Symphony Flint

MAY 8, 2021

CONCERT SPONSORSMr. Edward Davison, Attorneyat Law & Dr. Cathy O. Blight,

Dr. Brenda Fortunate & C. Edward White, Mrs. Linda LeMieux, Drs. Bobby &

Nita Mukkamala, Dr. Mark & Genie Plucer

Whiting Foundation

FIM SEASONSPONSOR

A Program of the Flint Institute of Music

ENRIQUE DIEMECKE, MUSIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR

SymphonyFlint

Orchestra

The Flint Symphony Orchestra (FSO) is one of the finest orchestras of its size in the nation. Its rich 103-year history as a cultural icon

in the community is testament to the dedication of world-class performance from the musicians and Flint and Genesee County audiences alike. The FSO has been performing under the baton of Maestro Enrique Diemecke for over 30 years now – one of the longest tenures for a Music Director in the country. Under the Maestro’s unwavering musical integrity and commitment to the community, the FSO has connected with audiences throughout southeast Michigan, delivering outstanding artistry and excellence.

Flint Symphony Orchestra2020 – 21 Season

WELCOME TO THE 2020 – 21 SEASON WITH YOUR FLINT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA!

Flint Institute of Music gratefully acknowledges the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for their continued support. Learn more at Mott.org.

This program and/or service is funded in whole or in part by the Genesee County Arts Education and Cultural Enrichment Millage funds. Your tax dollars are at work.

T H E F S O . O R G

SEASON AT A GLANCE

STRAVINSKY & PROKOFIEVFAMILY DAY

SAT, FEB 6, 2021 @ 7:30PM Cathy Prevett, narrator

SAINT-SAËNS & BRAHMSSAT, MAR 6, 2021 @ 7:30PM

Noelle Naito, violin2020 William C. Byrd Winner

BEETHOVEN & DVOŘÁKSAT, APR 10, 2021 @ 7:30PM

Joonghun Cho, piano

BRUCH & TCHAIKOVSKYSAT, MAY 8, 2021 @ 7:30PM

Julian Rhee, violin

AN EVENING WITHDAMIEN ESCOBAR

SAT, JUNE 19, 2021 @ 7:30PMDamien Escobar, violin

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All dates are subject to change. Please visit theFSO.org for updates.

This activity is supported by the Michigan Council for

Arts & Cultural Affairs.

Flint Symphony OrchestraFlint School of Performing Arts

Flint Repertory Theatre

Enrique Diemecke Music Director & Conductor

Enrique Diemecke is Artistic General Director of the world-renowned Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and is the first internationally acclaimed

conductor to hold the position as artistic leader of the 110-year-old acoustical and architectural marvel, considered by many to be the greatest opera house in the world. Maestro Diemecke began his rise to musical leadership at the Teatro Colón as Music Director of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, an anchor ensemble of the theater. He continues at the helm of the Philharmonic an unprecedented 16 years, and has overseen all artistic activities of opera, concerts and ballet, since February of 2017. Maestro Diemecke is delighted to anticipate his 32nd season as Music Director of the award-winning Flint Symphony Orchestra this season.

Enrique Diemecke enjoys an international recording, operatic and concert career. He brings an electrifying balance of passion, intellect and technique to his performances. Warmth, pulse and spontaneity are all hallmarks of his conducting – conducting that has earned him an international reputation for performances that are riveting in their sweep and dynamism. In the words of The New York Times, Diemecke is a conductor of “fierceness and authority.” A noted interpreter of the works of Mahler, Maestro Diemecke has been awarded a Mahler Society medal for his performances of the composer’s complete symphonies. Maestro Diemecke is a frequent guest of orchestras throughout the world, most notably the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, French National Orchestra and many more. Maestro Diemecke is an experienced conductor of opera, having served as Music Director of the Bellas Artes Opera of Mexico from 1984-1990, where he led more than 20 productions including Faust, La bohème, Salome, Elektra, Ariadne auf Naxos, Der fliegende Hollander, Rigoletto, Turandot, Madama Butterfly and Roméo et Juliette. He has since returned as a guest conductor with new productions of Lohengrin, Boris Godunov and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. Maestro Diemecke returned to opera as he opened the 2007-2008 season of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires with a new production of Werther, followed by performances of Massenet’s Le Jongleur de Notre Dame with tenor Roberto Alagna in Montpellier, which was released by Deutsche Grammophon and awarded the prestigious Grand Prix de l’Academie du Disque Lyrique. He is a regular guest of the famed Teatro Zarzuela in Madrid, and was awarded the

