MAY 2017 CELEBRATE ASIA BROADWAY ROCKS WITH THE SEATTLE MEN’ S CHORUS LOOKING AHEAD: RAVEL’ S MAGICAL OPERA Sophistication without compromise. Satisfaction without delay. Work with Coldwell Luxury lives here. Banker Bain to find a home that completes your dreams, anywhere in the world, and quenches your desire for the very best. Coldwell Banker Bain Global Luxury. ColdwellBankerBain.com/GlobalLuxury It’s what we do. SeattleSymphony_LuxuryLivesHere.indd 1 4/18/2017 11:20:03 AM Encore spread.indd 1 4/18/17 1:54 PM Sophistication without compromise. Satisfaction without delay. Work with Coldwell Luxury lives here. Banker Bain to find a home that completes your dreams, anywhere in the world, and quenches your desire for the very best. Coldwell Banker Bain Global Luxury. ColdwellBankerBain.com/GlobalLuxury It’s what we do. SeattleSymphony_LuxuryLivesHere.indd 1 4/18/2017 11:20:03 AM Encore spread.indd 1 4/18/17 1:54 PM CONTENTS SUBSCRIPTIONS NOW ON SALE SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE AUGUST 1 WORLD DANCE SERIES BANDALOOP Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Complexions Contemporary Ballet WORLD MUSIC & THEATER SERIES Habib Koité Third Coast Percussion Martha Redbone: Bone Hill - The Concert Feathers of Fire: A Persian Epic Diego El Cigala INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES Juilliard String Quartet Montrose Trio Takács Quartet with special guest Erika Eckert Danish String Quartet Jerusalem Quartet Calidore String Quartet with David Finckel & Wu Han PRESIDENT'S PIANO SERIES Nareh Arghamanyan Juho Pohjonen Garrick Ohlsson Imogen Cooper Simon Trpčeski SPECIAL EVENTS Mark O’Connor and The Family Band: An Appalachian Christmas Itzhak Perlman Kathleen Battle: Underground Railroad - A Spiritual Journey EAP full-page template.indd 1 4/10/17 11:39 AM CONTENTS MAY 2017 6 / CALENDAR 8 / THE ORCHESTRA 10 / SIMPLE GIFTS 12 / NOTES FEATURES 14 / RAVEL’S MAGICAL OPERA 15 / TEN WORLD PREMIERES CONCERTS 17 / May 5, 6 & 7 ITALIAN MASTERS 21 / May 9 WINDBORNE’S THE MUSIC OF PRINCE WITH THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY 25 / May 12 CELEBRATE ASIA SPECIAL APPEARANCE BY A.R. RAHMAN 31 / May 19, 20 & 21 BROADWAY ROCKS WITH THE SEATTLE MEN’S CHORUS 35 / May 22 DAVID BRIGGS THE ART OF TRANSCRIPTION 31 / SEATTLE MEN’S CHORUS 46 / GUIDE TO THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY 47 / THE LIS(Z)T 17 / DMITRY SINKOVSKY 35 / DAVID BRIGGS Photo: Michael Hudson Michael Photo: ON THE COVER: Celebrate Asia (p. 25) by Brandon Patoc COVER DESIGN: Jadzia Parker EDITOR: Heidi Staub © 2017 Seattle Symphony. All rights reserved. No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without written permission from the Seattle Symphony. All programs and artists are subject to change. encoreartsseattle.com 5 ON THE DIAL: Tune in to May & Classical KING FM 98.1 every June Wednesday at 8pm for a Seattle Symphony spotlight and CALENDAR the first Friday of every month at 9pm for concert broadcasts. SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY ■ MAY 8pm 11am Magic Circle Italian Masters Mime The Listener 7:30pm SCGS presents Antigoni Goni 8pm Italian Masters 1 WINDBORNE’S2 THE MUSIC OF PRINCE3 4 5 6 2pm 12:30pm Watjen 7:30pm GiveBIG* 7:30pm 7pm 7pm Italian Masters Concert Organ Windborne’s The Seattle Music Celebrate Asia Ten Grands Recital – Free Music of Prince Exchange Project Demonstration with the Seattle 7:30pm 7:30pm 7:30pm Ensign Symphony Seattle Baroque An Evening with Symphony & Chorus Orchestra: Ode to Mark Pearson presents Mother’s the Orchestra 7 Day Tribute 8 9 10 11 12 13 2pm 7:30pm 7:30pm 7:30pm Seattle Arts 7:30pm 8pm National National National & Lectures presents NW Sinfonietta Broadway Rocks Geographic Live: Geographic Live: Geographic Live: The Moth Mainstage presents Mozart’s with the Seattle Mankind to Mars Mankind to Mars Mankind to Mars “Requiem” Men’s Chorus 8pm 8pm Broadway Emporium presents Rocks with the Russell Howard Seattle Men’s Chorus 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 2pm Broadway 7:30pm 7:30pm Rocks with the David Briggs The Art of Seattle Men’s Chorus Alzheimer’s presents Alzheimer’s Talks 5pm with Michael Reagan Music of Remembrance: Ceija 21 22 23 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LIVE26 27 ■ JUNE 10:30am A Playdate 9:30, 10:30 & 11:30am with Brahms A Playdate with 7:30pm Brahms Ravel’s Magical 5pm Volunteer 2pm Seattle Opera Appreciation Event* Philharmonic Orch.: The Rite of Spring 7pm Mozart Untuxed 8pm Ravel’s Magical 28 29 30 31 1 2 Opera 3 11:30am 7pm 2pm 7:30pm 12pm 8pm Musical Legacy The Merriman Family Friends Open Pekka Kuusisto Pekka Kuusisto Pekka Kuusisto Society Luncheon* Young Composers Rehearsal* Mendelssohn Violin Mendelssohn Violin Mendelssohn Violin Workshop Concert Concerto Concerto Concerto 8pm Club Ludo* 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 3pm 7:30pm 