2 ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA | 2019–2020 SEASON WELCOME Dearest Orlando, I’m excited to begin my fifth season with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, continuing our journey of excellence and exploration that we’ve undertaken together since I began as your Music Director. This season we celebrate the American Virtuoso, honoring the spirit of adventure and cultural inclusivity that term represents. I’m looking forward to making music with all the virtuosos of our great orchestra, and with guest artists as diverse as legendary saxophonist Branford Marsalis — amazing fiddler Jeremy Kittel — multidimensional vocalist Alicia Hall Moran — and groundbreaking violin virtuoso Jennifer Koh. I look forward to bringing to you two new ways to share the music we all love so much. We’ll take a deep dive into Berlioz’s infamous Symphonie Fantastique, with a guided tour through the piece followed by a complete performance in November’s Inside the Score event. And, with Resonate, we’ll mix it up even more, combining the grandeur of the full orchestra with the intimacy of the salon via the genius of Mozart and contemporary composer Lisa Bielawa at The Plaza Live. This season, our composer-in-residence will be the multi-talented modern-day troubadour Gabriel Kahane. Equally comfortable in the worlds of folk-pop and classical, Gabriel has worked with Sufjan Stevens and Rufus Wainwright, appeared at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, and been commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, to name just a few. His piece emergency shelter intake form, confronting the resurgence of deep poverty in America, and in particular, the national crises of housing insecurity and homelessness, will be the centerpiece of our March classics program; featured performers will be a choir of members from the Central Florida homeless community. Emergency shelter intake form shines an essential light on our society through music that will inspire, bring hope, and stir the soul. In our FAIRWINDS Classic Series, we’ll be sharing beloved works of Barber, Beethoven, Gershwin, Mahler, Ravel, Shostakovich, Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi — AND bringing you thrilling new discoveries by Anna Clyne, Missy Mazzoli, George Walker, Wang Jie, and Eric Whitacre. We’ll also have masterful performances by Concertmaster Rimma Bergeron-Langlois and Principal Flutist Colleen Blaglov. Our Pops Series once again promises to break expectations and dazzle audiences, featuring Cuban rhythms, the music of Aretha Franklin, holiday family favorites, and Broadway standards. Highlights include a 50th Anniversary tribute to Woodstock featuring Jeans ‘n Classics bringing life to the sounds of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Santana, Janis Joplin, and the Who. And back by popular demand, Cirque de la Symphonie will close our Pops Series with tunes from Broadway. Philharmonic musicians will be featured soloists on the Focus Series at The Plaza Live, with special performances by Rimma Bergeron-Langlois (concertmaster), Diane Bishop (principal bassoon), Colleen Blagov (principal flute), Nikolay Blagov (principal clarinet), and Jamie Strefeler (principal oboe). We’ll also hear from renowned guest artists Awet Andemichael, soprano, and Bridget Kibbey, harp. I look forward to having all of these talented musicians on the stage in the 2019-2020 Season. Enjoy the concert! We’re so glad you’re with us! Eric Jacobsen Music Director Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra 2019–2020 SEASON | ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 3 4 ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA | 2019–2020 SEASON WELCOME Dear Friends and Fans, Welcome to the 27th Season of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra! This could be our best-ever season of concerts! Our music will spark joy and inspire contemplation. What could be more rewarding than a hall full of music lovers experiencing the music, feeling the sound vibrations, and sharing the exhilaration of great music performed by a fine professional orchestra! Our accomplished musicians, who come to us from six European countries, Southeast Asia and the far corners of the United States, will bring to life both centuries- old classics and world premieres of brand-new music, all under the inspiring leadership of Music Director Eric Jacobson. In addition to enjoying both Classics and Pops performances in the Bob Carr Theater, you will have opportunities for more intimate encounters with “chamber music” and smaller ensembles at The Plaza Live. We will also perform outdoor concerts throughout the community, culminating in the annual Springs Concert in Longwood. Just grab your picnic basket; we’ll provide the music! Eric has created something brand new for Orlando audiences. You won’t want to miss Inside the Score on November 17, our opportunity to get the inside story of how the music is put together. We’ll hear it, see it, and feel it in new ways; I can’t wait! At The Plaza Live, Resonate, our