T H E F S O . O R G

theFSO.org | 20 – 21 3

Jean Fontaine Orpheus d’Or Gold Medal for “best vocal music recording” by France’s Academy of Lyric Recordings for his recording of Donizetti’s The Exiles of Siberia with the L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier-Languedoc-Roussillon. Maestro Diemecke was previously honored with a Gold Medal from the Academy of Lyric Recordings with the Bruno Walter Orpheus d’Or Prize for “Best Opera Conductor” for his live recording of Mascagni’s Parisina, from the Radio France Festival. With 20 years at the helm of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, Maestro Diemecke led the ensemble on a ten-city tour of the United States, culminating with a program of Latin American masterworks at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Maestro Diemecke is an accomplished composer and orchestral arranger, and has conducted his Die-Sir-E, during the Mexican National Symphony Orchestra tour of the U.S. in 1999. The Die-Sir-E was commissioned by the Radio France Festival for the World Cup Final Concert in France in 1998. Maestro Diemecke was commissioned to write a tone poem

for the Flint Symphony Orchestra, and his works Chacona a Chávez and Guitar Concerto have received many performances both in Europe and in the United States. During the 2001-2002 season, he gave the world premiere of his work Camino y vision, dedicated to President Vincente Fox, with the Tulsa Philharmonic. Maestro Diemecke’s recording with the Flint Symphony Orchestra of the 1896 version of Mahler’s First Symphony (which includes the subsequently deleted “Blumine” movement) was nominated for a Grammy Award. Born in Mexico City, Enrique Diemecke comes from a large family of classical musicians. He began to play the violin at the age of six studying for many years with the legendary violinist Henryk Szeryng. At the age of nine he added french horn, piano and percussion to his studies. Mr. Diemecke attended Catholic University in Washington, D.C. and continued his studies with Charles Bruck at the Pierre Monteux School for Advanced Conductors on a scholarship granted by Madame Monteux.■

FIM SEASON SPONSOR - Whiting Foundation

CONCERT SPONSORS Mr. Edward Davison, Attorney at Law & Dr. Cathy O. Blight, Dr. Brenda Fortunate & C.

Edward White, Mrs. Linda LeMieux, Drs. Bobby & Nita Mukkamala, Dr. Mark & Genie Plucer

GUEST ARTIST SPONSORS Howard & Rita Shand


T H E F S O . O R GFlint Symphony OrchestraProgram

Enrique Diemecke, Music Director & ConductorJulian Rhee, Violin

Max Bruch(1838 - 1920)

Violin Concerto No. 1 I. Vorspiel: Allegro moderato

II. Adagio

III. Finale: Allegro energico

FIM SEASON SPONSOR - Whiting Foundation

CONCERT SPONSORS Mr. Edward Davison, Attorney at Law & Dr. Cathy O. Blight, Dr. Brenda Fortunate & C.

Edward White, Mrs. Linda LeMieux, Drs. Bobby & Nita Mukkamala, Dr. Mark & Genie Plucer

GUEST ARTIST SPONSORS Howard & Rita Shand

Pyotr Illyick Tchaikovsky(1840 - 1893)

Symphony No. 3, Polish I. Introduzione e Allegro II. Allegro brillante III. Alla tedesca IV. Andante V. Finale

Julian Rhee, Violin


Members of the string section listed after the principal chairs rotate seating throughout the season.

FIRST VIOLINZeljko Milicevic Acting ConcertmasterMolly Hughes Acting Associate

Concertmaster In Memory of Katherine Yeotis, Endowed Chair

Debra TerryJennifer BergJudith TeasdleSander KostallariBonita Sweda In Memory of Robert J. Breeden by the Breeden Family, Endowed ChairCyril Zilka

SECOND VIOLINKaren Donato

Acting PrincipalLorrie Gunn Acting Assistant

PrincipalJoseph DellerMaria BuccoJunqi Tang In Memory of Cornelia H. Norton, Endowed Chair

Chase WardDaniel Winnick

VIOLAJanine Bradbury Principal Tonya Ketzler, Ketzler Florist, Endowed Chair

Alice Risov Acting Assistant Principal

Hannah BreyerAlycia Wilder In Memory of Cornelia H. Norton, Endowed Chair

Matthew ForsleffCatherine Franklin In Memory of Harry Sutton, Endowed Chair

CELLOJudith Vander Weg

Principal In Memory of Anna Paulina Koegel, Endowed Chair

Timothy Nicolia Acting Assistant Principal

Thurston MatthewsJulia Ford EdwardsJinhyun Kim In Memory of Evelyn Shores Hall, Endowed Chair

BASSGregg Emerson Powell

Principal

BASS (CONTINUED)Robert Rohwer

Acting Assistant PrincipalDerrick Tietz In Memory of Cornelia H. Norton, Endowed Chair

FLUTEBrandon LePage

Principal In Memory of Frances Willson Thompson, Endowed Chair

Emily Olson In Loving Memory of Allan E. Walters by Barbara Walters

PICCOLOScott Graddy OBOELindabeth Binkley

PrincipalSally Pituch In Memory of Tom Zorn by Family and Friends of FIM, Endowed Chair

CLARINETNicholas Thompson Acting PrincipalJanet Pinto Sommerfeld

Photographs or sound recordings of these performances, or the possession of any device for visual or sound recording, are prohibited inside the auditorium without the express written consent of management. The Flint Institute of Music is an equal opportunity employer and provides programs and services without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex or handicap. Programs of the Flint Institute of Music are made possible with the support of the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.

