ROW EPISODE 1: OUR LOVE FOR PITTSBURGH RECORDED LIVE AT HEINZ HALL AND ON LOCATION - SEPTEMBER 2020 PREMIERE: OCTOBER 19, 2020 7:30 P.M. EDT

Alexi Kenney, Guest Concertmaster & Leader Lorna McGhee, Flute Gretchen Van Hoesen, Harp Anne Martindale Williams, Cello Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida, Oboe Christopher Wu, Violin Marylène Gingras-Roy, Viola Aaron White, Bass Andrew Reamer, Percussion

Piotr Ilyich Serenade for Strings Tchaikovsky I. Pezzo in forma di Sonatina: Andante non troppo

Michi Wiancko “La Follia” Variations (after Geminiani)

Jessie Montgomery Starburst

Traditional “Woofin’ the Cat” for Flute and Harp Arr. Wilson Ms. McGhee Ms. Van Hoesen

Gustav Holst St. Paul’s Suite I. Jig

Maurice Ravel Kaddish Arr. Tognetti Ms. Williams

Frédéric Chopin Mazurka in F-sharp minor Trans. Balakirev

Ennio Morricone “Gabriel’s Oboe” from The Mission Arr. Longfield Ms. DeAlmeida

7 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE Billy Strayhorn Take the A Train Arr. Chihara Mr. Kenney Mr. Wu Ms. Gingras-Roy Ms. Williams

Edward Elgar Serenade for String Orchestra II. Larghetto

Henry Mancini “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s Arr. Neely Mr. Kenney Mr. Wu Ms. Gingras-Roy Ms. Williams Mr. White Mr. Reamer

Piotr Ilyich Serenade for Strings Tchaikovsky IV. Finale (Tema russo): Andante — Allegro con spirito

GRAND CLASSICS TITLE SPONSOR

POPS TITLE SPONSOR

VIRTUAL PROGRAMS SPONSORED BY

SUPPORTED BY

PHOTO CREDITS: COVER: (C) KRISTI JAN HOOVER FOR FLYING SCOOTER PRODUCTIONS; MELIA TOURANGEAU: (C) MICHAEL SAHAIDA; MANFRED HONECK: (C) GEORGE LANGE; ALEXI KENNEY: (C) YANG BAO; MARY PERSIN, PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (C) PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (ED DEARMITT, PHOTOGRAPHER)

8 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE FRONT ROW EPISODE ONE ROSTER

FIRST VIOLIN Alexi Kenney (Guest Concertmaster & Leader) Mark Huggins Ellen Chen-Livingston Christopher Wu

SECOND VIOLIN Dennis O’Boyle Andrew Fuller Cecee Pantikian Jeremías Sergiani-Velázquez

VIOLA Joen Vasquez Marylène Gingras-Roy Erina Laraby-Goldwasser Deanna Badizadegan *

CELLO Anne Martindale Williams Adam Liu Will Chow Michael DeBruyn

BASS Aaron White

FLUTE Lorna McGhee

OBOE Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida

HARP Gretchen Van Hoesen

PERCUSSION Andrew Reamer

LIBRARIANS Lisa Gedris Grant Johnson

* Extra Musician

9 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Serenade for Strings in C major, Opus 48 (1879-1880)

In 1879, Tchaikovsky’s publisher, Peter Jurgenson, requested that his client devise some festive strains of celebratory nature to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of the coronation of Czar Alexander II. The project was too important for Tchaikovsky to refuse, so he set to work composing a programmatic overture based on some popular themes that would depict one of Mother Russia’s proudest moments — the defeat of Napoleon at Moscow. “The overture will be very noisy,” Tchaikovsky warned his patroness, Nadezhda von Meck, in a letter dated October 22, 1880. “I wrote it without much warmth or enthusiasm; therefore it has no great artistic value.” He called the piece, simply, 1812 Overture. As though some compensatory psychic apparatus had switched on while he was writing 1812, Tchaikovsky simultaneously created a delightful work on an intimate scale for string orchestra, a score of geniality and grace and nearly Mozartian sensitivity — the Serenade for Strings. “The Serenade,” Tchaikovsky confided in a letter to his patroness, Mme. von Meck, “I wrote from an inward impulse; I felt it deeply and venture to hope that this work is not without artistic qualities.” The opening Pezzo [‘piece’] in forma di Sonatina is a sonata form without a development section.

MICHI WIANCKO (after Francesco Geminiani) “La Follia” Variations (arr. 2011)

“La Follia” in its purest form refers to a simple harmonic progression, which has been borrowed and used by over 150 composers over the course of the past three centuries. Much like the 12-bar blues progression, it was originally intended as a structure to improvised on. My arrangement is based on Geminiani’s Concerto Grosso No. 12 (1729) which was, in turn, arranged after Corelli’s Sonata for Violin (1700).

