Oakland Symphony presents NOTES FROM THE AFRICAN DIASPORA JOSEPH BOLOGNE, CHEVALIER DE SAINT-GEORGES (1745–1799) Symphony No. 1 in G major, Op. 11 I. Allegro II. Andante III. Allegro assai ANTONIO CARLOS GOMES (1836-1896) C’era una volta un principe from Act II of Il Guarany I. Allegro non troppo II. Allegretto con moto III. Allegro non troppo; Un peu moins vite Shawnette Sulker, soprano WILLIAM GRANT STILL (1895-1978) Songs of Separation I. Idolatry II. Poéme III. Parted Shawnette Sulker, soprano Her appearance tonight is generously underwritten by an anonymous donor INTERMISSION FLORENCE PRICE (1887-1953) Symphony No. 3 in C minor I. Andante II. Andante ma non troppo III. Juba: Allegro IV. Scherzo: Finale EDWARD KENNEDY (DUKE) ELLINGTON Harlem The 2018–2019 Season of Oakland Symphony is generously funded in part by the East Bay Community Foundation; the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; the California Arts Council, a state agency; the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; and the Oakland City Council and the City of Oakland’s Cultural Funding Program. OAKLAND SYMPHONY 3 OAKLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA GUEST ARTIST Michael Morgan, Music Director and Conductor SHAWNETTE SULKER Bryan Nies, Associate Conductor FIRST VIOLIN VIOLA FLUTE TRUMPET cclaimed for her “heartbreaking poignancy” Dawn Harms, Tiantian Lan, Alice Lenaghan, William Harvey, Aand “beautifully tuned soprano” by the San Concertmaster Principal Principal Principal Francisco Chronicle and for her “enchanting vocal Vivian Warkentin, Margaret Titchener, Rena Urso Leonard Ott splendor” by the Leipziger Volkszeitung, soprano Asst. Concertmaster Asst. Principal Owen Miyoshi Shawnette Sulker is a much sought-after artist Kristina Anderson, Betsy London OBOE Chris Barnes in the United States and abroad. A consummate Assoc. Concertmaster Patricia Whaley Robin May, Principal performer, her recent operatic roles include Carla Picchi Stephanie Railsback Denis Harper TROMBONE singing “The Queen of the Night” (The Magic Deborah Spangler Katy Juneau Jesse Barrett Bruce Chrisp, Flute) with Opera Fairbanks and Hamster in the Emanuela Nikiforova Linda Green Principal contemporary opera Animal Tales (Brazelton) with Stephanie Bibbo Alessandra Aquilanti CLARINET Tom Hornig the Garden State Philharmonic in New Jersey. Hrabba Attladottir Bill Kalinkos, Steve Trapani Recent concert performances include singing as Matthew Vincent CELLO Principal a soloist for Fremont Symphony’s Valentine’s Day Katherine Button Daniel Reiter, Diane Maltester TUBA Concert, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Hande Erdem Principal Ginger Kroft Scott Choate, Santa Rosa and Peninsula Symphonies, and Orff’s Joseph Hébert, Principal Carmina Burana with Sacramento Choral Society SECOND VIOLIN Asst. Principal BASSOON & Orchestra. Internationally, Sulker has sung Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, and Lauretta in David Cheng, Michelle Kwon Deborah Kramer, PERCUSSION Adele throughout the Netherlands and Belgium Gianni Schicchi. Some works on Sulker’s concert Principal Rebecca Roudman Principal Ward Spangler, in a tour of Die Fledermaus, as well as a recital at repertoire list include Mozart’s Grand Mass in Sharon Calonico, Michael Graham Jarratt Rossini Principal Red Door Studios in Amsterdam and an orchestra C minor, Bach’s Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, Asst. Principal Jeffrey Parish Jim Kassis concert featuring Porgy and Bess highlights and Mozart’s Exsultate, Jubilate, and Scarlatti’s Su le Adrienne Duckworth Paul Rhodes ALTO SAXOPHONE Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42 in Leipzig’s Gewandhaus sponde del Tebro. Upcoming engagements will Sergi Goldman-Hull Farley Pearce Bill Kalinkos DRUM SET and Prague’s Smetana Hall. feature her singing as the Soprano I soloist for Cecilia Huang Richard Mathias Artie Storch Bach’s Mass in B minor with California Bach Robert Donehew BASS Sulker has also sung with San Francisco Opera, Society, performing Lucy in The Telephone with Alison Miller Patrick McCarthy, TENOR SAXOPHONE HARP Mark Morris Dance Group, American Bach Opera Memphis, singing the soprano solos Josepha Fath Principal Kevin Stewart Meredith Clark Soloists, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Eugene in Handel’s Messiah with Pacific Chamber Sarah Usher Alden Cohen, Robert Farrington Symphony, Union Avenue Opera, Opera Naples, Symphony, and a Holiday Recital as part of the Asst. Principal PERSONNEL MANAGER Pacific Opera Project, West Edge Opera, and renowned Noontime Concerts at Old St. Mary’s Ben Tudor BARI SAXOPHONE Craig McAmis the Natchez Opera Festival, to name a few. in San Francisco. Carl Stanley Nick DiScala Her roles include Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Tim Spears LIBRARIAN Cunegonde in Candide, Constanze in Abduction David Horn HORN Paul Rhodes from the Seraglio, Musetta in La Bohème, Meredith Brown, Principal RECORDING ENGINEER Monica Warchol, Tom Johnson, Johnson Asst. Horn Digital Audio Alicia Telford Alex Camphouse Ross Gershenson 4 OAKLAND SYMPHONY OAKLAND SYMPHONY 5 PRE-CONCERT PERFORMERS PROGRAM NOTES Symphonie-concertantes. He also wrote six operas and a number of songs. His two symphonies were published as Op. 11 in 1779. Today, he is best remembered as the first classical composer of African ancestry. OAKTOWN JAZZ YOUTH ENSEMBLE the next generation of musicians. Youths learn from professional master musicians and perform SAINT-GEORGES aktown Jazz Workshops’ Youth Performance for audiences throughout the Bay Area. Visit OEnsemble features young musicians ages oaktownjazz.org for more information. 