T H E F S O . O R GFlint Symphony OrchestraPersonnel


BASSOONRoger Maki-Schramm PrincipalDean Zimmerman

HORNCarrie Banfield-Taplin Principal In Memory of the late Joseph D. & Almeda B. Hunter, Endowed Chair

Alan Taplin Acting Assistant PrincipalKatherine WidlarRobin Von WaldClinton Webb

TRUMPETMichael McGowan Acting Principal In Memory of Lucy Schultz, Endowed Chair

Eric Fontan

TROMBONEJohn Upton PrincipalZongxi LiGreg Lanzi

TUBAJoseph DeMarsh Principal

TIMPANITerence Farmer

Principal

PERSONNEL MANAGERGregg Emerson Powell

LIBRARIANKaren Donato


Violin Concerto No. 1MAX BRUCH (1838 - 1920)

The Rathausturm (City Hall Tower) in Cologne, Germany was nearly destroyed during the Second World War, and

rebuilt only in 1975. In 1981, the city decided to commission statues of famous people significant in the city’s development to decorate the outside of the structure. The tower would thus serve as a visual history of the city, ascending chrono-logically from the bottom to the top. On the third floor of the south face of the tower, there is a statue of a man dressed in an old-fashioned frock coat, sporting long, thick hair down to his shoulders, a short but luxuriant beard and a bushy walrus mustache. He poses holding one hand up to his ear, signifying that listening was an important part of his life. This Dickens-like figure is composer Max Bruch, born in Cologne in 1838, and, in his lifetime, one of the most famous composers in all of Europe. Bruch received his earliest musical training from his mother, an accomplished soprano. His first compositions were writ-ten when he was nine, and at age fourteen he won the presti-gious Frankfurt Mozart-Stiftung Prize for music composition. Through a long and distinguished career he wrote over 200 works, including four operas, three symphonies, three violin concertos, and numerous additional symphonic, choral, and chamber works. He earned the reputation as a notable con-ductor, serving as music director for orchestras from Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland) to Liverpool, and in 1893 he accepted an invitation from the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston to lead a performance of his own oratorio Arminius. He excelled as a teacher as well, spending the final twenty years of his career teaching musical composition in Berlin. Just as time and weather relentlessly erode and alter statues, time and the fickle dictates of musical fashion inevitably take their toll upon the popularity and reputation of every compos-er, for good or ill. While composers like Beethoven, Wagner, and Stravinsky created new musical innovations throughout their lives, Bruch, whose training was firmly rooted in the “Classical” Romanticism of Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Brahms, was still writing in the same conservative style at his death in 1920 as he did sixty years earlier. For all his prolific output, in our time only three of Bruch’s compositions are heard recurrently in the concert hall: Kol Nidrei for cello and orchestra, the Scottish Fantasy for violin and orchestra, and the Violin Concerto No. 1. Of these three works, it is the First Concerto that is heard most frequently on orchestra programs; it was Bruch’s first successful major work, and it has main-tained its place as one of the cornerstones of the violin reper-toire, beloved by violinists and audiences alike. The First Concerto was Bruch’s first major orchestral work, and he struggled with the construction of it over several years. After a preliminary performance in 1866, Bruch remained dis-satisfied and withdrew it from performance. In consultation

with the renowned violinist Joseph Joachim, Bruch revised the concerto substantially, and conducted the new version in Bremen on January 7, 1868, with Joachim as soloist. Joachim performed it frequently, and late in life he stated that it belonged in the highest ranks of concertos for the instrument, worthy to be compared to the concertos of Beethoven, Brahms, and Mendelssohn. The score bears a dedication to Joachim in appreciation for his advice and advocacy of the concerto. One of Bruch’s concerns was that the opening movement was too brief and too free-form to be considered a concerto. He had originally titled the movement Introduzione-Fantasia, but changed it to Vorspiel (Prelude) in the revised version. Bruch had thought of calling the entire work Fantasia, and expressed that opinion in a letter to Joachim. Joachim thought otherwise: The designation concerto is completely apt. Indeed, the second and third movements are too fully developed for a fan-tasy. The separate sections of the work cohere in a lovely rela-tionship, and yet—and this is the most important thing—there is adequate contrast. The Vorspiel opens in the manner of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, with a brief solemn phrases from the orchestral winds answered by expressive and passionate cadenzas from the soloist. The final thunderous statement from the full orchestra leads to the Allegro moderato, where the soloist’s dramatic first theme is presented in fiery chords and flourishes over an ominous pulsing accompaniment. The storms of the Allegro dissipate; the soloist introduces a more lyrical and yearning melody which grows in intensity and subsides before the storm returns. The soloist’s virtuoso acrobatics lead to a fierce orchestral interlude that returns to the opening gesture of the movement. This time, however, the soloist’s cadenzas take us into another passionate orchestral outburst that gen-tly introduces the slow movement, connected to the Vorspiel without a pause. The solo violin begins the Adagio with a melody of great warmth and sweetness. The movement gradually builds in intensity, reaching a rapturous climax in the orchestra, answered with equal ardor by the soloist. After one last nostal-gic recollection of the movement’s melodies, the simplicity of the opening returns and the movement closes serenely. Rustling strings begin the finale with a feeling of anticipa-tion, over which the soloist bursts with a bold theme in double stops, unstoppable in its relentless drive and vigor. A contrast-ing lyrical theme is taken up by both soloist and orchestra, but it is the fireworks of the opening melody that carry the day, accelerating to the exhilarating final chords.▪

Symphony No. 3, PolishPYOTR ILLYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840 - 1893)

It’s one of those things we all know instinctively, but often have a hard time putting into practice: sometimes in order to

Program Notes May 8, 2021


get our best work done, all we need is a little peace and quiet. While many composers thrive on the hustle and bustle of urban life – Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin being notable examples – others found that inspiration flowed freely only when separated from the cares of daily life. Johannes Brahms produced some of his finest works on his summer visits to Pörtschach am Wörthersee in the Austrian province of Carinthia, and Mürzzuschlag in Styria. The Alpine vistas of Pörtschach inspired both his Second Symphony and his Violin Concerto, while the lakes and mountains near Mürzzuschlag stimulated the composition of his Fourth Symphony. Gustav Mahler had to limit his composing to only the summer season, with his autumn, winter and spring occupied with concerts and opera productions. He spent his summers among the mountains and lakes of Steinbach, Maiernigg, and Toblach, composing, hiking, and rejoicing that the musical squabbles and political intrigues of the Vienna Court Opera were miles away. When Tchaikovsky was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, he, too, felt the need to get away from it all in order to write his best music. In his case, he left the city to take advantage of the solitude of the Usovo estate about 260 miles south-southeast of Moscow. The estate was owned by one of Tchaikovsky’s former students, Vladimir Shilovsky. They had first met in 1866 when Shilovsky’s parents hired Tchaikovsky to give their son piano lessons. Shilovsky developed a huge crush on the composer (much to Tchaikovsky’s annoyance), and the wealthy young man’s erratic behavior was also a cause for concern, often endangering his safety and/or his health. Tchaikovsky, not wishing to offend his students wealthy par-ents, persevered in the young man’s instruction, even to the point of bringing Shilovsky home from a sanitorium when he fell seriously ill while traveling. By the 1870s, Shilovsky’s schoolboy crush had softened into admiration and warm affection for the composer, send-ing Tchaikovsky occasional gifts of money to help him make ends meet. Shilovsky often invited Tchaikovsky to be his guest at Usovo, and the composer visited the estate frequently. Tchaikovsky wrote the bulk of his Symphony No. 2 there, as well as his symphonic poem The Tempest. He found the for-ests and wide-open steppes helped to stimulate his creativity, and spent many hours walking the woodland paths. The second term at the Moscow Conservatory in the spring of 1875 must have been particularly exhausting for Tchaikovsky. He left for Usovo as soon as exams finished, and immediately began sketching the Third Symphony. He wrote to a friend:

“I’m now composing a new symphony, and I’m doing a bit at a time. I don’t sit over it for hours on end, and I’m walking more….Nothing’s changed here. Even

the dogs are the same, and they chase after me to have a walk.”

Despite his assertion that he was “doing it a bit at a time,” Tchaikovsky must have tapped into some powerful inspiration at his friend’s estate; he finished the draft of the symphony in just three weeks. To orchestrate it, Tchaikovsky left Usovo and journeyed first to Nizy and then to Verbovka in the Ukraine, roughly 110 miles south of Kiev, where Tchaikovsky’s sister and her husband owned property. The orchestration was completed quickly; the printer’s copy of the full score bears the inscription "Begun 5 June 1875 at Usovo. Finished 1 August 1875 at Verbovka". The score is dedicated to Vladimir Shilovsky, in appreciation of the kind hospitality that helped bring the new symphony to life. The premiere, with the orchestra of the Russian Musical Society conducted by Nikolai Rubinstein in Moscow in November of 1875, was favorably received by public and crit-ics, but since then the Third has become the least performed of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies, found more often on recordings than in the concert hall. You’d be most likely to hear the sym-phony while attending a ballet performance; the great chore-ographer George Balanchine used the last three movements in his ballet Jewels. Tchaikovsky’s Third is often called his “Polish” Symphony, a nickname derived from the rhythms of the polonaise (a Polish dance, best known from the music of Fréderic Chopin) found in the finale; Tchaikovsky even gives the movement the tempo marking “Allegro con fuoco: Tempo di polacca.” The nickname came into use after the first London performance in 1889, but was sanctioned neither by Tchaikovsky nor his publisher. While it is tempting to hear this Polish dance as a gesture of solidarity with the Polish people, in Tchaikovsky’s time, the polonaise was considered a symbol of the power and might of the Romanov dynasty, so Tchaikovsky’s finale would have been heard as support for the Russian Empire, not a revolt against it. The Third Symphony is the most unorthodox of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies, constructed in five movements rather than the typical four, and it is his only symphony in a major key. He may have patterned the work after another Third Symphony, the “Rhenish” Symphony of Robert Schumann, a composer Tchaikovsky greatly admired. It could also be compared to some of the serenades of Mozart, another of Tchaikovsky’s musical heroes, with the middle movements comprising a minuet, a slow movement, and a scherzo, book-ended by the two longest and most complex movements. The opening movement begins with a spooky slow intro-duction, solemn strings haltingly stating a somber march, joined by distant horns and woodwinds. The tempo and the mood brighten suddenly, with the full orchestra surging into



Program Notes by Dr. David Cole © 2021

Dr. David C. Cole, program annotator for the Flint Symphony, also writes program notes for the Lubbock Symphony, the Southwest Florida Symphony, the Meridian Symphony, the Gulf Coast Symphony, and the Pensacola Symphony. He served as the conductor of the Southwest Florida Symphony’s Youth Symphony, the top ensemble of the three orchestras in the Southwest Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra program, from 2012 to 2017. He conducted the Symphony’s Young People’s Concerts and Majors for Minors programs, and he also served as the Symphony’s Education Director and Youth Orchestra Manager. In his tenure conducting the Southwest Florida Symphony’s Youth Symphony, he led them in appearances at Carnegie Hall in New York City in April of 2014, and at the Capital Orchestra Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. in February of 2016. Dr. Cole’s recent guest conducting appearances include concerts with the Marquette Symphony (Michigan), the Colombian National Conservatory Orchestra, the Pleven Philharmonic (Bulgaria), the Orquestra de Camera de Bellas Artes (Mexico City), the Baylor Symphony Orchestra, the El Alto Municipal Youth Orchestra (Bolivia) and the Cincinnati Metropolitan Orchestra. Dr. Cole has previously led the orchestra programs at universities in Florida, Texas, Utah, Kentucky and Michigan and taught orchestra and strings in the Waco, Texas public schools. He has served as the Music Director of the Waupaca Area Orchestra in Wisconsin and the Orchestra of Southern Utah as well as the violinist of the Presque Isle Trio in Michigan. He holds music degrees from West Virginia University, The University of Iowa, Baylor University and The University of Arizona. In 2001, he was selected as one of four conductors to record the national anthems heard during the Medals Ceremonies at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Dr. Cole has assisted in the training of young conductors through lessons and master classes in Colombia, Mexico, Bolivia and Texas. He appears frequently as guest conductor and orchestra clinician with youth orchestras and high school groups throughout the United States as well as university, conservatory and youth orchestras in Central and South America.

the bold Allegro brillante theme, the funeral march of the introduction transformed into a forceful charge. Woodwinds introduce a yearning, melancholy second theme, taken up by strings and then the rest of the orchestra. This movement dances as well as marches, with many passages reminiscent of the composer’s Swan Lake, which Tchaikovsky had begun to compose at about the time as the Third Symphony. The march returns triumphantly and the movement builds to a brilliant coda, speeding forward to the exuberant final chords. The second movement, marked “A la Tedesca” (In the German manner) takes the form of a gentle waltz, or perhaps a German Ländler, the waltz-like peasant dance beloved of both Schubert and Mahler. In the central section, scurrying wood-winds and strings supply a nervous undercurrent to the seren-ity of the elegant dancing. The opening waltz returns, and the movement closes quietly with a bemused flourish from the solo bassoon. The third movement is one of Tchaikovsky’s great symphon-ic elegies, a predecessor of similar movements in his Serenade for Strings (third movement) and Sixth Symphony (final move-ment). At the opening, solo bassoon and horn meditate quietly over pizzicato strings. The string section interrupts with an expressive theme, temporarily lifting the mood, but the music soon retreats back into quiet nostalgia. The woodwinds take up the strings’ yearning idea, joined by the full orchestra in increasing ardor, but again falling short of a cathartic climax.