Although many of these Variations for String Orchestra incorporate modern technique and textures, my intention was to highlight my favorite aspects of the music made 300 years ago — aspects which still resonate strongly with us today: passion, improvisation, intimacy, and the occasional moment of irreverence. — Michi Wiancko

10 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE JESSIE MONTGOMERY Starburst for String Orchestra (2012)

Violinist, composer and music educator Jessie Montgomery began her violin studies at age four at the Third Street Music School Settlement in her native New York City. She was composing and improvising by age eleven, and while still in high school twice received the Composer’s Apprentice Award from the Society of . Montgomery went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in violin performance at the Juilliard School and a master’s from New York University in film scoring and multimedia; she is currently a Graduate Fellow in Music Composition at Princeton University. As a performer and educator, Montgomery plays with several chamber ensembles, teaches at the Apple Hill Center in New Hampshire, Music at Port Milford in Canada, and Third Street Music School Settlement in New York, and is a long-time affiliated artist with Sphinx, an organization that supports young African-American and Latino string players, in which she was a two-time competition laureate. As a composer, Montgomery has created works for concert, theater and film (one of which was in collaboration with her father, Ed Montgomery, also a composer and an independent film producer); she now serves as Composer-in-Residence for the Sphinx Virtuosi, the organization’s flagship professional touring ensemble. Jessie Montgomery is currently working on a commission for Project 19, the ’s multi-year celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, passed by Congress in 1919 and ratified by the states the following year, which granted women the right to vote. The Philharmonic began premiering these new compositions by 19 women composers in February 2020. Among Montgomery’s upcoming projects is a new work commissioned by the Metropolitan .

Montgomery wrote, “The brief one-movement Starburst for string orchestra is a play on imagery of rapidly changing musical colors. Exploding gestures are juxtaposed with gentle fleeting melodies in an attempt to create a multidimensional soundscape. A common definition of a starburst — ‘the rapid formation of large numbers of new stars in a galaxy at a rate high enough to alter the structure of the galaxy significantly’ — lends itself almost literally to the performing ensemble who premiered the work: The Sphinx Virtuosi.”

TRADITIONAL, ARRANGED BY CAMERON WILSON “Woofin’ the Cat” for Flute and Harp (arr. 2006)

I, along with my harp duo partner at the time, Heidi Krutzen, commissioned Woofin’ the Cat Suite from Vancouver composer, arranger and violinist Cameron Wilson in 2006. The concept was to combine traditional Scottish melodies brought over by Scottish immigrants with traditional Celtic melodies found in the music of Nova Scotia, Canada. I am Scottish myself, and emigrated to Canada in 1999. Heidi Krutzen is Canadian. We wanted a piece that reflected both Canada and Scotland. I chose all the tunes for Cameron to combine in his arrangement: Sunset on the Somme (composed by Scottish piper G.S. McLennan during World War I), Orra Bhonna Bhonnagan (traditional Hebridean ‘waulking song’ that women would sing while working, Scottish), Flora MacDonald (Scottish/Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia), and Woofin’ the Cat (Scotland/Nova Scotia). All the tunes are traditional Celtic melodies. The title Woofin’ the Cat references the playful, lighthearted final tune in the piece. The title is daft. I think “woofin’ the cat” would translate as “pranking someone.” — Lorna McGhee, Principal Flute, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

11 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE GUSTAV HOLST St. Paul’s Suite for String Orchestra (1913)

In 1903, Gustav Holst, newly married and forced by arthritis to abandon the trombone playing that had largely provided his income for the preceding decade, took a job teaching at a girls’ school in south London. There he exercised his conviction that the music curriculum should include the best available literature rather than the “reams of twaddle” usually taught, and he plied his students with a steady stream of Bach, Palestrina and Lassus. His method drew the notice of Miss Frances Ralph Gray, headmistress of St. Paul’s Girls’ School in Hammersmith (west London), and she appointed Holst as Director of Music at her institution in 1905. At St. Paul’s, he raised the standards of both taste and performance, encouraging the girls not only to perfect their playing of strings and piano, the traditional maidenly instruments, but also to brave the uncharted regions of the winds — it is indicative of his success that the first female woodwind player in a major British orchestra, an oboist, attended St. Paul’s. Though he had difficulty finding a suitable place in the building to work privately, he continued to compose during those years as his teaching duties allowed, hoping to expand the modest reputation he was then beginning to enjoy for his vocal music.