winter festival, will focus on Mozart’s timeless music, centuries old but still new. There’s lots more, be sure to stay tuned throughout the Season … and join us at every opportunity! This Season, we say good-bye to Bob Carr Theater as we prepare to enter Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. This new performance space is designed to be acoustically perfect and destined to become one of the architectural gems of the music world. I can almost hear the music! The Orlando Philharmonic thrives because of YOU; our patrons, donors, and friends. Our purpose is to inspire, enrich, and serve our part of the world through the highest possible quality of live music. We seek to intrigue and excite you as, together, we continue to grow as an arts-rich, vibrant community. We are proud of our history of reaching over 125,000 concert-goers (that’s 250,000 ears!) each year. In addition, our Young People’s Concerts, with nearly 70,000 young listeners (another 140,000 ears!) from across Central Florida, are helping to inspire future orchestral music audiences. We look forward to continuing innovation and exquisite music, beautifully performed by our professional orchestra. With your support, we will continue to serve and uplift our community. Invite your friends to join you and, together, let’s continue to inspire an amazing future for the arts in Central Florida. On behalf of our Musicians, Board, Staff, and Volunteers, THANK YOU for being a part of the Orlando Philharmonic Family. BRAVO! All the best to each of you … and Play on! Dr. Mary Palmer President, Board of Directors, The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra 2019–2020 SEASON | ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 5 6 ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA | 2019–2020 SEASON 2019–2020 SEASON | ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 7 8 ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA | 2019–2020 SEASON 2019–2020 SEASON | ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 9 10 ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA | 2019–2020 SEASON 2019–2020 SEASON | ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 11 12 ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA | 2019–2020 SEASON ailed by the New York Times as “an interpretive dynamo,” conductor and Hcellist Eric Jacobsen has built a reputation for engaging audiences with innovative and collaborative programming. Jacobsen is Co-Artistic Director and conductor of The Knights, and also serves as the Music Director for the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and the Greater Bridgeport Symphony. Jacobsen founded the adventurous orchestra The Knights with his brother, violinist Colin Jacobsen, to foster the intimacy and camaraderie of chamber music on the orchestral stage. As conductor, Jacobsen has led the “consistently inventive, infectiously engaged indie ensemble” (New York Times) at Central Park’s Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival, (Le) Poisson Rouge, the 92nd Street Y, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center, at major summer festivals such as Tanglewood, Ravinia, and Ojai, and on tour nationally and internationally, including at the Cologne Philharmonie, Düsseldorf Tonhalle, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Salzburg Großes Festspielhaus, Vienna Musikverein, National Gallery of Dublin, and the Dresden Musikfestspiele. Recent collaborators include violinists Itzhak Perlman and Gil Shaham, singers Dawn Upshaw, Susan Graham, and Nicholas Eric Jacobsen, Phan, and pianists Emanuel Ax and Jean-Yves music director Thibaudet. Also, in demand as a guest conductor, Jacobsen has led the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Detroit, Virginia, Alabama, the New also includes two new initiatives: Inside the World, Naples, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Score, in which Jacobsen leads the audience on a the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, and the guided exploration of Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Deutsche Philharmonie Merck. fantastique, and Resonate, which features a unique blend of old and new orchestral and chamber The Knight’s current season features appearances works, performed in standard and more intimate at Tanglewood and at the Ravinia Festival, concert formats. including a fully-staged centennial production of Bernstein’s Candide directed by Alison Moritz, During the 2018-19 season, Jacobsen undertook as well as a Florida tour with Gil Shaham, with a 15-concert European tour with The Knights whom Jacobsen and The Knights are recording and mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital, including the Beethoven and Brahms violin concertos. performances at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie Jacobsen and The Knights also perform in and Vienna’s Musikverein. In New York, Jacobsen Madison, WI; Montreal; and in their annual and The Knights performed at Carnegie Hall’s concerts at Washington’s Dumbarton Oaks. With Zankel Hall;