At the end melancholy returns, the solo bassoon singing a brief lament before the final hopeful woodwind chord. The fourth movement scherzo (Allegro vivo) opens ner-vously with mysterious swirls of woodwind and string figura-tion punctuated by staccato woodwinds. Here, too, the music evokes ballet, with light, airy textures dominating, reminiscent of the Scherzo from Mendelssohn’s music for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The central section features antiphonal dialogue between strings, winds and horns, imitat-ing the sounds of hunting calls. A magical passage of string arpeggios heralds return of the opening scherzo material. In the coda, the cascading flourishes of strings and woodwinds gradually grow softer and the movement suddenly evaporates like the delicate popping of a bubble. The finale launches in glorious splendor, the confident polonaise dancing exuberantly in the full orchestra. The dis-tinct rhythm of the opening is heard fragmented in layers of energetic counterpoint. Woodwinds intone a majestic, chorale-like theme before the polonaise returns. Tchaikovsky then takes the initial notes of the polonaise and creates a virtuoso fugue, with voices entering one after another to create great musical energy, building to a return of the chorale, blazing in triumph in brass and woodwinds. The strings surge headlong into the coda, leading the orchestra’s final sprint to the majes-tic final chords.▪


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The first prize winner of the 2020 Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition, violinist Julian

Rhee is fast gaining recognition as an outstanding musician and performer in the US. An avid soloist, Julian made his Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra debut at age 8, and has gone on to perform with orchestras such as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Symphony Orchestra, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Avanti Symphony Orchestra, West Suburban Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Philharmonic, the Lacrosse Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and most recently, the San Diego Symphony. He has performed in an array of venues including Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall, Heinz Hall, the Overture Center for the Arts, Teatro El Círculo in Rosario, Argentina, The Musikverein in Vienna, Bartok Hall in Hungary, New World Center, and the John F Kennedy Center. Julian is also the first prize winner of the Johansen International Competition in Washington DC. A Finalist of the National YoungArts Foundation, where he per-formed at the New World Center in Miami, Julian was also awarded the Solo Bach, Commissioned Work, and the Elaine H. Klein Prize at the Irving M. Klein International String Competition. Subsequently, Julian appeared at the John F. Kennedy Center as a Presidential Scholar and received his medal at the White House. In the summer of 2018, Julian was the recipient of the 2019 Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation Scholarship, and was named the winner of the Aspen Music Festival Violin

Concerto Competition, where he performed with the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra at Benedict Music Tent. A passionate chamber musician, Julian’s performance on violin and viola earned him and his String Quartet first prize in the 2018 A.N. & Pearl G. Barnett Chamber Music Competition, Rembrandt, Fischoff and the M-Prize International Chamber Arts Competition. This past sum-mer, Julian appeared with the Jupiter Chamber Players in New York City, and also performed with recent Avery Fisher Career Grant Winner Henry Kramer at Pierce Hill Performing Arts in August. Julian has appeared alongside internationally renowned ensemble Time for Three on NPR’s From The Top, 98.7 WFMT’s Introductions, Milwaukee Public Radio 89.7, Milwaukee Public Television, and Wisconsin Public Radio and Television (WPT/WPR). Julian shares his passion for music by serving in the local community as an assist-ing artist and mentor of the Wisconsin Intergenerational Orchestra (WIO), which brings together musicians of all ages and skill levels. In addition, he regularly speaks and performs at schools and retirement homes in Wisconsin and Illinois, most recently at Palo Alto High School, West Bend High School and North Shore Country Day School as its Susan Marshall Artist. Julian studied with Almita and Roland Vamos as a scholarship recipient at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy. He is a graduate of Brookfield East High School as Class President and Valedictorian. He is cur-rently pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree with Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory.▪

Julian RheeV I O L I N

First prize winner oF the 2020 elmar oliveira international violin Competition

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Thank you to our generous sponsors! Your donations keep the Flint Symphony Orchestra playing. You can join this list by calling Sheila Zorn at 810.237.3111 or [email protected] for more information.

ENDOWED PRINCIPAL & ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL CHAIRS$30,000 & UPASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER In Memory of Katherine Yeotis

PRINCIPAL BASS TROMBONE In Honor of Bruce & Barbara Mackey

PRINCIPAL CELLO Anna Paulina Koegel

PRINCIPAL FLUTE Frances Willson Thompson

PRINCIPAL HARPLibby B. Winegarden by daughter, Dorothy W. Booth

PRINCIPAL FRENCH HORN The late Joseph D. & Almeda B. Hunter

PRINCIPAL KEYBOARDIn Memory of Herbert J. Booth

PRINCIPAL TRUMPET In Memory of Lucy Schultz

VIOLA Sponsorship Available

ENDOWED SECTION CHAIRS$20,000 & UPBASS In Honor of Tom Glasscock

BASSIn Memory of Cornelia H. Norton

CELLOIn Memory of Henrietta A. Eickhorst

CELLOIn Memory of Evelyn Shores Hall

FIRST VIOLINIn Memory of Robert J. Breeden by the Breeden Family

FIRST VIOLINIn Memory of Helen Davenport Kleinpell

FIRST VIOLINIn Memory of Barbara Walters

FLUTEIn Loving Memory of Allan E. Walters by Barbara Walters

OBOEIn Memory of Tom Zorn by Family and Friends of FIM

PICCOLOPlante & Moran, PLLC

SECOND VIOLINIn Memory of Cornelia H. Norton

VIOLAIn Memory of Cornelia H. Norton

In Loving Memory ofDr. Samuel DiSmonDJanuary 14, 1932 - February 5, 2021

Dr. Dismond loved Flint and the Flint Institute of Music. We were blessed with his infectious smile,