It was with considerable excitement that he moved into the new music wing added to the school in 1913, since, as his daughter, Imogen, wrote in her biography of him, “It was a place where he could compose in unbroken silence and solitude. He was given a large sound-proof room for his work. It had double windows, and two pianos, and a writing-desk that was wide enough for the widest full score, and a system of central heating that sent the thermometer shooting up to heights rivalling the deserts of Algeria. On week-days, he would be teaching in it. But on Sundays, when the school was locked up, it would be all his own, and he would write and write and write.” The music room at St. Paul’s was the principal site of Holst’s creativity until his death in 1934. The first piece that he composed in his beloved sanctum was the St. Paul’s Suite, written for and dedicated to his pupils. The Suite’s lively opening Jig is based on the popular English dance type of the sixteenth century.

12 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE MAURICE RAVEL “Kaddish” from Deux Mélodies Hébraïques for Cello Arranged by Richard Tognetti (1914)

Exoticism had a great appeal for Maurice Ravel: he was fascinated, as was Debussy, by the Oriental and Russian music he heard as a young lad at the Paris International Exhibition of 1889; he harbored a special fondness for stimulating condiments and unusual dishes; he filled his home with chinoiserie and quaint knick-knacks from earlier times and other cultures. In his creative work, he summoned distant and exotic themes for his Daphnis et Chloé (ancient Greece), Mother Goose (fantasy tales), Le Tombeau de Couperin (Rococo France), Tzigane (Gypsy idioms of Eastern Europe), Shéhérazade (voluptuous Orientalism) and Chansons Madécasses (the European’s perceived sensuality and violence of Madagascar), as well as for several songs that sought to evoke a country or culture through characteristic arrangements of traditional melodies: Cinq Mélodies Populaires Grecques (1904-1906), Chants Populaires (1910; Spanish, French, Italian, Scottish and Hebrew songs) and Deux Mélodies Hébraïques. The Deux Mélodies Hébraïques were commissioned in 1914 by the Russian soprano Alvina Alvi, who premiered them with the composer accompanying her at the piano at the June 3rd concert of the Société Musicale Indépendente in Paris. The Kaddish, haunting and austere, is based on a richly decorated cantorial melody set to one of the most revered texts of the Jewish liturgy: Glorified and sanctified be God’s great name throughout the world, which He has created according to His will….He who creates peace in His celestial heights, may He create peace for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen.

FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN Mazurka in F-sharp minor (originally F minor), Opus 7, No. 3 for String Orchestra Transcribed by by Mili Balakirev (1831)

The mazurka originated in Chopin’s home district of Mazovia sometime during the 17th century. Rather a family of related musical forms than a single set type, the mazurka could be sung or danced, performed fast or languidly and, when danced, given many variations on the few basic steps of the pattern. By the 18th and 19th centuries, when its popularity spread throughout Europe, the mazurka was characterized by its triple meter, frequent use of unusual scales (often giving the music a slightly Oriental quality), variety of moods and occasional rhythmic syncopations. The five Mazurkas of Op. 7 were composed around the time Chopin left Warsaw in November 1830 to tour Europe in the hope of establishing his career as a soloist. He first tried Vienna, where he had enjoyed fine success a year before, but found little response in that city. Munich and Stuttgart followed before he finally settled in Paris in September 1831. Folk elements — piquant melodic leadings, bagpipe-drone accompaniments, springing rhythms — are strongly pronounced in the Op. 7 Mazurkas, composed when Chopin was newly arrived in Paris and often acutely homesick for his native country. The Mazurka in F minor (Op. 7, No. 3) hews closely to the genre’s Eastern European roots in its dance-like motion and exotic melodic leadings.

13 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE ENNIO MORRICONE “Gabriel’s Oboe” from The Mission for Oboe and String Orchestra Arranged by Robert Longfield (1986)

No Italian composer has ever had a larger audience than Ennio Morricone, whose music for nearly 400 European and American movies and television shows and hundreds of arrangements for such leading pop vocalists as Mario Lanza and Paul Anka were heard around the world for over fifty years. Morricone scored his first film in 1961 (Luciano Salce’s Il Federale), and established his reputation as a movie composer three years later with his innovative and dramatic music for director Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars. His film work was recognized with six British , three Golden Globe Awards, three Grammys and six Oscar nominations; he won his first competitive Academy Award in 2016 for ’s The Hateful Eight, nine years after receiving an Academy Honorary Award “for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music.” Among Morricone’s most memorable scores are those for Cinema Paradiso (Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film of 1989), The Untouchables, The Mission, Days of Heaven, Bulworth, , Hamlet, The Stendhal Syndrome, The Escort, In the Line of Fire, La Cage aux Folles and Once Upon a Time in America. Though most of his creative work was dedicated to the cinema, Morricone, who studied trumpet and composition at the St. Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, also composed some seventy concert works.

