THE NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC at the Music Center at Strathmore Piotr Gajewski, Music Director & Conductor FALL & WINTER 2019-2020 PROGRAM WHAT’S INSIDE Welcome | 3 2019-20 Season Calendar | 4 Eroica + Beethoven | 6 The Music of ABBA | 12 Voices of Light | 14 Holiday Singin’ Pops | 19 Handel’s Messiah | 22 Jupiter Symphony | 32 National Philharmonic Orchestra | 36 National Philharmonic Chorale | 37 Board of Directors | 38 Supporters | 38 Heritage Society | 43 National Philharmonic Staff | 43 ADVERTISING Onstage Publications 937-424-0529 | 866-503-1966 e-mail: [email protected] www.onstagepublications.com The National Philharmonic program is published in association with Onstage Publications, 1612 Prosser Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45409. The National Philharmonic program may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. Onstage Publications is a division of Just Business!, Inc. Contents © 2019. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC 1 2 NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC Welcome elcome to the National Philharmonic’s W2019-2020 Season at the Music Center at Strathmore! The year 2020 will mark the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven, so we begin and end our season with several of his masterworks. The season opens on September 21 and 22 with the unique Triple Concerto, featuring the award-winning Eroica Trio, followed by the groundbreaking Symphony No. 3 (Eroica). For those with more than classical tastes, the Philharmonic, in November, features the music of ABBA with the tribute band Arrival from Sweden. Later in the month, Voices of Light, an original composition for solo voices, chorus and orchestra by Richard Einhorn, is performed as a backdrop to the silent movie classic The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928). December brings Holiday Singin’ Pops with Mallin credit Jay Photo top Broadway talent and the Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale, all under the direction of pops sensation conductor Luke Frazier. Also in December: our popular performances of Handel’s Messiah. In January, I look forward to the return of pianist Orli Shaham, who joins the orchestra and me for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20, followed by my all-time favorite, the Jupiter Symphony. I look forward to seeing you at the concerts! Piotr Gajewski Music Director & Conductor NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC 3 NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC 2019-20 CALENDAR EROICA + BEETHOVEN HOLIDAY SINGIN’ POPS SAT SEPT 21, 2019 8PM FRI DEC 6, 2019 7:30PM SUN SEPT 22, 2019 3PM Note: No pre-concert lecture Sat + Sun: Member Encore Q&A Ali Ewoldt Phantom of the Opera Sun 2-2:30pm: Meet the Musicians Hilary Morrow Birdland Jazz Club Eroica Trio Kevin Rose international vocalist Erika Nickrenz, piano Evan Ruggiero acclaimed tap dancer Sara Parkins, violin Luke Frazier conductor Sara Sant’Ambrogio, cello National Philharmonic Chorale Piotr Gajewski, conductor Join top-level Broadway and international talent for a fun and Beethoven Triple Concerto in C Major festive evening featuring fresh new takes on traditional and Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major (“Eroica”) beloved holiday songs. Come early to take a festive photo with Santa, decorate an ornament and hear young carolers. Sponsored by Ms. Jane Liu & Mr. Edward Brinker THE MUSIC OF ABBA HALLELUJAH! HANDEL’S MESSIAH ARRIVAL FROM SWEDEN SAT DEC 21, 2019 8PM SAT NOV 2, 2019 8PM SUN DEC 22, 2019 3PM Note: No pre-concert lecture For Young People: Participate in the Esther Heideman, soprano Color the Music Project Magdalena Wór, mezzo-soprano Matthew Loyal Smith, tenor ABBA Musicians Kevin Deas, bass Piotr Gajewski, conductor National Philharmonic Chorale Relive the musical and movie Mamma Mia as ABBA musicians Stan Engebretson, conductor perform the group’s greatest hits including Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia, Take a Chance, Waterloo, Fernando and more! JUPITER SYMPHONY SAT JAN 18, 2020 8PM VOICES OF LIGHT SUN JAN 19, 2020 3PM SILENT FILM WITH Sat + Sun: Member Encore Q&A LIVE ORCHESTRA & CHORALE Sun 2-2:30pm: Meet the Musicians Featuring The Passion of Joan of Arc Orli Shaham, piano SAT NOV 23, 2019 8PM Piotr Gajewski, conductor Suzanne Karpov, soprano Mozart Overture to Il Re Pastore Katherine Pracht, mezzo-soprano (The Shepherd King) Matthew Loyal Smith, tenor Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor Kerry Wilkerson, baritone with Beethoven cadenzas National Philharmonic Chorale Symphony No. 41 (“Jupiter”) Stan Engebretson, conductor Sponsored by Rochelle Stanfield & Edward Grossman PIANIST BRIAN GANZ 10th CHOPIN—THE GROWTH OF GENIUS Year! SAT FEB 1, 2020 8PM Note: No pre-concert lecture Featuring Chopin masterpieces such as the great Polonaise- Fantaisie, the Funeral March Waltzes, Op. 34 and Nocturnes, Op. 27, along with the surprisingly engaging youthful efforts that made them possible. 