enthusiasm and grace, as well as his exceptional leader-ship and philanthropic support throughout two decades

of service to FIM. He served on the board of trustees, as Flint School of Performing Arts Advisory Committee Chair, as a loyal Flint Symphony Orchestra subscriber,

and as a founding committee member of the Black Classical Music Family Festival (now known as Black Classical Origins). He is greatly missed and will be

treasured in our hearts and memories always.

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PRINCIPAL & ASSISTANT CHAIR ANNUAL GIFTS$1,500 & UPASSISTANT PRINCIPAL CELLODr. & Mrs. Paul E. Schroeder *

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL VIOLADr. Cathy O. Blight & Mr. Edward Davison *

SECOND VIOLINHubbard Supply Co.

PRINCIPAL CLARINETBeverly Bernard •

PRINCIPAL OBOEAnn Marie Van Duyne

PRINCIPAL PERCUSSIONSponsorship Available

SECTION CHAIR ANNUAL GIFTS $1,000 & UPCONCERTMASTERThe Wang Family Charitable Fund •

PRINCIPAL BASSGary & Carol Hurand

PRINCIPAL BASSOONMrs. John Nash *

PRINCIPAL ENGLISH HORNCarolyn Stubbs & Susan Schneberger

PRINCIPAL FIRST VIOLINDaniel S. & Carole J. Harrett

PRINCIPAL VIOLAGary & Patty Jo Reppenhagen

PRINCIPAL VIOLALynne Hurand

PRINCIPAL FLUTEMichael Dingman & Susan Sumner-Dingman

PRINCIPAL HARPLibby B. Winegarden by daughter, Dorothy W. Booth

PRINCIPAL PERCUSSIONSponsorship Available

FSO DONORSJANUARY 1 - DECEMBER 31, 2020FSO ENDOWMENTCharles Stewart Mott Foundation

FSO ENDOWMENTFarrehi Family Foundation

FSO GENERAL OPERATINGMr. & Mrs. Paul AdamsDr. Charles AppleMr. & Mrs. John M. AtkinsonMr. & Mrs. Dean BagnallMr. Carroll G. Baker, Sr. & Ms. Kimberly RobersonMr. & Mrs. Keith M. BarkiewiczMr. & Mrs. David BenjamenMr. & Mrs. Robert BensonMs. Edna Bick & Mr. John HelsomMs. Jane M. BinghamMr. & Mrs. Tim BograkosMs. Cheryl BorkowskiMr. John BorysewiczMr. & Mrs. Robert BottinelliRev. & Mrs. Paul BravenderMs. Patricia BurroughsMr. Thomas L. Capua Sr.Mr. & Mrs. Tom CernyCharles Stewart Mott FoundationMr. & Mrs. Howard ChenowethDr. & Mrs. Marshall CossmanMr. & Mrs. Robert DarleyMr. Evans DavisDr. Cathy O. Blight & Mr. Edward DavisonMr. Kenneth DickMr. & Mrs. Dallas C. DortMr. & Mrs. Philip DownsMr. & Mrs. Don ElliottMs. Loretta C. EllwoodDr. & Mrs. Kenneth J. FawcettFlint Cultural Center Corporation, Inc.Dr. Brenda R. Fortunate & Mr. C. Edward WhiteMr. Jim GarrisonMr. & Mrs. Eugene GriffelMr. & Mrs. Earl GuzakMrs. Frankie HardyMr. & Mrs. Daniel S. HarrettMs. Shirley HartkopfMr. & Mrs. Edward HennekeDr. & Mrs. John V. HintermanMr. & Mrs. Dennis HodgesMs. Delores HolbrookMs. Stefanie HorvathMs. Jennifer HowardMs. Vista HugginsMr. & Mrs. Gary HurandMs. Gail HurstMs. Cindy HussDr. Susumu Inoue & Dr. Mary Mitchell-BerenMr. & Mrs. G. Donald KayeMr. & Mrs. Hal KeimMr. & Mrs. Raymond KellyMr. & Mrs. William J. Kerscher IIIMr. Brian T. Kettler & Ms. Lauren GaleMr. Richard L. King, Jr.