The mission that provided the subject for director Roland Joffe’s 1986 film is the work of one Father Gabriel (played by Jeremy Irons), an 18th-century cleric who ventures into the Brazilian jungles to bring Christianity to the natives. Mendoza (), a slaver who kills his own brother in a fit of rage, comes to Gabriel to find forgiveness and peace, and later asks to become a priest. Mendoza and Father Gabriel share a vision of the Spanish and Portuguese invaders living in harmony with the natives, but the colonial governors would rather enslave the indigenous people than convert them, and they order the mission destroyed. The Mission received Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, as well as for Morricone’s atmospheric score, which was essential in evoking the beauty, mystery and danger of the film’s place and time. “Gabriel’s Oboe,” the film’s main theme, is the instrument the cleric plays to attract and befriend the local tribespeople.

14 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE BILLY STRAYHORN Take the A Train Arranged by Paul Chihara (1941)

Edward Kennedy (“Duke”) Ellington (1899-1974), composer, bandleader, pianist, good-will ambassador and public personality, was one of the giants of American jazz and popular music. He shot to fame with the success of his Mood Indigo in 1930, and during the next four decades appeared in films, toured constantly across America and Europe, made more than 200 recordings, and received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, honorary degrees from Howard and Yale universities, and membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Throughout his long career, Ellington attracted some of the country’s finest black musicians into his organization, none of whom was more talented than the brilliant Billy Strayhorn. Strayhorn was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1915, studied music in Pittsburgh, and joined Ellington’s band in 1939 as composer, arranger and pianist; he remained with Ellington until his death, in New York in 1967. Strayhorn became so attuned to the style and spirit of Ellington’s music that his arrangements, compositions and sometimes even his piano playing were often mistaken for those of Ellington. They collaborated on many pieces for the band, but among the numbers acknowledged as Strayhorn’s alone is the 1941 tune that Ellington adopted as his theme song, Take the A Train, whose title refers to the New York City subway line that ran uptown to Harlem and its scintillating jazz clubs.

SIR EDWARD ELGAR Serenade for String Orchestra in E minor, Opus 20 (1892)

One of Elgar’s most familiar short orchestral works is the Serenade for Strings. In its present form, the piece was completed in May 1892, but it was almost certainly derived from the now-lost Three Pieces for String Orchestra that Elgar composed in 1888, just after leaving his position as music director at the Powick Lunatic Asylum, where he not only conducted the band made up of inmates and attendants, but also composed sheaves of quadrilles for their use at five shillings each. (His superior believed that the quadrille was the only type of music the residents of the establishment could appreciate.) The Serenade was first heard publicly at the Hereford Festival on April 7, 1893, though it had received an earlier reading by the Ladies’ Orchestral Class in Worcester that Elgar trained and conducted during those years. In his biography of Elgar, Percy Young wrote that the Serenade was finished to celebrate the third wedding anniversary of the composer and his wife, Alice, his chief prod, critic and inspiration throughout his life (he virtually stopped composing after she died in 1920). Elgar remained fond of the Serenade, referring to it often in later life as his favorite among his works. It was the last piece he recorded, on August 29, 1933, only six months before his death.

The movements of the String Serenade bear no descriptive titles, but those of the earlier Three Pieces could well serve to summarize their characters: Spring Song, Elegy and Finale. The first movement is wistful and nostalgic. The nocturnal Larghetto grows from a long, tender melody supported by a rich accompaniment that becomes more active as the music unfolds.

15 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE HENRY MANCINI “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s Arranged by Blake Neely (1961)

Henry Mancini, born in Cleveland in 1924 and raised in Pittsburgh, studied briefly at Juilliard before being drafted into the Air Force in 1943. After the war, he worked as a free-lance arranger and composer for dance bands, nightclub acts and radio in and studied composition privately with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Ernst Krenek and Albert Sendrey. In 1952, Mancini joined the music staff of Universal Pictures, and received his first Academy Award nomination the following year for The Glenn Miller Story. After scoring ’ Touch of Evil for Universal in 1958, Mancini went out on his own, taking as one of his first projects a new television mystery series titled Peter Gunn, the creation of an ambitious young director named . Mancini’s sophisticated use of jazz helped to make the show a hit, and he worked with Edwards again on the Mr. Lucky series and went on to collaborate with him on two-dozen feature films during the next 35 years. Mancini established his reputation in Hollywood with Edward’s 1961 Breakfast at Tiffany’s, based on Truman Capote’s novella, in which the irresistible plays the aspiring socialite Holly Golightly in a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination. Mancini’s music for Breakfast at Tiffany’s won him one Academy Award for Best Score and another for Best Song, Moon River, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer.

