2 FRESNO PHILHARMONIC FRESNO PHILHARMONIC 5 FRESNO PHILHARMONIC 9 10 FRESNO PHILHARMONIC 12 FRESNO PHILHARMONIC WHAT’S INSIDE FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO | II FROM THE PODIUM | III MUSIC DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY | IV DIRECTOR EMERITUS LARRY HAGOPIAN | V SEPTEMBER 22, 2019 PROGRAM | VII GUEST ARTIST BIOGRAPHY | VIII OCTOBER 12, 2019 PROGRAM | XIV GUEST ARTIST BIOGRAPHY | XVII FRESNO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA | XVIII ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF | XIX BOARD OF DIRECTORS | XIX CONTRIBUTORS TO THE FRESNO PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION | XXIV ADVERTISING Onstage Publications 937-424-0529 | 866-503-1966 e-mail: [email protected] www.onstagepublications.com This program is published in association with Onstage Publications, 1612 Prosser Avenue, Kettering, OH 45409. This program may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. JBI Publishing is a division of Onstage Publications, Inc. Contents © 2019. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO Dear Friends, Thank you for attending the Fresno Philharmonic! We are so pleased to have you with us to share in the unique experience of live orchestral music. Our hope is that you come away from the Fresno Philharmonic with a deeper sense of connection to music and the artists who write and perform it. The Fresno Philharmonic’s 2019-20 season is all about making connections through music. By exploring works from the theater, opera and movies, as well as the concert hall, we’ll attempt to redefine what an orchestra concert can be. This seems only appropriate given that 2020 marks the world-wide celebration of Beethoven’s 250th anniversary. More than any other composer, Beethoven redefined classical music in ways that still reverberate today. We pay tribute to Beethoven’s revolutionary spirit with a special concert in January featuring Rei Hotoda’s Fresno debut conducting from the piano. In his music, Beethoven looked to the future and so will we by performing works by three outstanding living composers: Vivian Fung, Adolphus Hailstork and Gabriela Lena Frank. From Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas to a special concert with the phenomenal Pink Martini we will voyage well beyond the world of classical music to make connections. We invite you to travel outside your musical comfort zone this season. (Don’t worry…it’ll be fun!) Our Link Up Music Education Program, which reaches over 10,000 Fresno County elementary students, and events like our Meet the Artist Luncheons, Chamber Music at Bitwise and Proxima: Music for the Next Century, take the Fresno Philharmonic outside the walls of Saroyan Theatre to forge new connections with our community. As always, we appreciate your support of the Fresno Philharmonic. Sincerely, Stephen Wilson President and CEO II FRESNO PHILHARMONIC FROM THE PODIUM Dear Friends, I am thrilled to welcome you all to our third season together as we reimagine and expand the concert going experience through programs that blend the musical worlds of opera, theater, film and orchestra.Symphony Redefined will have something for everyone and will challenge and engage you to see and hear music in a new way! We open the 2019-20 season by uniting the worlds of opera and theater with one of today’s leading voices of orchestral composition. Leonard Bernstein’s Candide Overture bubbles with the frenetic energy of a Broadway musical. The drama, passion and romance of opera are fully displayed in the lush music from Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier. These two works keenly tip our hat toward what is to come later in the season in April and May. Performing works by living composers and presenting world renowned soloists in their Fresno Philharmonic debuts provides audiences a first-hand look into the evolution and redefinition of orchestral music. Vivian Fung’sEarworms finds humor and joy in the multitasking of twenty-first century parenting, a subject to which many of us can relate. Pianist Cecile Licad, in her Philharmonic debut, will showcase her virtuosity with a performance of Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2. I can guarantee Ms. Licad’s performance will be filled with lots of pianistic fireworks! In October, we travel from the worlds of opera, theater and orchestral music to film. Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas comes to life on the big screen right before your very eyes, as the sounds of the Philharmonic performing Danny Elfman’s magical score dance through your ears. Seeing Pumpkin King Jack Skellington’s misguided attempt to take over the Christmas holiday set against a soundscape performed by our beloved orchestra will be a treat for all ages! Again, welcome to the season and I can’t want to share the exciting programs we have in store as we redefine the symphonic experience! Rei Hotoda Music Director and Conductor FRESNO PHILHARMONIC III MUSIC DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY Hailed by the Spokesman-Review as being an “inexhaustible dynamo,” Rei Hotoda, now in her third season as Music Director of the Fresno Philharmonic, has