SOKA
P E R F O R M I N G ARTS CENTER
S O K A
U N I V E R S I T Y
O F
A M E R I C A
In Association With
Presents
Sundays at Soka
Carl St.Clair, Music Director and Conductor
Joyce Yang, Piano
Faktura Piano Trio:
HyeJin Kim, Piano
Fabiola Kim, Violin
Ben Solomonow, Cello
Concerto in C Major for Violin, Cello, Piano, and Orchestra, Op. 56
“Triple Concerto”......................LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
I. Allegro
II. Largo
III. Rondo alla Polacca
Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 73
“Emperor”........................................................ LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
I. Allegro
II. Adagio un poco mosso
III. Rondo: Allegro
Sunday, April 30, 2017 at 3:00 p.m.
The use of cameras and recording devices of any type is prohibited.
Please silence all cell phones and paging devices.
We ask that patrons please refrain from text messaging during the performance.
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Program Notes
Concerto in C Major for Violin, Cello, Piano, and Orchestra, Op. 56 “Triple
Concerto”
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
(Born December 16, 1770, in Bonn; died March 26, 1827, in Vienna)
Very little is known about the early history of the Triple Concerto. Beethoven
sketched the work in 1803 or 1804, and it may have been performed at the end
of 1805 or sometime during 1806. The first documented public performance
took place in Vienna in May 1808, but it is possible that the concerto may
never have been performed again during the composer’s lifetime. Beethoven
may have intended the piece for the Archduke Rudolph, who was then only
twenty, but he dedicated the published score to another of his patrons, Prince
Lobkowitz. The Archduke may have been the pianist for the work’s premiere,
but no record exists of who the three soloists were.
Over the course of history, this concerto has had both ardent supporters
and detractors. Concert goers of the nineteenth century called it “dull” and
“dry,” while a biographer of Beethoven, Marion Scott, said the concerto
“rouses expectations of great music it never fulfils,” and that it “deals out
platitudinous craftsmanship” and feels “animated by duty, not inspiration.”
Sir Donald Francis Tovey, an early twentieth century critic, contested this
negative judgment. He acknowledged the “severe” simplicity of the thematic
material in the concerto, but felt it was justified because it seemed necessary
for the realization of Beethoven’s “architectural plan,” as well as for the
“severe study in pure color” Beethoven intended. Tovey felt that this work
satisfied the Greek ideal of combining simplicity and subtlety to make the
highest quality possible in art.
Concerti for more than one solo instrument are relatively rare. Variants of
the form existed in the concerti grossi of Vivaldi, Corelli, Handel, and Bach,
and in the sinfonia concertante of the Haydn-Mozart period. The only true
multiple concertos that have endured are Mozart’s for two pianos and for flute
and harp, this Triple Concerto, Brahms’s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello,
and Strauss’s Duett Concerto for Bassoon and Clarinet. In writing the Triple
Concerto, Beethoven perhaps cast his eye backward to the Baroque concerto
grosso form, but he also anticipated his own later Piano Concertos in G Major
and E-flat Major, Nos. 4 and 5, and his Violin Concerto. In many ways, the
Triple Concerto may be regarded as a study for those works.
In order to accommodate the special problems of the concerto form, Beethoven
expanded the customary formal plan. Ordinarily a single soloist exchanges
ideas with the orchestra. In the Triple Concerto, three soloists must each
participate fully, and as a result, the opening movement, Allegro, has a longer
length than was then usual. Beethoven uses the device of double exposition,
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with the solo instruments stating the themes after the orchestra. The cellos
and basses deliver the first theme, and the violins announce the fluid second
theme. After that, the soloists embellish the main theme, the cello beginning,
followed by the violin, and then the piano. The second movement, Largo,
begins with the cellist articulating the cantabile theme after the muted violins
have introduced it. The piano embroiders the theme while the clarinets and
bassoons restate it. Then solo violin and cello join, and soon we are led directly
into the finale, initiating a technique Beethoven was to use in all three of his
remaining concertos. This third movement, a Rondo alla Polacca, contains
an aristocratic and charming polonaise in rondo form. In this movement the
solo cello first articulates the melody, then the violin enters before the soloist
and orchestra together develop the theme at length.
Beethoven’s requirements for the accompanying orchestra include a flute,
pairs of oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, timpani, and strings.
Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 73 “Emperor”
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Throughout his early career, Beethoven was a formidable pianist; rarely did a
pianist possess his dramatic expression, feeling, or musicality. Like Mozart,
Beethoven was an expert improviser, and when he performed, his listeners
were reportedly often startled by his daring innovations.
Beethoven composed his final piano concerto, the Emperor, while Vienna
suffered under occupation by Napoleon’s troops. The composer did not give
the subtitle, Emperor to the concerto and would most likely have resented
the name if for no other reason than his feelings of intense bitterness and
disappointment in the imperial motivations of Napoleon, who he thought had
completely betrayed his republican beginnings. The most widely accepted of
several theories about the subtitle’s origin is that one of the early publishers
thought Emperor an appropriate term to describe the concerto’s “grand
dimensions and intrinsic splendor.” Some musicologists have found the work
martial and imperious, at least in its external features, but actually, it is rather
a radiant, positive, and self-confident composition that pays homage to the
unconquerable nature of the human spirit.
While he was composing this work, Beethoven complained that the noise of
the shell of howitzers tortured him because his hearing was already poor.
It was a very difficult time for him: food was scarce and expensive, and his
wealthy and noble friends had escaped to their country estates. The city parks
were closed; thus the peaceful solace Beethoven had found in them was also
unavailable to him. His hearing had become so limited that no possibility
remained that he could perform the concerto’s premiere in Leipzig with the
Gewandhaus Orchestra on November 28, 1811. Instead, Johann Schneider
took on the role of piano soloist, with Johann P. C. Schulz conducting. An
influential music critic wrote about the excited and enthusiastic audience as
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well as the music, saying of the concerto, “It is without doubt one of the most
original, imaginative, most effective but also one of the most difficult of all
concertos in existence.”
Except for the first emphatic orchestral chords, the soloist, rather than the
orchestra, begins the concerto’s Allegro first movement. In other ways, too,
the beginning departs from common practice. The piano introduction is a huge
rhapsodic flourish, a kind of cadenza, that Beethoven wrote out completely.
The orchestra later introduces the thematic subject matter of the movement
and to a great extent, undertakes the task of developing the themes with
the piano as an accompaniment, a musical mannerism that Brahms would
later also use to great effect in his piano concerti. In another structural and
stylistic advance, the orchestra does not halt for the insertion of a cadenza
for the soloist to improvise. Breaking with the tradition, Beethoven weaves the
cadenzas into the score as an integral part, giving the music continuity, but at
the same time denying the soloist opportunity for impromptu virtuosic display.
The comparatively brief slow movement, Adagio un poco mosso, opens
with the muted strings playing a solemn, hymn-like melody and the piano
answering it. This tranquil and reflective movement consists mainly of a duet
between the piano and the orchestra. The center of the movement consists
of a sequence of quasi-variations on the theme that the strings announce. At
the movement’s end, the piano quietly plays a figure that gives intimations
of the exuberant theme of the last movement. Suddenly and without pause,
Beethoven transforms that figure into the exultant main theme of the
rondo finale, Allegro, which begins without the customary break between
movements. In this impetuous and spontaneous sounding movement, the
piano delivers and develops the dynamic themes in what has been called the
“most spacious and triumphant of concerto rondos.” At the end of the coda,
in a renowned section, the kettledrums quietly mark the rhythm of the first
subject to accompany the piano’s soft chords.
The Emperor Concerto is Beethoven’s last concerto for the piano, although
he finished it twenty years before his death. It has been conjectured that
perhaps he never composed another piano concerto because his deafness
ended his days as a performing pianist. He dedicated the concerto to the
Archduke Rudolf, a musician, a good friend and patron; he was Beethoven’s
only composition student and Beethoven dedicated many works to him.
The concerto is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons,
four horns, two trumpets, kettledrums, and strings.
Program notes by Susan Halpern, copyright 2017.
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Biographies
CARL ST.CLAIR
William J. Gillespie Music Director Chair
Music Director, Pacific Symphony
The 2016–17 season marks Music Director Carl
St.Clair’s twenty-seventh year leading Pacific
Symphony. He is one of the longest tenured
conductors of the major American orchestras.
St.Clair’s lengthy history solidifies the strong
relationship he has forged with the musicians
and the community. His continuing role also
lends stability to the organization and continuity
to his vision for the Symphony’s future. Few
orchestras can claim such rapid artistic
development as Pacific Symphony—the largest
orchestra formed in the United States in the last fifty years—due in large part
to St.Clair’s leadership.