PROGRAM NOTES BY DR. RICHARD E. RODDA

16 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE ALEXI KENNEY

The recipient of a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant and a 2020 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, violinist Alexi Kenney has been named “a talent to watch” by the New York Times, which also noted his “architect’s eye for structure and space and a tone that ranges from the achingly fragile to full-bodied robustness.” His win at the 2013 Concert Artists Guild Competition at the age of nineteen led to a critically acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut recital at Weill Hall.

Recent highlights include debuts with the Omaha Symphony, Sinfonia Gulf Coast, Asheville Symphony, Bay Atlantic Symphony, and Wheeling Symphony, and his return to the Indianapolis Symphony. His recital engagements include the University of Florida, Union College (NY), and University of Southern Maine. Abroad, he will appear in recital with Alexi Kenney Orion Weiss at Wigmore Hall (London, UK) and debuts with the Orchestre de Chambre de Program (formerly CMS Two). He tours with Lausanne (Lausanne, Switzerland). Alexi has Musicians from Marlboro and musicians appeared as soloist with the Detroit, Columbus, from Ravinia’s Steans Institute and regularly California, Amarillo, Jacksonville, Portland, performs at festivals including ChamberFest Riverside, Santa Fe, and Tulare County Cleveland, Festival Napa Valley, the Lake symphonies, the Las Vegas Philharmonic, the Champlain Chamber Music Festival, the Staatstheater Orchestra of Cottbus, Germany, Marlboro Music Festival, Music@Menlo, and A Far Cry. He has appeared in recital on Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove (UK), Carnegie Hall’s ‘Distinctive Debuts’ series and Ravinia, and Yellow Barn. He has collaborated at Caramoor, the Isabella Stewart Gardner with artists including Pamela Frank, Miriam Museum and Jordan Hall in Boston, the Phillips Fried, Steven Isserlis, Kim Kashkashian, Gidon Collection in Washington D.C., the Green Kremer, and Christian Tetzlaff. Music Center at Sonoma State University (CA), and Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival. Born in Palo Alto, California in 1994, Alexi He has been profiled by Strings magazine and holds a Bachelor of Music and Artist Diploma the New York Times, written for The Strad, from the New England Conservatory in Boston, and has been featured on Performance Today, where he studied with Donald Weilerstein and WQXR-NY’s Young Artists Showcase, W F MT- Miriam Fried. Previous teachers include Wei Chicago, and NPR’s From the Top. He, Jenny Rudin, and Natasha Fong.

Chamber music continues to be a main focus of Alexi’s life – he is a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s The Bowers

17 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE PSO SOLOISTS

University of Michigan and the University of LORNA British Columbia, and has given master classes McGHEE in the UK, , Canada, Europe and Japan, including the Julliard School, Banff Scottish-born Lorna McGhee was appointed International Centre for the Arts, Galway principal flute of the Pittsburgh Symphony Flute Festival, William Bennett International Orchestra in 2012. Known for her “exceptionally Summer School and the Japanese Flute rich and vibrant tone” (Washington Post) Lorna Convention. Lorna is an honorary “Fellow of has performed as guest principal with Chicago the Royal Academy of Music,” and is an Altus Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, London artist. She joined the flute faculty of Carnegie Symphony, London Philharmonic, Academy of Mellon University in 2015. St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and has worked with conductors such as Haitink, Gergiev, Rattle, Solti, Harnoncourt, GRETCHEN Muti and Honeck. Before immigrating to North VAN HOESEN America in 1998, Lorna was co-principal flute of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, England. As a soloist, she has given concerto performances Gretchen Van Hoesen has been principal harpist with the London Symphony Orchestra, Scottish of the Pittsburgh Symphony since 1977. She has Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony appeared as soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in the UK and Manitoba Chamber Orchestra on numerous occasions, both on the Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia, and Victoria subscription series and on tour. Van Hoesen Symphony in Canada, Kyushu Symphony in gave the New York premiere of the Alberto Japan, Evergreen Symphony in Taipei, and the Ginastera Harp Concerto in 1976 and the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Oregon Bach Pittsburgh premiere in 1978. She has appeared Festival Orchestra, San Luis Obispo Symphony as soloist with conductors André Previn, Lorin and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in the Maazel, James Conlon, Zdnek Macal, Sergiu USA. Career highlights include a performance Comissiona, Pinchas Zukerman and Manfred of Penderecki’s flute concerto with the Oregon Honeck, and has collaborated with flutists Bach Festival Orchestra under the baton of James Galway, Bernard Goldberg, Jean-Pierre the composer in 2004 and more recently, Rampal and Emmanuel Pahud. Additional performances of the Mozart G major, Nielsen appearances with the Pittsburgh Symphony have and Ibert flute concertos with the Pittsburgh included performances of the Handel Concerto Symphony. As a chamber musician and recitalist, in B flat, Danses Sacré et Profane by Debussy, she has performed in Europe, North America, Concierto Serenata by Joaquin Rodrigo and the Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Australia, in Concerto for Harp by Rheinhold Gliere. In 1985, venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Edinburgh Van Hoesen and her husband, former Pittsburgh International Festival, the Louvre, Paris, the Symphony Co-Principal Oboe James Gorton, Schubertsaal of Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Ottawa presented the Pittsburgh premiere of Witold International Chamber Music Festival and the Lutoslawski’s Double Concerto for Oboe, Harp Australian Festival of Chamber Music. Lorna is and Chamber Orchestra on the Pittsburgh a member of Trio Verlaine (with Heidi Krutzen, Symphony subscription series. During the 1990- harp and David Harding, viola) with whom she 1991 season, Van Hoesen was featured soloist in has recorded two CDs, “Fin de Siècle” and the Peggy Stuart Coolidge Rhapsody for Harp “Six Departures” and commissioned two new and Orchestra for the Pittsburgh Symphony works by R Murray Schafer and Jeffery Cotton. Pops series and gave the U.S. premiere of Suite She has also recorded a recital disc “ The Hour Concertante for solo harp and orchestra by of Dreaming” with pianist Piers Lane. Her Manuel Moreno-Buendia in San Antonio, forthcoming solo CD, “Pieces I Love!” will be Texas. In March 2008, she presented the world released in 2020. McGhee has taught at the premiere of Sir André Previn’s Concerto for

