UMD Repertoire Orchestra WOMEN COMPOSERS BY HAS MUSIC TIME THEIR COME: Presents Music Maryland of of School University Tuesday, December 3, 2019 . 8PM DEKELBOUM CONCERT HALL at The Clarice 1 ABOUT THE MUSIC DIRECTOR University of Maryland School of Music Presents Possessing a repertoire of over forty-five operas and musicals ranging from Mozart and Puccini to Rodgers & Hammerstein and Stephen Sondheim, conductor Their Time Has Come: Music by Women Composers and pianist JESSE LEONG is a musician of uncommon breadth and versatility. His conducting has been called “taut and assured” by Opera Today. Leong was UMD Repertoire Orchestra recently named the 2019 Julius Rudel/Kurt Weill conducting fellow by the Kurt Weill PROGRAM Foundation. In this capacity he served as associate conductor to Tony Award®- winning artistic director of MasterVoices (New York City) Ted Sperling on Lady in the Jesse Leong Dark featuring another Tony winner, Victoria Clark. 2019 also saw Leong’s return to music director Cincinnati Opera, assisting David Charles Abell on Porgy and Bess. He debuted with Cincinnati Opera in 2018 assisting Christoph Perick on Der Fliegende Holländer as Yu Wang well as with Pacific Opera Project (Los Angeles), conducting La traviata. assistant conductor Leong serves as associate music director of Queen City Opera (Cincinnati, OH), having joined at the company’s founding in 2012 as assistant conductor. His D’un soir triste (Of a Sad Evening) .................................................. Lily Boulanger (1893-1918) passion for social justice, community activism and the contemporary relevancy of performing arts led to QCO’s collaborations with Planned Parenthood, Jewish Flute Concertino in D Major, Op. 107 .......................................Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944) Family Services, the Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, David Le, flute Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action and Women Helping Women. Yu Wang, conductor Leong is also strongly committed to diversity and representation in the arts. His programming focuses on women composers, composers of colors and LGBTQ+ composers in concerts thematically integrated with classical masterworks. INTERMISSION An enthusiastic grammarian and linguist, Leong has authored a book entitled, La Symphony No. 1 in E Minor ............................................................ Florence Price (1887-1953) bohème: A Connotative and Grammatical Translation. Having been described as I. Allegro ma non troppo “Nico Castel plus,” Leong’s book has been praised by singers, conductors, coaches II. Largo, maestoso and directors alike. It will eventually be part of a double trilogy of Connotative and III. Juba Dance—Allegro Grammatical Translation books on the Puccini-Illica-Giacosa operas, La bohème, IV. Finale—Presto Tosca and Madama Butterfly and the Mozart-Da Ponte operas, Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. UMD Repertoire Orchestra would like to acknowledge the following graduate assistants, Leong holds a B.M. in piano performance and an M.M. in orchestral conducting from faculty, staff and friends for their contributions to this performance: David Neely, Sabrina University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He is currently pursuing Boggs, Madeleine Jansen, Chi Lee, Syneva Colle, Jason Gekker, Levi Bradshaw, Michael his D.M.A. in orchestral conducting at the University of Maryland School of Music. jesseleong.com Chong, Sinan Wang, Katie McCarthy and Hyun Ji Choi. 2 3 UMD REPERTOIRE ORCHESTRA YU WANG is a young Canadian conductor who made her jump into music Jesse Leong, music director literally. While a student in business school, Wang booked a last-minute Yu Wang, assistant conductor flight and moved West determined to pursue her passion in music. Mark Wakefield, ensembles manager Now an M.M. candidate in instrumental conducting at the University of FLUTE PERCUSSION Maryland School of Music, she also holds a bachelor’s degree from the Michelle Chen Bruce Perry University of Toronto. She made great advances in skill under the guidance Anna Schilling Yu Wang of Maestro David Neely and Neil Thomson. She has also studied with Olivia Sharon, piccolo conductors Uri Mayer, John Farrer and Ivars Taurins. Jennifer Tatham, piccolo HARP Lauren Twombly Wang is founder and was inaugural music director of Toronto’s Linus OBOE Chamber Orchestra. In 2016, she made her debut at the Pärnu Music Abel Forturbel CELESTA Festival, an event hosted by Neeme Järvi and Paavo Järvi. Joseph O'Leary Yu Wang Joshua Faison, English horn A proud millennial, Wang enjoys avocado toast, board games and travelling. VIOLIN I CLARINET Justin Hung, concertmaster Julianna Solomon (Boulanger, Chaminade) DAVID LE, a Miyazawa emerging artist, leads a versatile career as Emily Tocco Mark Jung, concertmaster (Price) a performer and educator. Le won first prize in the Young Artist Andrew Zhang, bass clarinet Sabrina Boggs ABOUT THE ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR Competitions of the Florida Flute Association, Hampton Roads Flute Thomas Brosh Faire, and has been a prizewinner of competitions sponsored by the BASSOON Elian Contreras Music Teachers National Association, National Flute Association, Raleigh Elizabeth Massey Varun Iyer Area Flute Association and South Carolina Flute Society. He can be heard Temon Birch Julia Mittelstaedt as soloist on the McCormick Percussion Group’s album Plot: Music for Debra Loh, contrabassoon Haedn Rho Unspecified Instrumentation (Ravello Records, 2013). He also recorded Yuka Sakazaki as principal flute of the USF Wind Ensemble (Mark Records, 2014) and HORN Paula Shin Peabody Symphony Orchestra (Naxos Records, 2019). Eric Aaron Grace Yarrow Allison Happ Helen Zhang A passionate educator, Le is the interim lecturer of flute at Skidmore Jack Holland College (Saratoga Spring, NY), as well as the flute teaching assistant Phillip Shulman VIOLIN II at the University of Maryland. He formerly taught with the Baltimore Rachel Friedman, principal Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids program and the OPUS Community TRUMPET (Boulanger, Chaminade) Music School. Le has developed a national profile of teaching, having Antonios Eleftherious Helena Amberger, principal (Price) presented masterclasses and lectures throughout the United States. Benjamin Lostocco Bryce Bathras His recent engagements include Penn State, Virginia Tech and the Jacob Rose Levi Bradshaw Peabody Conservatory. Margaret Brown As an orchestral flutist, Le has performed with the Bel Cantanti Opera, TROMBONE Carl Chung Lorraine Montana Madeleine Jansen ABOUT THE SOLOIST Florida Lyric Opera, Experiential Orchestra, HUB Opera Ensemble and the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra. He attended the Yoav Rotman Haoran Ni Marrowstone Music Festival for two seasons. Le has performed under Pedro Martinez, bass trombone Manuela Osorio van Isschot esteemed conductors Marin Alsop, Leon Fleisher, Edward Polochick and Chloe Salkeld Leonard Slatkin. TUBA Yesica Ventura Marlin Thomas Joey Yeoh Le is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Maryland. He holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the TIMPANI University of South Florida. His primary teachers are Sarah Frisof, Kim Matthew Dupree McCormick and Marina Piccinini, with additional mentorship from Aaron Goldman and Laurie Sokoloff. 4 5 VIOLA BASS Thomas Chung, principal Iris Yourick, principal (Boulanger, (Boulanger, Chaminade) Chaminade) Eric Wei, principal (Price) Hannah Weisman, principal (Price) Siddharth Bhatnagar Gabriel Dayanim Lea Broussard Natalie Feldman Michael Chong Jason Gekker John Labbate Elle Johnson Changxu Pang Christopher Lee Sinan Wang Elizabeth Thilmany Jenna Wollney CELLO Gloria Kim, principal (Boulanger, Chaminade) Andrew Guo, principal (Price) UMD REPERTOIRE ORCHESTRA Hyun Ji Choi Roland Kahn Ilia Larkin Katie McCarthy Rachel Robin 6 UPCOMING SCHOOL OF MUSIC EVENTS KALEIDOSCOPE OF BANDS HANDEL’S MESSIAH UNIVERSITY BAND, COMMUNITY BAND UMD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND AND MIGHTY SOUND OF MARYLAND UMD CHAMBER SINGERS MARCHING BAND SUN, DEC 8 • 3PM FRI, DEC 6 • 8PM $25 PUBLIC / $10 STUDENT/YOUTH / UMD STUDENTS FREE $25 PUBLIC / $10 STUDENT/YOUTH / UMD STUDENTS FREE Featuring the “Hallelujah Chorus,” the most The School of Music’s finest bands come together for beloved of all Baroque masterworks is brought a crowd-pleasing extravaganza under the direction to life for the Christmas season by the combined of Associate Director of Bands Andrea Brown — forces of the School of Music’s premier ensembles featuring University Band, Community Band and the and alumni soloists. Proceeds from this holiday grand finale, the Mighty Sound of Maryland Marching favorite will benefit School of Music student Band! It’s an upbeat, lively show you don’t want to scholarships! miss. SONGS OF WAR FROM BJÖRK TO SCHMITT UMD REPERTOIRE ORCHESTRA UMD WIND ORCHESTRA THU, MAR 5 • 8PM SAT, DEC 7 • 8PM FREE, NO TICKETS REQUIRED $25 PUBLIC / $10 STUDENT/YOUTH / UMD STUDENTS FREE Throughout history, war has had a profound influence on classical music created during wartime From the Icelandic rockstar Björk’s Overture to and this concert will feature three such pieces: Dancer in the Dark to Florent Schmitt’s joyful In Memoriam: The Colored Soldiers Who Died for Dionysiaques, enjoy a dynamic evening of modern Democracy, written by William Grant Still at the masterworks for wind orchestra. height of the Second World War, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, commissioned to celebrate the victory over Napoleon at Borodino, and Elgar’s Cello Concerto, written just months