appeared as a guest conductor with many of today’s leading ensembles, including the Symphony Orchestras of Baltimore, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Detroit, Toronto, Utah, Hawaii, Winnipeg, and Spokane as well as the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, among others. Her interpretations of such epic centerpieces of the classical canon, such as Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 8 and Britten’s War Requiem, make her one of the most sought-after conductors of today. © Todd Rosenberg © Todd Rei will make several exciting debuts in the 2019/20 season when she appears as guest conductor with the Symphony Orchestras of Louisville, Omaha, and Orlando as well as the National Arts Center in Canada, and makes a welcome return to the Hawaii Symphony. Symphonies by Beethoven (Nos. 2, 5 and 8) and the monumental Triple concerto, leading the Fresno Philharmonic for the first time from the piano—all part of the global celebrations of the composer’s 250th anniversary year—as well George Walker’s Lyric for Strings, Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 and Missy Mazzoli’s River Rouge Transfiguration along with works by Vivian Fung (Earworms), Adolphus Hailstork (To Those Who Serve), and Gabriela Lena Frank (Escaramuza), punctuate her 2019/20 season. A consummate advocate of new music, Rei has conducted premieres of works by such notable composers as Dinuk Wijeratne, John Cage, Dai Fujikura, and Salvatore Sciarrino and has championed and recorded compositions by female composers, including Vivian Fung, Jennifer Higdon, and Missy Mazzoli. Most recently, she led the world premiere of Dinuk Wijeratne’s Between Figure and Ground in Fresno. Additionally, she was instrumental in the creation of a new music chamber series featuring musicians of the Fresno Philharmonic, entitled Proxima, which was received with much audience acclaim. Rei is the proud recipient of several prestigious awards, including the 2006 Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship, created by Marin Alsop to mentor women conductors. Additionally, she has received a Peabody Career Development Grant, the Women’s Philharmonic Scholarship, and an Illinois Arts Council International Arts Exchange Grant. Her teachers and mentors include Gustav Meier, Marin Alsop, Jaap van Zweden and Thierry Fischer. IV FRESNO PHILHARMONIC DIRECTOR EMERITUS LARRY HAGOPIAN In 2018, the Fresno Philharmonic Board of Directors elected Larry Hagopian to the status of Director Emeritus. The owner of Commercial Manufacturing, a mainstay for Fresno’s agriculture industry, Larry first joined the Fresno Philharmonic board over 30 years ago. Larry served multiple terms until retiring from the board in June 2018. He was President of the Fresno Philharmonic in 2000-2002. Larry’s tenure on the board was characterized by leadership, generosity and service. He always paid attention to the people of the Philharmonic whether it meant arranging for new timpani drums for then Principal Rick Shiine, sound shields for the wind players or computers for the office staff. As a board member, Larry was always there when we needed him and has remained a strong advocate and supporter of the Fresno Philharmonic. We are pleased to take this opportunity to recognize Larry Hagopian’s commitment to our organization and the mission of making live orchestral music in Fresno available to all. FRESNO PHILHARMONIC V VI FRESNO PHILHARMONIC 2019-2020 SEASON FRESNO PHILHARMONIC DANIEL R. MARTIN MASTERWORKS SERIES SEPTEMBER 22, 2019 WILLIAM SAROYAN THEATRE Rei Hotoda, Music Director and Conductor Cecile Licad, piano LEONARD BERNSTEIN Overture to Candide c. 5 min. CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 c. 24 min. Andante sostenuto Allegro scherzando Presto, alla breve — INTERMISSION — VIVIAN FUNG Earworms c. 12 min. RICHARD STRAUSS Suite from Der Rosenkavalier c. 22 min. Inside the Music is presented one hour prior to the concert thanks to the sponsorship of McCormick Barstow, LLP. Cecile Licad appears by arrangement with Barrett Artists. Music provided by Boosey & Hawkes and Bill Holab Music. 2019-2020 Season Major Support provided by Bonner Family Foundation, Daniel R. Martin Family Foundation, Dr. J. D. Northway and Leon S. Peters Foundation FRESNO PHILHARMONIC VII GUEST ARTIST BIOGRAPHY CECILE LICAD, piano Called "a pianist's pianist" by The New Yorker, Cecile Licad's artistry is a blend of daring musical instinct and superb training. Her natural talent was honed at the Curtis Institute of Music by three of the greatest performer/pedagogues of our time: Rudolf Serkin, Seymour Lipkin and Mieczyslaw Horszowski. Licad's large repertoire as an orchestral soloist spans the Classical works of Mozart and Beethoven, the Romantic literature of Brahms, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Schumann and Rachmaninoff, and on to the 20th century compositions of Debussy, Ravel, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Bartók. Ms. Licad can be heard in the recently released album titled American Landscapes (Danacord), which was named “Classical New Release of the Month” for March 2019 by 90.5FM WKAR Classical of Michigan State University.