18 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE Harp on the Pittsburgh Symphony subscription of The Giving Tree conducted by the composer, series. The North American premiere of Concert Lorin Maazel. She has also collaborated with Piece, Op. 65 for Oboe/English horn, Two guest artists such as Yehudi Menuhin, André Harps and Orchestra by Eugene Goossens Previn, the Emerson Quartet, Lynn Harrell, closed the orchestra’s subscription season in June Joshua Bell, Gil Shaham and Pinchas Zukerman 2012, and she performed the piece again with in numerous chamber music performances. the Louisiana Philharmonic in 2014. She made her London debut performing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Royal Van Hoesen graduated from the Juilliard Philharmonic, Andre Previn conducting. Her School of Music earning both B.M. and M.M. solo in The Swan on the Pittsburgh Symphony’s degrees in harp as a scholarship student of recording of Carnival of the Animals by Saint- Marcel Grandjany and Susann McDonald. Saëns was described by Grammophon critic She is also a graduate of the Eastman School Edward Greenfield as “…the most memorable of Music Preparatory Department with highest performance of all.” honors in piano and harp, where she was a student of Eileen Malone. She further studied Williams divides her time between the orchestra, with Gloria Agostini. teaching at Carnegie Mellon University, and solo and chamber music performances in America, Recent CDs by Van Hoesen include Trio Europe and the Far East. She has appeared Pittsburgh with Noah Bendix-Balgley and Anne in several nationally televised productions Martindale Williams, Genetic Harps with her including Concertos, produced by the BBC daughter Heidi Van Hoesen Gorton, principal and Previn and the Pittsburgh, produced by harpist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra WQED. She has given master classes at many and Romances for Violin and Harp with former universities and festivals throughout the country, PSO Concertmaster Andres Cardenes. including The Curtis Institute of Music, SUNY at Stony Brook, Manhattan School of Music, Van Hoesen is a faculty member at Carnegie the New World Symphony in Miami, the Mellon and Duquesne universities and combines National Orchestral Institute, Aspen, Credo at teaching there with private students at her home Oberlin College and the Masterworks Festival. in Pittsburgh. She has given master classes at She also has performed at many of America’s Duquesne University, the Eastman School of prestigious summer music festivals including Music, The Curtis Institute of Music, Manhattan Aspen, Caramoor, Skaneateles, Maui, Rockport School of Music, the University of Illinois, the Festivals in Massachusetts and Maine, Grand Aspen Music Festival and the National University Teton, Strings Festival in Steamboat Springs, of the Arts in Seoul, Korea, and has been an Orcas Island, and Mainly Mozart in San Diego. artist-lecturer on numerous series in Pittsburgh as For many years she has enjoyed performing well as throughout the country. throughout the country with her Piano Trio, which includes her good friends Andrés Cárdenes and David Deveau. ANNE MARTINDALE Williams has performed numerous times WILLIAMS as soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, performing Schumann’s Concerto in A minor, Tippett’s Triple Concerto, Anne Martindale Williams has enjoyed a Previn’s Reflections, Bach’s Brandenburg successful career as principal cellist of the Concertos Nos. 3 and 6, Strauss’s Don Quixote, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since 1979. Bloch’s Schelomo, Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, Throughout her tenure with the orchestra, she has Dutilleux’s Tout un mondelointain, Saint- often been featured as soloist both in Pittsburgh Saëns’ Concerto No. 1 and Brahms’ Double and on tour in New York at Carnegie Hall and Concerto, as well as Elgar’s Introduction and Avery Fisher Hall. Williams was soloist with the Allegro for String Quartet. In recent seasons, Pittsburgh Symphony in the Pittsburgh premier she was featured in Haydn’s Concerto in C,