12-18 who perform a variety of exciting Symphony No. 1 in G major, Op. 11 and challenging jazz classics. Oaktown Jazz Ravi Abcarian - Executive Director JOSEPH BOLOGNE, Workshops is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization Richard Howell - Instructor and its year-round after school program passes Mark Lee - Instructor CHEVALIER DE SAINT-GEORGES GOMES on the musical language and traditions of jazz to (1745–1799) e was called “the black Mozart.” Joseph C’era una volta un principe HBologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, was from Act II of Il Guarany DESTINY JUNIOR COMPANY (DJC) born in the French colony of Guadeloupe, the son of the plantation owner George Bologne ANTONIO CARLOS GOMES he Destiny Junior Company (DJC) is a (1836-1896) de Saint-Georges and his African slave Nanon. rigorous training ground in dance, theater T The family settled in Paris around 1749, where and performance for youth ages 9-12, modeled orn in Campinas in the Empire of Brazil (then young Joseph was given fencing and riding after the acclaimed Destiny Arts Youth a colony of Portugal), Gomes was a protégé lessons, as well as music instruction. He received B Performance Company, a teen dance/theater of Emperor Dom Pedro II, who sent him to the the title of chevalier after becoming an “officer company that creates original performance art conservatory in Rio de Janeiro. After graduation, of the king’s bodyguard.” pieces, in collaboration with professional artists, Gomes wrote two operas, which convinced the that combine hip hop, modern, and aerial Emperor to send him to study in Italy. In 1769, François-Joseph Gossec hired him as a dance, theater, martial arts, rap and song. Both violinist in his Concert des Amateurs. According companies are a dynamic, creative forum for Interested in composing an opera on a Brazilian to one account, they performed “with great the young people to express their fears, hopes, subject, Gomes chose the romance novel precision and delicate nuances [becoming] the and strategies for confronting challenging O Guarani by the Brazilian writer José de best orchestra for symphonies in Paris, and personal and social issues. The companies come Alencar. The libretto (in Italian) was written by perhaps in all of Europe.” When Gossec moved out of Destiny Arts Center, an Oakland-based Antonio Scalvini and Carlo D’Ormeville and on to the Concert Spirituel in 1773, Saint- nonprofit violence prevention and arts education titled Il Guarany. Eugenio Terziani conducted Georges succeeded him as musical director of the world premiere at in Milan, on organization that has been serving youth for La Scala the Amateurs. When the Amateurs disbanded in March 19, 1870. The success was enormous. over 30 years through after-school, weekend 1781, Saint-Georges founded the Concert de la Verdi called the work an expression of “true and summer programs in dance, theater, martial Loge Olympique, the same orchestra for whom musical genius.” Liszt said that “it displays arts, self-defense, performance, and youth Haydn composed his six “Paris” symphonies. It is dense technical maturity, full of harmonic and leadership, both at the center and in up to 45 possible that Saint-Georges met Mozart in Paris. orchestral maturity.” It was the first Brazilian Bay Area public schools annually. Destiny Junior opera to gain acclaim outside Brazil. The first Company’s Artistic Director is Mika Lemoine, Between 1771 and 1779, Saint-Georges wrote Brazilian performance was given in Rio de a Destiny alum and a current Destiny hip hop eighteen string quartets, three violin sonatas, Janeiro on December 2, 1870, and achieved instructor and teaching artist mentor. a sonata for harp and flute, six violin duos, the same success as Gomes had seen in Italy. a cello sonata, lost concertos for clarinet and bassoon, fourteen violin concertos, and eight 6 OAKLAND SYMPHONY OAKLAND SYMPHONY 7 PROGRAM NOTES PROGRAM NOTES Set in Rio de Janeiro around 1560, the plot American Symphony was the first symphony orchestra, when Frederick Stock and the Chicago See the Light, Mood Indigo, In a Sentimental concerns the love of Pery, a Guarni Indian by a black American to be played by a major Symphony Orchestra played the world premiere Mood, Don’t Get Around Much Anymore, chief, and Cecilia, the daughter of a Portuguese orchestra (Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra). of her Symphony No. 1 in E minor, in 1933. Sophisticated Lady, I Got It Bad and That nobleman, all against a backdrop of both Songs of Separation is a cycle of five thematically Ain’t Good, Take the “A” Train, and Do Nothin’ Portuguese and Spanish adventurers. In the related songs set to texts by black poets.