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 JANUARY 19, 2020 | VII GUEST ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES | VIII FEBRUARY 16, 2020 | XV GUEST ARTIST BIOGRAPHY | XVI FRESNO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA | XXV ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF | XXVI BOARD OF DIRECTORS | XXVI CONTRIBUTORS TO THE FRESNO PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION | XXVIII 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 © 2020. 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, Happy New Year! 2020 has very special significance for the classical music world as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven. It would be hard to overstate the importance of Beethoven to the development of the symphony orchestra. His nine symphonies redefined what could be expressed through the symphonic form, pointing the way to the Romantic era and beyond. In January we present an all-Beethoven program focused on the revolutionary character of Beethoven’s music, politically as well as aesthetically. Both the opera Fidelio and the Eroica symphony broke new ground musically and very directly reflected the political convulsions of Europe after the French Revolution. Beethoven’s unusual Triple Concerto for piano, violin and cello will give me the opportunity to conduct the Fresno Philharmonic for the first time from the keyboard. I look forward to performing this wonderful piece with our Concertmaster Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio and guest cellist Julie Albers. In February, we welcome the phenomenal pianist Barry Douglas to perform Shostakovich’s delightful Piano Concerto No. 2. While Barry is well known to Fresno audiences from his multiple appearances on the Keyboard Concerts series, this will be his Fresno Philharmonic debut. This concert will run the gamut from California composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s exciting and percussive Escaramuza to Rachmaninoff’s lushly melodic Symphony No. 2. It will be a marvelous demonstration of the range of our incredible orchestra. Thanks for being here and enjoy! 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. Rei will make several exciting debuts in the 2019/20 season when © Todd Rosenberg © Todd 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 JANUARY 19, 2020 WILLIAM SAROYAN THEATRE Rei Hotoda, conductor and piano Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio, violin Julie Albers, cello LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Overture to Fidelio, Op. 72 c. 6 min. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Concerto for Piano, Violin and Cello in c. 33 min. C Major, Op. 56 Allegro Largo Rondo alla polacca — INTERMISSION — LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No.3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 (Eroica) c. 47 min. Allegro con brio Marcia funebre. Adagio assai Scherzo. Allegro vivace Finale. Allegro molto Inside the Music is presented one hour prior to the concert thanks to the sponsorship of McCormick Barstow, LLP. Julie Albers appears by arrangement with Christina Daysog Concert Artists. 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 STEPHANIE SANT’AMBROGIO, violin Described by Gramophone Magazine as a “violinist who most often takes your breath away” and praised as an “expressive and passionate chamber musician” by the San Antonio Express- News, Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio enjoys a varied performing and recording career as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader. Professor of Violin and Viola at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and member of the Argenta Trio, she is also Artistic Director of Cactus Pear Music Festival, which she founded in 1997 while serving as Concertmaster of the San Antonio Symphony. Previously First Assistant Principal Second Violin of The Cleveland Orchestra, under Christoph von Dohnányi, she toured and recorded internationally with this ensemble for eight seasons. Ms. Sant’Ambrogio has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.S. as well as in Mexico, Canada, Estonia, Sweden, Ghana, Italy, Peru and Chile. In 2009, she was appointed Concertmaster of the Lancaster Festival Orchestra and the following year was appointed Concertmaster of the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra. That same year she was awarded UNR’s prestigious Alan Bible Teaching Excellence Award. In addition to her active performing career, Stephanie is devoted to teaching serious young violinists, many who have won positions in America’s symphonies and universities.