19 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, Elgar’s Cello World Records with the Pittsburgh Symphony Concerto, and Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante Orchestra, Lorin Maazel conducting. The for Violin, Cello, Oboe, Bassoon and Orchestra, Richman concerto was recorded for Albany and Walton’s Cello Concerto. Records with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Lucas Richman conducting. Four different times, Williams is a graduate of the Curtis Institute DeAlmeida has performed Bach’s Concerto of Music where she studied with Orlando Cole. for Violin and Oboe with the Pittsburgh Her Tecchler cello was made in Rome in 1701. Symphony, partnering with violinists Vladimir Her husband, Joe, is the director of student Spivakov, Andres Cardenes, Pinchas Zukerman ministries at Beverly Heights Presbyterian and Noah Bendix-Balgley. DeAlmeida also Church in Mount Lebanon. They reside in has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Pittsburgh. Orchestra, the Haddonfield Symphony, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, the Knoxville CYNTHIA KOLEDO Symphony, the U.S. Army Orchestra and the DeALMEIDA Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic. Teaching has always been a rewarding part Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida was appointed of DeAlmeida’s artistic life. She has been by Lorin Maazel as principal oboe of the associate teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1991. For University’s School of Music since 2012, and a two years prior, she was associate principal faculty member there since 1991. She has held oboe of the under teaching positions at Temple University in Riccardo Muti. Philadelphia and Trenton State College in New Jersey, and has taught at the National Orchestral DeAlmeida received the Bachelor of Music Institute at the University of Maryland as well degree from the University of Michigan, as the New World Symphony. She has given studying with Arno Mariotti, and the Master masterclasses at universities in the United of Music degree from Temple University, as States and abroad including the Manhattan a student of Richard Woodhams. She is also School of Music, the University of Tennessee, grateful to her other teachers — Sarah Young, Eastern Michigan University, the University of Robert Sorton, Elaine Douvas, John Mack, H. South Carolina and the Seoul Conservatory. Robert Reynolds and Max Rudolf. DeAlmeida proudly plays on F. Loree of Paris, France. CHRISTOPHER DeAlmeida has been featured with the WU Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in concertos by J.S.Bach, Leonardo Balada, Alan Fletcher, Francaix, Haydn, Mozart, Lucas Richman, Violinist Christopher Wu enjoys a diverse Richard Strauss and Vaughan Williams. She career as an orchestral and chamber musician, performed these concertos with the Pittsburgh teacher and soloist. A graduate of the Eastman Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andres School of Music, Wu joined the first violin Cardenes, Sir Andrew Davis, Gunther Herbig, section of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Manfred Honeck, Lorin Maazel, Sir Andre in 1988, and holds the Nancy & Jeffery Previn, Lucas Richman, Alessandro Siciliani, Leininger First Violin Chair. He has previously Leonard Slatkin, Jeanette Sorrell, Yoav served as concertmaster of the Oklahoma City Talmi and Pinchas Zukerman. The concertos Philharmonic and Riverside Orchestra and by Balada, Richman and Fletcher were all has performed with the Boston Symphony commissioned for DeAlmeida by the Pittsburgh Orchestra at Tanglewood, and the Rochester Symphony Orchestra, in 1992, 2006 and 2015 and Buffalo Philharmonics. respectively. The Balada was recorded for New

