knoxvillesymphony.com 5 WELCOME FROM OUR MUSIC DIRECTOR Dear Friends, Happy holidays! We are so happy you have chosen to make music a part of your family’s holiday tradition by spending a little bit of this festive season with the KSO. We begin December with the piece that epitomizes the holiday season for me. This year, Classical Christmas features Handel’s Messiah, a timeless masterpiece that exemplifies the spiritual and the human experience of the Christmas story. I am so glad to partner with the Knoxville Choral Society and four soloists, all from right here at home in Knoxville, to begin what I hope will become a new KSO Messiah tradition. Speaking of traditions, the Clayton Holiday Concert returns for a 33rd season, with a program we are calling “Christmas on Broadway.” Join our two Knoxvillian soloists, Kathryn Paden and Jordan Bondurant, for a winter vacation to the Great White Way. Revel along with the Knoxville Choral Society and Go! Contemporary Dance Works to your favorite holiday classics from Broadway blockbusters including Annie, A Christmas Carol and Mame, plus classic Broadway-born songs like “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” And there may even be a visit from Santa! Amidst the seasonal festivities, the KSO and our musicians continue their indispensable work bringing music into classrooms, children’s libraries and hospitals across East Tennessee through our Education and Music and Wellness programs. Eighty percent of the KSO’s activities in our community happen outside of the concert hall and many completely free of charge so that all East Tennesseans can have access to join the live symphonic music. In this season of giving, we thank you for your support of these essential efforts. With warmth, Aram Demirjian knoxvillesymphony.com 7 8 knoxville symphony orchestra MUSICIAN ROSTER Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Aram Demirjian, Music Director Natalie L. Haslam Music Director Chair James Fellenbaum, Resident Conductor and Youth Orchestra Music Director Sande MacMorran, Music Director Emeritus, Youth Orchestra Association Mark Zelmanovich, Concertmaster Emeritus VIOLIN I BASS TRUMPET William Shaub, Concertmaster* Steve Benne, Principal* Phillip Chase Hawkins, Clayton Family Chair Steve Clark Principal* Gordon Tsai, Dan Thompson Brian Winegardner* Associate Concertmaster* Herb Hall Shawn White Joseph A. Fielden Yan Peng Family Chair TROMBONE Sean K. Claire* FLUTE Samuel Chen, Principal* I-Pei Lin* Hannah Hammel, Principal* Josh Walker Ikuko Koizumi* Karen Keys & Keith Walburn Brad McDougall Sarah Ringer Bryan Chair Mary Ann Fee Fennell, Principal Jill Bartine* BASS TROMBONE Jeffrey Brannen Cynthia M. D’Andrea Brad McDougall Mary Pulgar Bing Kuang Fang PICCOLO TUBA Daniel Zellars Cynthia M. D’Andrea Sande MacMorran, Principal VIOLIN II OBOE TIMPANI Edward Pulgar, Principal* Claire Chenette, Principal* Bob Adamcik, Principal* Gleb Mamantov Chair Deniz Yayman* Michael Combs, Rachel Loseke* Elizabeth Telling Associate Principal* Ruth Bacon*§ Zofia Glashauser* ENGLISH HORN PERCUSSION Audrey Pride* Elizabeth Telling Bob Adamcik, Co-Principal* Kyle Venlet* Clark Harrell, Co-Principal Elizabeth Farr CLARINET Andrew Adzima Julie Swenson Gary Sperl, Principal* Jay Oberfeitinger Peter Aguilar Mark Tucker,* Stacy Taylor Traver Family Chair HARP Victor Chavez Cindy Hicks, Principal* VIOLA Kathryn Gawne, Principal* BASS CLARINET KEYBOARD Eunsoon Lee-Corliss, Victor Chavez Emi Kagawa, Principal* Assistant Principal* Jennifer Bloch* BASSOON DIRECTOR OF Bill Pierce* Aaron Apaza, Principal* OPERATIONS Hillary Herndon Jessica Findley Yang* Jon Agazzi Megan Kehren Cora Nappo Alicia Keener PERSONNEL MANAGER/ Kristina Zeinstra CONTRABASSOON LIBRARIAN Cora Nappo Mark Tucker CELLO Andy Bryenton, Principal* FRENCH HORN Theodore I. Kartal* Jeffery Whaley, Principal* * Member of Knoxville Symphony Ildar Khuziakhmetov,* Sean Donovan* Chamber Orchestra Mary and Joe Sullivan Chair Brooke Ten Napel § Leave of Absence Stacy M. Nickell* Kelsey Bentley Bruce Wilhite D. Scot Williams Alice Stuart Donald Grohman knoxvillesymphony.com 9 10 knoxville symphony orchestra MEET THE MUSIC DIRECTOR The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra is flourishing under the transformative leadership of music director Aram Demirjian. Through bold programming, innovative collaborations and Aram’s dynamic presence both on stage and in the community, the KSO has attained new artistic heights, sustained significant ticket revenue increases and received national recognition for its achievements over the 3 years of his tenure. The 2019-20 KSO season extends and intensifies Aram’s commitment to fostering community through collaboration in the concert hall. Local partnerships include performances with the Knoxville Choral Society, contemporary ensemble Nief-Norf, Street