During his tenure, St.Clair has become widely recognized for his musically
distinguished performances, his commitment to building outstanding
educational programs, and his innovative approaches to programming. Among
his creative endeavors are: the opera initiative, Symphonic Voices, which
continues for the sixth season in 2016–17 with Verdi’s Aida, following the
concert-opera productions of La Bohème, Tosca, La Traviata, Carmen, and
Turandot in previous seasons; and the highly acclaimed American Composers
Festival, which, now in its seventeenth year, celebrates the seventieth birthday
of John Adams with a performance of The Dharma at Big Sur, featuring electric
violinist Tracy Silverman, followed by Peter Boyer’s Ellis Island: The Dream of
America.
St.Clair’s commitment to the development and performance of new works
by composers is evident in the wealth of commissions and recordings by the
Symphony. The 2016–17 season features commissions by pianist/composer
Conrad Tao and Composer-in-Residence Narong Prangcharoen, a follow-up to
the recent slate of recordings of works commissioned and performed by the
Symphony in recent years. These include William Bolcom’s Songs of Lorca
and Prometheus (2015–16), Elliot Goldenthal’s Symphony in G-sharp Minor
(2014–15), Richard Danielpour’s Toward a Season of Peace (2013-14), Philip
Glass’ The Passion of Ramakrishna (2012–13), and Michael Daugherty’s
Mount Rushmore and The Gospel According to Sister Aimee (2012–13).
St.Clair has led the orchestra in other critically acclaimed albums including
two piano concertos of Lukas Foss; Danielpour’s An American Requiem and
Goldenthal’s Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Other
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commissioned composers include James Newton Howard, Zhou Long, Tobias
Picker, Frank Ticheli, and Chen Yi, Curt Cacioppo, Stephen Scott, Jim Self
(Pacific Symphony’s principal tubist), and Christopher Theofanidis.
In 2006–07, St.Clair led the orchestra’s historic move into its home in the
Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at Segerstrom Center for the
Arts. The move came on the heels of the landmark 2005–06 season that
included St.Clair leading the Symphony on its first European tour—nine cities
in three countries playing before capacity houses and receiving extraordinary
responses and reviews.
From 2008 to 2010, St.Clair was general music director for the Komische
Oper in Berlin, where he led successful new productions such as La Traviata
(directed by Hans Neuenfels). He also served as general music director and
chief conductor of the German National Theater and Staatskapelle in Weimar,
Germany, where he led Wagner’s Ring Cycle to critical acclaim. He was the
first non-European to hold his position at GNTS; the role also gave him the
distinction of simultaneously leading one of the newest orchestras in America
and one of the oldest in Europe.
In 2014 St.Clair assumed the position as music director of the National
Symphony Orchestra in Costa Rica. His international career also has him
conducting abroad several months a year, and he has appeared with
orchestras throughout the world. He was the principal guest conductor of the
Radio Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart from 1998 to 2004, where he completed
a three-year recording project of the Villa-Lobos symphonies. He has also
appeared with orchestras in Israel, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New Zealand,
and South America, and summer festivals worldwide.
In North America, St.Clair has led the Boston Symphony Orchestra (where
he served as assistant conductor for several years), New York Philharmonic,
Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the San Francisco,
Seattle, Detroit, Atlanta, Houston, Indianapolis, Montreal, Toronto, and
Vancouver symphonies, among many others.
A strong advocate of music education for all ages, St.Clair has been essential to
the creation and implementation of the Symphony’s education and community
engagement programs including Pacific Symphony Youth Ensembles, Sunday
Casual Connections, OC Can You Play With Us?, arts-X-press, Class Act, and
Heartstrings.
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JOYCE YANG
Piano
Blessed with “poetic and sensitive pianism”
(Washington Post) and a “wondrous sense of color”
(San Francisco Classical Voice), pianist Joyce
Yang captivates audiences with her virtuosity,
lyricism, and interpretive prowess. As a Van Cliburn
International Piano Competition silver medalist
and Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, Yang
showcases her colorful musical personality in solo
recitals and collaborations with the world’s top
orchestras and chamber musicians.
Yang came to international attention in 2005 when she won the silver medal
at the twelfth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The youngest
contestant at nineteen years old, she took home two additional awards: the
Steven De Groote Memorial Award for Best Performance of Chamber Music
(with the Takàcs Quartet) and the Beverley Taylor Smith Award for Best
Performance of a New Work.