20 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE An active chamber musician, Wu has played enabling her to attend the Harid Conservatory with a wide range of artists including Nancy with Victoria Chiang and the renowned Curtis Wilson, Joshua Bell, and the Muir String Institute of Music with Karen Tuttle and Quartet. He is a founding member of the Joseph DePasquale, where she earned an Artist innovative chamber music group Innuendo, Diploma in 1997. hailed by the Boston Herald as “an ensemble notable for its unanimity of spirit and sonority” Marylène has participated in many festivals, and for its “warmly intense interpretive including the Festival Dei Due Mondi in powers.” Chris has appeared in numerous Spoleto, , the Solti Project at Carnegie festivals in recent seasons including Aspen, Hall, the Jerusalem Music Festival, the Brevard, Heidelberg, Savannah, Masterwork, Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra, where Stockbridge and St. Bart’s Music Festival. she served as Principal violist, and since 2000 Mr. Wu is currently on the faculties of she is a member of the Sun Valley Summer Duquesne University, Carnegie Mellon Symphony in Idaho. She is heard regularly in University and Geneva College. He has taught chamber music concerts and maintains a full classes at the University of Texas, Youngstown teaching schedule at Duquesne University, State University, Ottawa University, Boston privately and is the viola coach for the Three University Tanglewood Institute, and has Rivers Young People Orchestra. Marylène served as Associate Professor of Violin at the has also taught at summer music festivals such University of Oklahoma. as: Domaine Forget, Québec, Interharmony Festival in Germany and Advanced Chamber As a soloist, Wu has been described by Music Seminar in Pittsburgh. the Tribune-Review as a musician of “virtuoso command with depth of musical understanding.” He has appeared numerous AARON times as a soloist for the PSO and has given WHITE recitals to critical acclaim.

Chris’ violin was made in 1727 by Nicolo Born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, bassist Aaron Gagliano. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, White began his musical studies in the public ice hockey, traveling and cooking. He and his school system after moving to Irving, Texas. He wife Annette, reside in Gibsonia with their continued his studies at Southern Methodist two children Wesley and Grace. In 1991, he University and then Duquesne University. His survived a near-fatal automobile accident, and principal teachers include Thomas Lederer and he is grateful for every opportunity to play. Jeffrey Turner.

White has given master classes and recitals at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Pennsylvania MARYLÈNE State University, Southern Methodist GINGRAS-ROY University, Carnegie Mellon University and Duquesne University. In 2012 and again in 2014, he performed with the All-Star Orchestra A native of Québec City, Canada, Marylène lead by Gerard Schwarz, which aired locally Gingras-Roy joined the Pittsburgh Symphony and nationally on PBS. Orchestra viola section in the 1997 season, and in 2004 was promoted to fourth chair. She Prior to joining the Pittsburgh Symphony, studied at the Conservatoire de Musique de White was a member of the Louisville Québec with Douglas McNabney and François Orchestra and the Florida Orchestra. Paradis and graduated in 1993 with unanimous First Prizes in both in viola and chamber music. She was then the recipient of Canada and Québec Arts Councils› Scholarship Grants,

21 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE He has composed a popular collection of etudes for ANDREW marimba entitled “Reamer’s Elixirs Two-Mallet REAMER Fixers” and is an endorser for Zildjian Cymbals, Evans Drumheads and Innovative Mallets. Andrew Reamer joined the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra percussion section in He carries on a drum- and stick-making tradition 1989. He was appointed associate principal that can be traced to the mid-19th century, percussion in 2003 and principal percussion in and his work and innovations can be viewed 2008. He earned Bachelor of Music and Master at drummersservice.com. His custom drums and of Music degrees from Temple University. sticks are used by the most prestigious orchestras Reamer has taught at Duquesne University and universities throughout the world. for 25 years and plays jazz with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra colleagues in The White Reamer gets around Pittsburgh on a bike, Tie Group. a motorcycle or in a kayak regardless of the weather.

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22 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE THE PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The two-time 2018 GRAMMY Award- The orchestra has a long and illustrious history in winning Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is the areas of recordings and live radio broadcasts. credited with a rich history of engaging the Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony world’s finest conductors and musicians, and Orchestra have received multiple GRAMMY demonstrates a genuine commitment to the nominations for Best Orchestral Performance, Pittsburgh region and its citizens. Known for taking home the award in 2018 for their its artistic excellence for more than 120 years, recording of Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; past music directors have included Fritz Reiner Barber: Adagio. (1938-1948), William Steinberg (1952-1976), André Previn (1976-1984), Lorin Maazel (1984- As early as 1936, the Pittsburgh Symphony 1996) and Mariss Jansons (1997-2004). This has been broadcasted on the radio. Since 1982, tradition of outstanding international music the orchestra has received increased attention directors was continued in fall 2008, when through national network radio broadcasts Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck became on Public Radio International, produced by Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Classical WQED-FM 89.3, made possible Orchestra. by the musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. The Pittsburgh Symphony is continually at the forefront of championing new American works. Lauded as the Pittsburgh region’s international They premiered Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony cultural ambassador, in 2019 the Pittsburgh No. 1 “Jeremiah” in 1944, John Adams’ Short Symphony Orchestra, under the leadership of Ride in a Fast Machine in 1986, and Mason Music Director Manfred Honeck, embarked Bates’ Resurrexit in 2018 to celebrate Manfred on an extensive tour of Europe, the 25th in Honeck’s 60th birthday. orchestra history.

23 FRONT ROW THE PSO VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE