HANDEL & VIVALDI PREMIERES FEB. 13 | 8 PM DOWNTOWN SERIES PROGRAM HANDEL & VIVALDI ANTOINE PLANTE, CONDUCTOR Nate Helgeson, Bassoon Mario Aschauer, Harpsichord Jonathan Godfrey, Violin Oleg Sulyga, Violin Beiliang Zhu, Cello GEORG MATTHIAS MONN (1717-1750) Harpsichord Concerto in G minor I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Allegro non molto ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678-1741) Bassoon Concerto in E-flat major, RV 483 I. Presto II. Larghetto III. Allegro Concerto For Cello And Bassoon in E minor, RV 409 I. Adagio – Allegro molto II. Allegro – Adagio III. Allegro —CONTINUED— MERCURY SEASON 20/21 | 1 PROGRAM FRANCESCO GEMINIANI (1687-1762) Concerto Grosso in C major after Corelli, Op. 5, No. 3 I. Adagio II. Allegro III. Adagio IV. Allegro GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685-1759) Concerto Grosso in A major, Op. 6, No. 11, HWV 329 I. Andante larghetto e staccato II. Allegro III. Largo e staccato IV. Andante V. Allegro LYNN WYATT CHAIR MERCURY SEASON 20/21 | 2 MERCURY MUSICIANS ANTOINE PLANTE, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR LYNN WYATT CHAIR VIOLIN I Jonathan Godfrey, Concertmaster Sponsored by Randy & Cathy Crath Anabel Detrick Andrés González Joanna Becker VIOLIN II Oleg Sulyga, Principal Sponsored by Mrs. Andrew Wilkomirski Maria Lin Kana Kimura Manami Mizumoto* VIOLA Kathleen Carrington, Principal Matthew Carrington Rainey Weber CELLO Beiliang Zhu, Principal Courtenay Vandiver Pereira VIOLONE Deborah Dunham, Principal BASSOON Nate Helgeson HARPSICHORD Mario Aschauer *JUILLIARD FELLOW Hudson Davis, Lighting Design BEND Productions/Ben Doyle, Videography MERCURY SEASON 20/21 | 3 The Mercury-Juilliard Fellowship The collaboration between The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance Program and Mercury Chamber Orchestra continues in 2020-2021. This initiative encourages the development of talented young instrumentalists and fosters a strong relationship between two major players in America’s period instrument performance scene. 2020/2021 MERCURY-JUILLIARD FELLOWS CHLOE MANAMI KIM MIZUMOTO (Violin) (Violin) FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEE OUR WEBSITE. Photo: Todd Rosenberg ARTIST PROFILES NATE HELGESON, BASSOON Nate Helgeson is one of the West Coast’s leading specialists in historical bassoons. Born into a musical family in Eugene, Oregon (his brother, Aaron Helgeson, and uncle Stephen Gryc are both accomplished composers), Nate studied modern bassoon with Steve Vacchi and Richard Svoboda before taking up the baroque instrument, continuing his studies with Dominic Teresi at the Juilliard School. Now based in Portland, he performs on stages large and small throughout North America. In addition to solo and orchestral appearances with premier period ensembles across the country, he can be heard on recordings by Apollo’s Fire, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and the Trinity Baroque Orchestra. Beginning in 2018, Nate has performed works of Rossini and Bellini on period instruments as part of Teatro Nuovo, a newly formed festival in New York exploring 19th century ‘bel canto’ sounds and performance practices on the opera stage. JONATHAN GODFREY, VIOLIN A founding member of Mercury Chamber Orchestra, violinist Jonathan Godfrey has served as Concertmaster and violin soloist since the orchestra’s inception. A graduate of Rice University, Mr. Godfrey has performed with many ensembles including the Houston Symphony, the Houston Bach Society, the IRIS Chamber Orchestra, and the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra. He has also served as Concertmaster of the Sinfonietta Cracovia, The Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, The American Radio Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra X, and the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra. He has concertized in the US and abroad, performing solo and chamber music recitals in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Interlochen, and Kansas City, as well as Guanajuato, León, Monterrey, and Santiago, Mexico; Yokohama, Kyoto, Matsumoto, Sapporo, Date, and Tokyo, Japan; and Quito and Ambato, Ecuador. A music educator as well, Mr. Godfrey has taught for twenty-five years, including positions on the violin faculty of both the Interlochen Arts Camp and the Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory. Mr. Godfrey is also the co-director of Prelude Music Classes for Children, a school of music for young children and their families that teaches the research-based music and movement program Music Together® and a co-founder of the Prelude Music Foundation. MERCURY SEASON 20/21 | 5 ARTIST PROFILES OLEG SULYGA, VIOLIN A native of Moscow, Russia, Oleg Sulyga began his music education in Moscow Central Music School followed with further studies in Paris, France, at Southern Methodist University in Dallas at at the University of Houston under guidance of professor