The UNCG School of Music has been recognized for years as one of the elite
music institutions in the United States. Fully accredited by the National
Association of Schools of Music since 1938, the School offers the only
comprehensive music program from undergraduate through doctoral study in
both performance and music education in North Carolina. From a total
population of approximately 12,700 university students, the UNCG School of
Music serves over 575 music majors with a full-time faculty and staff of sixty. As
such, the UNCG School of Music ranks among the largest Schools of Music in
the South.
The UNCG School of Music now occupies a new 26 million dollar music building
which is among the finest music facilities in the nation. In fact, the new music
building is the largest academic building on the UNCG Campus. A large music
library with state-of-the-art playback, study and research facilities houses all
music reference materials. Greatly expanded classroom, studio, practice room,
and rehearsal hall spaces are key components of the new structure. Two new
recital halls, a large computer lab, a psychoacoustics lab, electronic music labs,
and recording studio space are additional features of the new facility. In addition,
an enclosed multi-level parking deck adjoins the new music building to serve
students, faculty and concert patrons.
Living in the artistically thriving Greensboro—Winston-Salem—High Point “Triad”
area, students enjoy regular opportunities to attend and perform in concerts
sponsored by such organizations as the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, the
Greensboro Opera Company, and the Eastern Music Festival. In addition,
UNCG students interact first-hand with some of the world’s major artists who
frequently schedule informal discussions, open rehearsals, and master classes at
UNCG.
Costs of attending public universities in North Carolina, both for in-state and out-of-
state students, represent a truly exceptional value in higher education.
For information regarding music as a major or minor field of study, please write:
Dr. John J. Deal, Dean
UNCG School of Music
P.O. Box 26167
Greensboro, North Carolina 27402-6167
(336) 334-5789
On the Web: www.uncg.edu/mus/
University Symphony Orchestra
Robert Gutter, conductor
Richard Earl Cook, guest conductor
featuring
Andrew Willis, fortepiano
Sunday, October 6, 2002
3:30 pm
Aycock Auditorium
Program
Leonore Overture No. 3, Op 72a Ludwig van
Beethoven
(1770-1827)
Richard Earl Cook, guest conductor
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart
Allegro maestoso (1756-1791)
Andante
Allegro vivace assai
Andrew Willis, fortepiano
intermission
La Valse Maurice Ravel
Poème chorégraphique pour orchestre (1875-1937)
Suite from "Der Rosenkavalier,” Op. 59 Richard Strauss
(1864-1948)
Mr. Cook’s appearance is in partial fulfillment of the degree requirements for the
Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting
___________
The hall is equipped with a listening assistance system.
Patrons needing such assistance should please see one of the ushers in the lobby.
Patrons are encouraged to take note of the exits located on all levels of
the auditorium. In an emergency, please use the nearest exit, which may
be behind you or different from the one through which you entered.
UNCG Symphony Orchestra
Violin I
Dan Skidmore,
Co-Concertmaster
Fabrice Dharamraj,
Co-Concertmaster
Emily Arnold
Julia Barefoot
C. Christopher
Katie Costello
Kimberly Farlow
Tim Kim
Kwanghee Park
Wayne Reich
Violin II
Colleen Chenail, Principal
Melissa Ellis,
Assistant Principal
Becky Averill
Emily Blacklin
William Caballero
Jason Caldwell
Will Freeman
Rachel Godwin
Holly Sitton
Viola
Alvoy Bryan, Co-Principal
Sally Barton, Co-Principal
Chip Barnes
Sara Bursey
Morgan Caffey
Jamie DeLong
Katie Hayden
Jamaal Jones
Susannah Plaster
Frances Schaeffer
Patrick Scully
Morgan Smith
Violoncello
Meaghan Skogen,
Co-Principal
Gina Pezzoli, Co-Principal
Margie Baker
Liane Choe
Sarah Dorsey
Mike Hickman
Erin Klimstra
Double Bass
Suzanne Luberecki,
Principal
Andy Hawks,
Assistant Principal
Patrick Byrd
Emily Manansala
Brent Rawls
Ben Wolf
Flute & Piccolo
Amy Cerna, Co-Principal
Katie Verinder, Co Principal
Natalie Frith
Oboe & English Horn
Cathy Meyer, Co-Principal
Melanie Hoffner, Co-Principal
Amanda English, Co-Principal
Matt Ward
Clarinet & Bass Clarinet
Luc Jackman, Co-Principal
Leslie Miller, Co-Principal
Lindsey Clark
Erika Lamb
Horn
Michael Hrivnak, Co-Principal
Mary Pritchett, Co-Principal
Tara Cates, Co-Principal
Helen Peastrel
Richard King
Trumpet
Scott Toth, Co-Principal
Mark Hibshman, Co-Principal
Josh Davies
Justin Stamps
Trombone
Micah Everett, Principal
Amanda Peterson
Sean Devlin
Tuba
Sam Nettleton, Principal
Timpani
A.J. Chenail, Principal
Percussion
Billy Bialecki
Caleb Gaston
Emily Harrison
Julia Thompson
Celesta
Richard Cook
Harp
Bonnie Bach
Richard Earl Cook is among the most active conductors in
the area. He has been the assistant conductor for both
Piedmont Opera Theater in Winston-Salem, and the
Greensboro Opera Company. He has conducted the Saint Louis Symphony
Chorus, the Winston-Salem/Piedmont Triad Symphony, the Winston-Salem
Youth Symphony, the Greensboro Youth Symphony, and the Charlotte Youth
Symphony. Mr. Cook has been on the faculty of Elon College and the North
Carolina School of the Arts, where he conducted the NCSA Cantata Singers and
worked with the Summer Session. In addition to directing the North State
Chorale, he is Director of Choral Activities at High Point University, and Director
of Church Music at Macedonia Lutheran Church in Burlington. He is currently
enrolled in the DMA program in orchestral conducting at The University of North
Carolina at Greensboro, where he is the assistant to maestro Robert Gutter.
Andrew Willis holds the B.M. from the Curtis Institute of Music, the M.M. in
Accompanying from Temple University, and the D.M.A. in Historical Performance
from Cornell. A former student of Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Willis has taught at
several colleges and universities and at Tanglewood. Willis played piano and
celeste for the Philadelphia Orchestra for several years and directed that city's
1807 and Friends Chamber Ensemble. He has appeared as soloist with several
major orchestras and has given recitals and master classes throughout the
United States, often on original historical pianos or replicas. He has recorded a
wide range of solo and chamber repertoire for CRI, Albany, Newport Classics,
and Claves.
Ludwig van Beethoven:
Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72a
The beginning of the 19th century was a troubling time in Beethoven’s life. His
family troubles had reached a breaking point, he had accepted the notion that his
hearing loss might be permanent, and he had contemplated and rejected the idea
University Band
Tuesday, October 8, 2002
7:30 pm, Aycock Auditorium · ℑ
John Fadial, violin
Faculty Recital
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
7:30 pm, Recital Hall · ℑ
UNCG Choruses and Orchestra
William Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast
Saturday, October 19, 2002
3:30 pm, Aycock Auditorium · ℑ
ℑ denotes a ticketed event. Please contact the University Box Office by visiting
Aycock Auditorium or Room 215 of the School of Music weekdays from Noon-5 pm,
or by calling (336) 334-4849.
upcoming performances
of suicide. His legendary Heiligenstadt Testament, written in 1802, illustrates
with startling clarity the depth of Beethoven’s despair.
His recovery from depression was as quick as his depression had been deep,
achieved by hard work at composition. It is surprising that this period in
Beethoven’s life, though so dark, would see the production of his fourth, fifth, and
sixth symphonies, as well as his first and only foray into the world of opera. The
work was completed in 1805 and premiered (unsuccessfully) as Fidelio in
November of that year. The presence in the audience not of Beethoven’s
supporters, who had fled the city at the invasion of Napoleon’s troops, but of
French soldiers, ensured the failure. After drastic cuts and a revised overture
(tonight’s Number 3), the work was successfully produced in 1806, billed again
as Fidelio. Beethoven had wanted to call the opera Leonore, but eventually
agreed to the change.
The work itself is of the genre commonly referred to as “Rescue Opera,” and
serves as a sort of bridge between the operas of Mozart and German romantic
opera. Fidelio is based on a German libretto derived from a French text by Jean
Nicolas Bouilly. Florestan, unjustly imprisoned, is rescued by his wife, Leonore,
who disguises herself as a man, and is armed with little more than the fidelity of
her love. Of the three versions of the opera (not counting an earlier, unrealized
production, which included Leonore Overture No. 1), the version of 1814 has be-come
the definitive setting in use today. The Overture to Fidelio is used to open
the work, and Leonore Overture No. 3 is often played between Acts 2 and 3.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467
The mid-1780s were to be among the most productive and successful years of
Mozart’s life. He had moved to Vienna, where numerous publishers, including
Artaria, brought out several of his works. During this time Mozart composed in
nearly every genre: symphonies, operas, chamber works, and concertos. The
twelve piano concertos he wrote between 1783 and 1786 are considered the
most important of their kind.
The concerto in C, K. 467, was written in January and February of 1785, and was
premiered on March 9 of that year. Mozart was twenty-nine and had six more
years to live. His circumstances alternated between happiness (his marriage)
and grim apprehension (overwork and failing health). He had completed Die
Entführung aus dem Serail , but Don Giovanni was two years away. His
compositional style had changed since arriving in Vienna, possibly developing
naturally or as a reaction to his “late-Salzburg” period. Whatever the reason, the
changes in Mozart’s attitudes toward composition reveals themselves in the
leaner, more transparent textures of his orchestration.
The first movement begins with the promise of drama. The opening theme has
been described by C.M. Girdlestone as “a tip-toed march, in stocking feet.”
Although Don Giovanni is still to come, Leporello seems already to be present.
The second movement suggests three things: 1) that it is rich in musical ideas; 2)
that a single hearing is not enough to reveal those ideas; and 3) that its beauty is
almost indescribable. After the depth and beauty of the first two movements, the
finale must take a different path, that of a comedy in rondo form. The last
movement so completely ignores the grandeur of the first two that it is hard to
imagine oneself in the previous mood.
Maurice Ravel:
La Valse
An inscription at the head of the score to La Valse reads thus:
“Through whirling clouds, waltzing couples may be faintly
distinguished. The clouds gradually scatter: one sees . . . an
immense hall peopled with a whirling crowd. The scene is
gradually illuminated. The light of the chandeliers bursts forth
at the fortissimo. An imperial court, about 1855.”
Such was Ravel’s conception of what he at first had called Wien: poème
symphonique, and which he described as “a sort of apotheosis of the Viennese
waltz,” intermingled with “the impression of a fantastic and fatal whirling.” The
possible link between Ravel and Edgar Allen Poe is difficult to escape. Poe’s
work was freely used among French Symbolists for its imagery, and the “gay and
magnificent revel” of The Mask of the Red Death (1842) is suggested as a model
for La Valse.
Ravel worked on the idea for La Valse for fourteen years. As early as 1906, he
spoke of his plans to compose a sort of homage to Johann Strauss. Ravel loved
the rhythms of the Viennese waltz, and sought to express the joy found in the
“modern” replacement for the menuet. Yet La Valse is much more than a
lengthy, picturesque version of the dance, and some would say it contains every
characteristic element of the dance — except for the joy. There is an element of
what some would call parody in the music that seems to delight not only in the
gradual development of the waltz but also in its disintegration. On the other
hand, it may have been more parallel than parody; just as the elegant life of
Vienna was shattered by World War I, so La Valse is shattered by its own climax.
The work was premiered at the concerts Lamoureux on January 8, 1920, and has
since that time ranked in Ravel’s works alongside Bolero and Daphnis et Chloé.
It reveals an aspect of Ravel’s character not easily seen in his other
compositions. Its essence may remain obscure, but its power has never
diminished.
Richard Strauss:
Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59
Richard Strauss may be said to have had a case of mistaken identity; some said
he was the aesthetic descendant of Wagner, even though by upbringing and
musical training he was more nearly like Wagner’s nemesis, Mendelssohn. After
the success of his tone poem Don Juan, he was called the heir to Liszt. Even
today, those unfamiliar with his lineage consider him to be related to the other
Strauss family, the waltz kings Johann and Josef. The appearance in 1911 of
Der Rosenkavalier on the heels of such triumphs as Feuersnot, Salome, and
Elektra might be seen as a step backward for Richard Strauss, and a comparison
to Mozart would be inescapable. Looking back to the fairytale time of Maria
Theresa, Der Rosenkavalier is even more rife with intrigue, more opulent, and
more voluptuous than Le Nozze di Figaro.
In the opera the dominant character is the Marschallin, whose presence is
constantly felt, even though she is absent from the end of Act I to the middle of
Act III. In the orchestral suite the emphasis is quite different, and we are
reminded that the title is Der Rosenkavalier , and not Die Marschallin. The accent
in the suite is on youth and its joys, and not on age and its regrets.
There have been several orchestra suites drawn from the opera, including one by
Strauss himself based on a film version of 1926. The suite performed this
evening has come to be known as the standard, and was approved by the
composer for publication in 1945. Its sections include the prelude to Act I, the
presentation of the silver rose, the arrival of Ochs and waltzes from Act II, and
the ensembles and waltz from Act III.
—Program Notes by Richard E. Cook
Robert Gutter is currently Director of Orchestral Activities at
UNCG and also serves as Music Director of the Philharmonia
of Greensboro and the Fayetteville Symphony. In 1966 he
received an appointment as Principal Guest Conductor of the
National Symphony Orchestra of the Ukraine in Kiev. He is
founder and artistic director for the International Institute for
Conductors in Kiev. In his 30 years as a professional
conductor, he has devoted himself to both professional and
non-professional orchestras in over twenty countries. In
addition to his symphonic engagements he has appeared with opera companies
both in the United States and in Europe. Prior to accepting his orchestral posts in
North Carolina in 1988, he served as Music Director and Conductor of the
Springfield, Massachusetts, Symphony for sixteen years. In 1986 he was named
"Conductor Emeritus" of that Orchestra. Prior to his professional conducting,
Gutter was principal trombonist with the Washington National Symphony. He
holds the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Yale University.
University Symphony Orchestra
Robert Gutter, conductor
Richard Cook, guest conductor
featuring
Andrew Willis, fortepiano
Sunday, October 6, 2002
3:30 pm
Aycock Auditorium
Program
Leonore Overture No. 3, Op 72a Ludwig van
Beethoven
(1770-1827)
Richard Earl Cook, guest conductor
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart
Allegro maestoso (1756-1791)
Andante
Allegro vivace assai
Andrew Willis, fortepiano
intermission
La Valse Maurice Ravel
Poème Choregraphique pour Orchestre (1875-1937)
Suite from "Der Rosenkavalier,” Op. 59 Richard Strauss
(1864-1948)
___________
The hall is equipped with a listening assistance system.
Patrons needing such assistance should please see one of the ushers in the lobby.
Patrons are encouraged to take note of the exits located on all levels of
the auditorium. In an emergency, please use the nearest exit, which may
be behind you or different from the one through which you entered.