7:30pm 7:30pm 7:30pm SRJO with SYSO: 4 Orchestras Bach & Janácˇek The Art of Strauss An Alpine Christian McBride: Concert Alzheimer’s presents Symphony The Art of the Bass Alzheimer’s Talks with Chef Madison 8pm Cowan Strauss An Alpine Symphony 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 7:30pm 10am 7:30pm 8pm 8pm Live @ Benaroya Friends Onstage Mahler Symphony Mahler Symphony Mahler Symphony Hall — TajMo: The Rehearsal* No. 5 No. 5 No. 5 Taj Mahal & Keb’ Mo’ Band Founders Circle Party* 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 8pm ■ JULY A Live Presentation of 2001: A SPACE 8pm ODYSSEY A Live Presentation of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY 25 26 272001: A SPACE ODYSSEY28 29 30 1 LEGEND: Seattle Symphony Events Benaroya Hall Events *Donor Events: Call 206.215.4832 for more information Windborne’s The Music of Prince with the Seattle Symphony (May 9); National Georaphic Live: Mankind to Mars (May 14–16) © Shutterstock; A Live Presentation of 2001: A Space Odyssey (June 30 & July 1) 6 SEATTLESYMPHONY.ORG SSO097-Calendar.indd 1 4/20/17 2:11 PM ■ ON THE BEAT See Who’s Here to Hear WORLD PREMIERE! ROMY AND MICHELE’S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION JUNE 8 – JULY 2, 2017 Two of the quirkiest and most endearing best friends in pop culture will make their musical theater debut this spring. Join us at the world premiere of the new musical, based on the 1997 cult hit film. Romy and Michele are inseparable friends whose relationship is put to the test when they invent fake careers to impress people at their 10-year high school reunion. Photo: James Holt James Photo: “My dad would wake me up every Sunday morning by blasting Brahms’ NORTHWEST PREMIERE! symphonic music from the basement on his huge stereo system. He was a big FUN HOME audiophile. I grew up in Chicago and JULY 11 – 30, 2017 he had season tickets to the Chicago Symphony. He would take my sister and Based on Alison Bechdel’s best-selling graphic memoir, I from time to time. But Sunday mornings Fun Home is the winner of five 2015 Tony Awards® were his favorite time to listen, really loud including Best Musical. Follow Alison at three different and really early. ages as she explores and unravels the many mysteries of her childhood in a refreshingly honest “As I got older, I would sneak down to musical about seeing your parents through grown-up eyes. play Béla Bartók on his speakers. I loved the Brahms stuff as well, but when you’re a teenager, you’re looking for something a little more out there and Bartók spoke to me pretty deeply.” – Mike CONNECT WITH US: Share your photos using #ListenBoldly and follow @seattlesymphony on Facebook, THE 5TH AVENUE THEATRE - THE NATION’S LEADING MUSICAL THEATER! Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. Download the Listen Boldly app to easily purchase (206) 625-1900 WWW.5THAVENUE.ORG tickets, skip the Ticket Office lines and receive GROUPS OF 10 OR MORE CALL 1-888-625-1418 | ON 5TH AVENUE IN DOWNTOWN SEATTLE exclusive offers. 2016/17 SEASON SPONSORS seattlesymphony.org TICKETS: 206.215.4747 GIVE: 206.215.4832 encoreartsseattle.com 7 LUDOVIC MORLOT SEATTLE SYMPHONY MUSIC DIRECTOR French conductor Ludovic will also see the release of several more recordings on the Morlot has been Music Director Orchestra’s label, Seattle Symphony Media. A box set of of the Seattle Symphony music by Dutilleux was recently released to mark the 100th since 2011. Amongst the anniversary of the composer’s birth. many highlights of his tenure, the orchestra has won three Ludovic Morlot was Chief Conductor of La Monnaie for Grammy Awards and gave an three years (2012–14). During this time he conducted several exhilarating performance at new productions including La Clemenza di Tito, Jenu°fa Carnegie Hall in 2014. and Pelléas et Mélisande. Concert performances, both in Brussels and Aix-en-Provence, included repertoire by During the 2016–2017 season Beethoven, Stravinsky, Britten, Webern and Bruneau. Morlot and the Seattle Symphony will continue to Trained as a violinist, Morlot studied conducting at the invite their audiences to Royal Academy of Music in London and then at the Royal “listen boldly,” presenting College of Music as recipient of the Norman del Mar Photo: Lisa-Marie Mazzucco Lisa-Marie Photo: Ravel’s L’enfant et les Conducting Fellowship. Morlot was elected a Fellow of sortilèges, completing their the Royal Academy of Music in 2014 in recognition of his cycle of Beethoven symphonies and piano concertos and several significant contribution to music. He is Chair of Orchestral world premieres including compositions by Agata Zubel and Gabriel Conducting Studies at the University of Washington School Prokofiev. All of this will be complemented by the Seattle Symphony’s of Music and lives in Seattle with his wife, Ghizlane, and highly innovative series, Sonic Evolution and [untitled].