4 NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC BLACK CLASSICAL MUSIC PIONEERS MUSIC + PROSE SAT FEB 22, 2020 8PM SAT APRIL 18, 2020 8PM 6:45-7:30pm: Meet the Composers Melissa White, violin (Sphinx Competition winner) Member Encore Q&A Piotr Gajewski, conductor Danielle Talamantes, soprano Wynton Marsalis Wild Strumming of Fiddle Zuill Bailey, cello (three-time Grammy winner) (from All Rise) Piotr Gajewski, conductor Florence Price Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major George Walker Lyric for Strings Samuel Barber Overture to The School for Scandal William Grant Still Symphony No. 1 (“Afro-American”) Henry Dehlinger The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock A Rhapsody for Voice and Sponsored by Patricia Haywood Moore & Roscoe M. Moore, Jr. Orchestra (orchestral premiere) Alistair Coleman Concerto for Cello and Orchestra MOZART REQUIEM (world premiere) SAT MARCH 21, 2020 8PM Michael Daugherty Tales of Hemingway Member Encore Q&A Sponsored by the Prufrock Fund Suzanne Karpov, soprano Magdalena Wór, mezzo-soprano Norman Shankle, tenor BEETHOVEN’S MISSA SOLEMNIS SAT MAY 30, 2020 8PM Kevin Deas, bass For Young People: Participate in the Jon Manasse, clarinet Color the Music Project National Philharmonic Chorale Piotr Gajewski, conductor Esther Heideman, soprano Shirin Eskandani, mezzo-soprano W. A. Mozart Clarinet Concerto in A Major Norman Shankle, tenor Requiem in D Minor Kerry Wilkerson, baritone National Philharmonic Chorale Piotr Gajewski, conductor Free pre-concert lectures are offered 75 minutes before concerts throughout the season. Please check nationalphilharmonic.org for up-to-date information. NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC 5 EROICA + BEETHOVEN SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2019, 8PM SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2019, 3PM The National Philharmonic Piotr Gajewski, Music Director and Conductor EROICA + BEETHOVEN Eroica Trio Erika Nickrenz, piano Sara Parkins, violin Sara Sant’Ambrogio, cello Piotr Gajewski, conductor Star-Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major (“Triple Concerto”) Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Allegro Largo Rondo alla polacca INTERMISSION Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major (“Eroica”) Ludwig van Beethoven Allegro con brio Adagio assai (“Marcia funebre”) Scherzo—Allegro vivace Finale—Allegro molto Weekend Sponsor: Ms. Jane Liu & Mr. Edward Brinker All Kids, All Free, All The Time is sponsored in part by Mrs. Patricia Haywood Moore and Dr. Roscoe M. Moore, Jr. and Dieneke Johnson. The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Center Stage 6 NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES Piotr Gajewski, for young string players and singers, conductor master classes with esteemed visiting artists, and a concerto competition for “Immensely talented high-school students. Working with and insightful conductor, the local school system, Gajewski also whose standards, taste established and conducts annual concerts and sensitivity are for all Montgomery County second grade Photo credit Jay Mallin credit Jay Photo impeccable,” raves students, some 12,000 each year! The Washington Post. Piotr Gajewski, a student and disciple of the late Leonard In his native Poland, Gajewski has Bernstein, continues to thrill audiences all appeared with the Warsaw Philharmonic, over the world with inspiring performances the Krakow Philharmonic and with most of great music. “His courtly, conservative other major orchestras. Since 2007, he movements matched the music’s mood. A also regularly serves as the only American flick of the finger, and a fanfare sounded. on the jury of the prestigious Grzegorz He held up his palm, and the musicians Fitelberg International Competition quieted. It was like watching a race car in for Conductors. the hands of a good driver,” reports The Buffalo News. Gajewski began studying piano at age four. After immigrating to the United With one foot in the United States, as States, he continued his studies at the the Music Director & Conductor of the Preparatory Division of the New England National Philharmonic at the Music Center Conservatory, at Carleton College in at Strathmore, and the other in Europe, Minnesota, and at the University of as the Principal Guest Conductor of the Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, Silesian Philharmonic (Katowice, Poland) where he earned B.M. and M.M. degrees and frequent guest at other orchestras, in orchestral conducting. His conducting the jet-set maestro’s seemingly limitless mentors, in addition to Bernstein, with repertoire, most conducted without a whom he studied at the Tanglewood score, amazes critics and audiences alike. Music Center on a Leonard Bernstein Conducting Fellowship, include such Maestro Gajewski is one of a select group luminaries as Seiji Ozawa, André Previn, of American conductors equally at home Gunther Schuller and Maurice Abravanel. in nearly all musical