Beatz Studios and Go! Contemporary Dance Works, plus sought-after guest artists including Natasha Paremski, Bella Hristova and Grammy©-nominated violinist Philippe Quint. Quint will perform the world premiere of Michael Schachter’s Violin Concerto: Cycle of Life, a joint commission of the KSO and the Knoxville Museum of Art. Aram and the KSO continue to champion American music with works by Barber, Bernstein, James P. Johnson, Florence Price and George Walker, plus living composers Avner Dorman, Jennifer Higdon, Missy Mazzoli, Jessie Montgomery and Dosia McKay. Further highlights include Handel’s Messiah, Mahler’s First Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony and a yearlong celebration of Beethoven’s 250th anniversary. Most notably, the KSO will perform in Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as one of only four organizations featured at SHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestras. Aram will conduct a program highlighting Knoxville’s artistic history called “Knoxville: Artists at Home,” featuring soprano Julia Bullock, poets RB Morris and RheaSunshine and a brass ensemble from University of Tennessee. Aram has appeared with the nation’s top orchestras and maintains a close relationship with The Philadelphia Orchestra, with which he appears three times in the 2019-20 season. He also makes subscription debuts with the Tucson Symphony, Portland Symphony and the Orlando Philharmonic. Other recent engagements include the Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Omaha, San Antonio and St. Louis symphonies, the Minnesota and Sarasota orchestras, and the Louisiana Philharmonic. Aram is involved in a substantial breadth of education and community initiatives with the goal of ensuring that everyone, regardless of age, background or circumstance, has access to great symphonic music. A gifted public speaker, he is a passionate and vocal advocate for the arts, and he regularly addresses to community and business organizations advocating for arts non-profits and arts education in our society. Aram is the winner of the 2019 Career Assistance Award from the Solti Foundation U.S. and the 2011 Robert J. Harth Conducting Prize from the Aspen Music Festival, and he has appeared in masterclasses with renowned conductors Bernard Haitink and Kurt Masur. Aram holds a joint Bachelor of Arts in Music and Government from Harvard University and a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from New England Conservatory. knoxvillesymphony.com 11 12 knoxville symphony orchestra COMING EVENTS News Sentinel Pops Series Singin’ in the Rain: Film + Orchestra January 11 at 8:00 P.M. Knoxville Civic Auditorium Moxley Carmichael Masterworks Series Mozart and Mahler January 16 & 17 at 7:30 P.M. Tennessee Theatre Merchant and Gould Concertmaster Series William Shaub and Friends: The Young Beethoven and Folk Music January 22 & 23 at 7:00 P.M. Knoxville Museum of Art Sheena McCall Chamber Classics Beethoven Begins January 26 at 2:30 P.M. Bijou Theatre PRODUCTION CREDITS Lighting Designer: John Horner Video and Sound: Stella Visions and Sound Lighting: Teri Productions Production Manager: Jon Agazzi Stage Manager: Stacy Taylor Scenic Artist: Rebecca Parr Production Crew: IATSE Local 197 knoxvillesymphony.com 13 14 knoxville symphony orchestra knoxvillesymphony.com 15 16 knoxville symphony orchestra Sunday, December 1, 2019 2:30 p.m. Tennessee Theatre Aram Demirjian, conductor Knoxville Choral Society Jennifer Barnett Harrell, soprano Caitlin Bolden, alto Matthew Mimbs, tenor Maurice Hendricks, bass CLASSICAL CHRISTMAS Sponsored by John Francis Wade O Come All Ye Faithful arr. David Willcocks Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Greensleeves John Rutter Sans Day Carol Johann Sebastian Bach Sheep May Graze Safely Charles Wesley Hark the Herald Angels Sing arr. David Willcocks INTERMISSION George Frideric Handel Messiah (excerpts) 1. Sinfony 14. There were shepherds abiding in the fields 2. Comfort ye, my people 15. And lo, the angel of the Lord came 3. Ev’ry valley shall be exhalted upon them 4. And the glory of the Lord 16. And suddenly there was with the angel 5. Thus saith the Lord 17. Glory to God 6. But who may abide 18. Rejoice greatly 7. And he shall purify 19. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened 8. Behold, a virgin shall conceive 20. He shall feedback his flock like a shepherd 9. O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion 21. His yoke is easy 10. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth 45. I know that my redeemer liveth 11. The people that walked in darkness 47. Behold, I tell you a mystery 12. For unto us a child is born 48. The trumpet shall sound 13. Pifa 44. Hallelujah Chorus This concert will be broadcast on WUOT 91.9 FM on Tuesday, December 17, 2019, at 8:00 p.m.