Since her spectacular debut, she has blossomed into an “astonishing artist”
(Neue Zürcher Zeitung). She has performed as soloist with the New York
Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia
Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, BBC Philharmonic, and the
Baltimore, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Sydney, and Toronto
symphony orchestras (among many others), working with such distinguished
conductors as James Conlon, Edo de Waart, Lorin Maazel, Peter Oundjian,
David Robertson, Leonard Slatkin, Bramwell Tovey, and Jaap van Zweden. In
recital, Yang has taken the stage at New York’s Lincoln Center and Metropolitan
Museum; the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; Chicago’s Symphony Hall;
and Zurich’s Tonhalle.
Yang kicked off the 2015-16 season with a tour of eight summer festivals
(Aspen, Bridgehampton, Grand Tetons, La Jolla, Ravinia, Seattle, Southeastern
Piano Festival, and Bravo! Vail) before commencing a steady stream of exciting
debuts, much-anticipated returns, and notable chamber music concerts.
She reunites with the New York Philharmonic under Tovey for a five-date
engagement of Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain―after an appearance
last season that the New York Times called “a sumptuous, powerful, subtle
performance…distinguished by a variety of touch and color”―and makes
her New Jersey Symphony debut with Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 3 in an
evening celebrating the orchestra’s season finale and Music Director Jacques
Lacombe’s last concert with the company. A sought-after interpreter of new
music, Yang performs and records the world premiere of Michael Torke’s
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Piano Concerto, a piece created expressly for her and commissioned by the
Albany Symphony. Showcasing her vast repertoire with appearances across
North America, she plays with the Colorado Springs, Orlando, and Reading
philharmonics, and the Alabama, Anchorage, Corpus Christi, Greenwich,
Milwaukee, Nashville, Pasadena, Princeton, Santa Fe, Utah, and Vancouver
symphonies. A performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the
Melbourne Symphony in Australia marks yet another triumphant return.
Yang further demonstrates her diverse and glorious range this season with a
string of laudable collaborations. She opens the Chamber Music International
thirtieth-anniversary season with violinist Sheryl Staples and cellist Carter Brey
in Dallas; joins the Alexander String Quartet at San Francisco Performances;
appears with the Modigliani Quartet at the Phoenix Chamber Music Society;
and reunites with violinist Augustin Hadelich and guitarist Pablo Villegas at the
La Jolla Music Society and Philharmonic Society of Orange County for a reprise
of the trio’s widely acclaimed Tango, Song, and Dance, in which “Yang shone”
(Washington Post) at its Kennedy Center premiere. She again joins Hadelich
to record a duo disc (featuring a repertoire of Schumann, Kurtág, Franck, and
Previn that the two successfully toured in recent seasons) slated for a release
on the Avie label.
Yang’s creativity also presents itself through an innovative program of Albéniz,
Debussy, Ginastera, and Rachmaninoff in a series of concerts in New York,
Wisconsin, and Virginia.
Highlights of recent seasons include Yang’s Royal Flemish Philharmonic and
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin debuts, United Kingdom debut in
the Cambridge International Piano Series, Montreal debut with I Musici de
Montréal with Jean-Marie Zeitouni, and Pittsburgh Symphony debut playing
Schumann’s Concerto under music director Manfred Honeck. She concluded
a five-year Rachmaninoff cycle with de Waart and the Milwaukee Symphony, to
which she brought “an enormous palette of colors, and tremendous emotional
depth” (Milwaukee Sentinel Journal); joined the Takács Quartet for Dvořák in
Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series; and impressed the New York Times
with her “vivid and beautiful playing” of Schubert’s Trout Quintet with members
of the Emerson String Quartet at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center.
A residency with Musica Viva Australia at the Huntington Estate Music Festival
was marked by chamber music performances and solo recitals.
In Spring 2014, Yang “demonstrated impressive gifts” (New York Times)
with a trio of album releases: her second solo disc for Avie Records, Wild
Dreams, on which she plays Schumann, Bartók, Hindemith, Rachmaninoff,
and arrangements by Earl Wild; a pairing of the Brahms and Schumann Piano
Quintets with the Alexander Quartet; and a recording of Tchaikovsky’s Piano
Concerto No. 1 with Denmark’s Odense Symphony Orchestra that International
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Record Review called “hugely enjoyable, beautifully shaped … a performance
that marks her out as an enormous talent.” Of her 2011 debut album for Avie
Records, Collage, featuring works by Scarlatti, Liebermann, Debussy, Currier,
and Schumann, Gramophone praised her “imaginative programming” and
“beautifully atmospheric playing.”