Dr. & Mrs. Paul LauberMrs. Linda LeMieuxDr. & Mrs. Michael LindemannMr. Vince Lorraine & Ms. Sherron BardenMr. Edward Maki-SchrammMs. Jeanette Mansour & Mr. Joseph GreenMs. Marjorie MarkonMs. Marilyn MazanecMcCredie Insurance Agency, Inc.Ms. Renate McLaughlinMs. Deborah J. MeissnerMs. Marcia MeshewMs. Diane MidgleyMr. Charles W. Miller & Dr. Townes MillerMrs. Helen MillhouseDr. Bobby Mukkamala & Dr. Nita KulkarniMr. Michael NaddeoMr. & Mrs. Charles NelsonMs. Cynthia NillMr. & Mrs. Richard NoteboomMr. & Mrs. Pat PalmerMs. Nancy PaulMr. & Mrs. Marvon PayneMs. Debra PerczakMs. Judith PerezMr. & Mrs. James E. PetersonMr. & Mrs. Randall PetridesMr. William H. PiperMr. & Mrs. James PopoffMr. Jerry L. PrestonDr. & Mrs. Gregg ReeseMs. Nicole RicheyMr. & Mrs. David RoeserMr. Harlon RoseMr. & Mrs. Charles RudduckMr. & Mrs. Ghassan SaabMr. Allen SalyerMr. & Mrs. Steve SchmitMs. Marikay ScottMs. Janet ShielMr. & Mrs. Bruce SiegelMr. & Mrs. Jeff SlepakMr. & Mrs. J. Parkhill SmithMr. & Mrs. James SpanglerMr. & Mrs. Dennis SpringerMs. Ellyn SudowMs. Susan SullivanMs. Kristina TateMs. Sandra TisdaleMs. Jane B. TrotterMr. & Mrs. Mark Van FaussienMs. Robin Von WaldMr. & Mrs. Howard WarnickMr. & Mrs. Richard C. WeiermillerMr. Ken WenselMr. & Mrs. Edwin WestonMs. Barbara WhiteMs. Judy Yen Jiun Lin WuMs. Catherine Yeotis

SymphonyFlint

OrchestraENRIQUE DIEMECKE, MUSIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR

THANK YOU SPONSORS

2021-22 SEASON SPONSOR Whiting Foundation

OCTOBER 2, 2021Dr. Cathy O. Blight & Edward Davison Guest Artist Sponsors:Jay & Marilyn Nelson

Preferred Steinway Performance Sponsors: Dr. Brenda Fortunate & C. Edward White

NOVEMBER 13, 2021The Rabinkov FamilyDr. Stuart & Kathy Weiner Guest Artist Sponsors:Dr. Frederick & Gloria VanDuyne

FEBRUARY 5, 2022

Guest Artist Sponsors:James & Patt Spangler

Preferred Steinway Performance Sponsors: Dr. Brenda Fortunate & C. Edward White

MARCH 12, 2022Dr. Kenneth & Nancy Lee FawcettDrs. Venkat & Rama RaoCarolyn Stubbs & Susan Schneberger William HentgenDrs. Paul & Barbara Adams Guest Artist Sponsors:The Chan Family

APRIL 9, 2022Anonymous Donor 16 Guest Artist Sponsors:Howard & Rita Shand

MAY 14, 2022Jean Craig FlynnMrs. Linda LeMieuxDrs. Bobby & Nita MukkamalaDr. Mark & Genie PlucerDavid & Heidi WhartonTom Glasscock & Helen Bas Guest Artist Sponsors:

DE FALLA &MENDELSSOHN

OCTOBER 2, 2021 | 7:30PMGuest Artist Abdiel Vázquez, piano

DEBUSSY & BRAHMS

NOVEMBER 13, 2021 | 7:30PMGuest Artist Amy Ley, harp

COPLAND & GRIEG

FEBRUARY 5, 2022 | 7:30PMGuest Artist Alessio Bax, piano

SMETANA, VIVALDI& GINASTERA

MARCH 12, 2022 | 7:30PMFAMILY DAY CONCERT

Guest Artist Judy Lin Wu, violin

TCHAIKOVSKY& IBERT

APRIL 9, 2022 | 7:30PMGuest Artist Brandon LePage, flute

CHÁVEZ, RESPIGHI& STRAVINSKYMAY 14, 2022 | 7:30PM

Guest Artist FSO Percussion Section

Check thefso.org/season-previewfor updates and more details!

2 0 21 - 2 2 S E A S O N

The Timeless healing Power of music insPired by naTure

RENEWAL

A N E V E N I N G W I T H A N E V E N I N G W I T H

Damien EscobarDamien EscobarJUNE 19, 2021 | 7:30PM

Damien Escobar violin

Damien’s energetic live performances feature a wide range of “cross-over” musical styles consisting of a mix of

classical, jazz, pop, R&B, and hip hop. His eclectic use of genres creates a sound that

embraces the traditions of jazz and classical music as much as it highlights

his singular innovation as an artist and his desire to explore beyond the boundaries

of the sonically mainstream. There is something in Damien’s music for every-

one, and it is truly best enjoyed live.

This concert is being offered in live and digital formats.

To purchase tickets, visit thefso.org/june-19-2021

Documents

Symphony Flint