Emanuel Borok. As a member of world-renowned ensemble “The Moscow Virtuosi”, Sulyga traveled extensively and performed in the world’s most prestigious concert halls. As a chamber musician he has performed with the principals of the Wiener Philharmoniker and The Kopelman Quartet. As an orchestral musician he has performed with the Chicago Symphony, the National Symphony, and the Houston Symphony orchestras. In addition, Sulyga has been a participant of numerous international festivals worldwide; such as Ravinia, Prague Spring Festival, Pacific Music Festival, Colmar International Music Festival, and Schlezwig-Holstein Festival. Currently Mr. Sulyga is a violinist of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, Houston Ballet, Mercury, the Bach Society of Houston and is a frequent chamber musician. BEILIANG ZHU, CELLO Dear readers, instead of listing my past accomplishments in third person, I am going to use this opportunity to communicate with you what really matters to me as a performer. When I walk onto the stage, I often wonder: what does music mean to everyone here? It is many things to me: a reflection of the present, a recollection of the past, a comforting hug in sadness, a cheerful toast in celebration, or even a sweetener for a slightly tart strawberry. As an introvert, I have connected with the world in ways far beyond what my social skills allow because of music. When the music fills a room, everyone present enters a new dimension in the space- time and is permitted to create a world as they please. When I hear music, I see stories, perhaps the composers’ stories, my own, someone else’s, or simply fairy tales that are conjured up by the magic of sound waves. And you, my lovely audience, are part of my story as much as I am part of yours right now. Time stops as the heartbeat echoes. For information such as my degrees, awards, press quotes, collaborations with famous people, and appearances in prestigious venues and concert series, please visit my website www.beiliangzhu.com. MERCURY SEASON 20/21 | 6 ARTIST PROFILES MARIO ASCHAUER, HARPSICHORD Praised as an “unconventionally playful” performer by the press, Mario Aschauer works as conductor, harpsichordist, and musicologist at the interface of music scholarship and performance. As a performer on historical keyboard instruments, Mario specializes in Austrian repertoire from the Baroque and Classical periods. He is member of the Calamus-Consort, which won first prize at the International H.I.F. Biber Competition in 2009 and since then has been invited to numerous renowned early music festivals such as Resonanzen Wien, Bach Fest Leipzig (Germany), and Itinéraire Baroque en Périgord Vert (France). Their CD “Un dolce affanno” (Passacaille, 2012) features highlights from operas performed at the Vienna court around 1700 with chalumeau, clarinet, and harpsichord as solo instruments. Having earned a degree in conducting from the Linz Bruckner Conservatory at the young age of seventeen, Mario had already conducted major works from the choral and symphonic canon before he graduated from high school. With his period instrument group Ensemble NovAntique Linz, Mario has performed late eighteenth-century repertoire beyond the standard including large-scale sacred and symphonic works and oratorios by composers such as Florian Leopold Gassmann, Joseph Martin Kraus, Antonio Salieri and Georg Christoph Wagenseil. In addition, Mario also collaborates with early music ensembles such as Progetto Semiserio Vienna, Harmony of Nations Baroque Orchestra, Ars Antiqua Austria, and L’Orfeo Baroque Orchestra, Ars Lyrica Houston, Houston Bach Society, and Mercury Chamber Orchestra. Mario Aschauer is Assistant Professor of Music at the Sam Houston State University School of Music where he also directs the Center for Early Music Research and Performance (CEMRAP). Furthermore, he teaches harpsichord and basso continuo at the Rice University Shepherd School of Music. In addition to his conducting degree from the Linz Bruckner Conservatory, Mario holds degrees in harpsichord performance from the University of Music and Performing Arts (Vienna), and a PhD in musicology from the University of Vienna. He has since returned to teach at these institutions. Mario’s current recording projects include a selection of keyboard works by Mozart and Beethoven contemporary Emanuel Aloys Förster. MERCURY SEASON 20/21 | 7 ARTIST PROFILES ANTOINE PLANTE, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR LYNN WYATT CHAIR Praised by audiences and musicians alike for his conducting verve and innovative programming, Antoine Plante has garnered praise for bringing music to life.“Plante led his orchestra, the choir and the soloists in an impressive account of the Requiem: authoritative, vigorous, emotionally intense, at times utterly gripping,’’writes Charles Ward of the Houston Chronicle. Plante is a founder of Mercury Chamber Orchestra, a Houston, Texas- based orchestra that has experienced