Yang made her celebrated New York Philharmonic debut with Maazel at
Avery Fisher Hall in November 2006 and performed on the orchestra’s tour
of Asia, making a triumphant return to her hometown of Seoul, South Korea.
Subsequent appearances with the Philharmonic included the opening night of
the Leonard Bernstein Festival in September 2008, at the special request of
Maazel in his final season as music director. The New York Times pronounced
her performance in Bernstein’s The Age of Anxiety a “knockout.”
Born in 1986 in Seoul, South Korea, Yang received her first piano lesson at
the age of four. She quickly took to the instrument, which she received as
a birthday present, and over the next few years won several national piano
competitions in her native country. By age ten, she had entered the School of
Music at the Korea National University of Arts, and went on to make a number
of concerto and recital appearances in Seoul and Daejeon.
In 1997 Yang moved to the United States to begin studies at the pre-college
division of the Juilliard School with Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky. During her first year
at Juilliard, Yang won the pre-college division Concerto Competition, resulting in
a performance of Haydn’s Keyboard Concerto in D with the Juilliard Pre-College
Chamber Orchestra. After winning the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Greenfield
Student Competition, she performed Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto with
that orchestra at just twelve years old. She graduated from Juilliard with
special honor as the recipient of the school’s 2010 Arthur Rubinstein Prize,
and in 2011 she won its 30th Annual William A. Petschek Piano Recital Award.
Yang appears in the film In the Heart of Music, a documentary about the 2005
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
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FAKTURA PIANO TRIO
The Faktura Piano Trio was formed at the
Colburn Conservatory of Music in 2015. Since
their initial collaboration, pianist HyeJin Kim,
violinist Fabiola Kim, and cellist Ben Solomonow
have formed a strong musical bond based in a
common dedication to perform works ranging
from the standard repertoire to contemporary
works both for their solo instruments and as
a piano trio. The Faktura Piano Trio enjoys
performing in a variety of settings, from intimate
house concerts, educational performances in
the community, to formal concert halls.
Enthusiasts of all aspects of music making, members of the Faktura Piano
Trio have cultivated a wide range of performing experience as both chamber
musicians and soloists. Individually, the members of the Faktura Piano Trio
have collaborated with many renowned artists, including members of the
Tokyo, Pacifica, Cleveland, and Orion quartets; pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet;
violinists Joseph Silverstein, Ilya Kaler, Vadim Gluzman, and Ida Kavafian;
violists Paul Neubauer and Roberto Diaz; and cellist Gary Hoffman.
Pianist HyeJin Kim, a native of South Korea, has performed as soloist with
orchestras such as the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Konzerthaus Orchester
Berlin, and Budapest Symphony with conductors such as Andreas-OrozcoEstrada, Jorge Mester, Jiri Malat, and Dae Jin Kim. She made her Carnegie
Hall recital debut in October 2016 and her debut recording was released by
Sony Classical in 2014.
Hailed by the New York Times as “a brilliant soloist,” violinist Fabiola Kim has
performed with orchestras such as the Seoul Philharmonic, Koln Chamber
Orchestra, North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and in venues such as
Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the Kimmel
Center, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Kumho Arts Center in Seoul. Her
radio appearances have been featured on NPR’s From the Top and The Young
Artists Showcase on WQXR New York. Kim will be recording a solo album for
Deutsche Grammophone in 2017.
Cellist Ben Solomonow, a native of Chicago, has been invited to perform at
Carnegie Hall, the Ravinia Festival, and the Red Rocks Chamber Music Festival,
and is a frequent guest with the Chicago Chamber Musicians. Featured on
NPR, Solomonow won top prizes in the Fischoff National Chamber Music
Competition and the Alexander and Buono International String Competition.
The name of the Trio comes from the Russian avant-garde concept and word
faktura. Originating from the Latin word facere (to make), faktura refers to the
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process of forming material into a work of art. While a composition is a work of
art in and of itself, it is not complete until it is performed. The Trio is inspired by
and dedicated to this process of rehearsing and performing as an ensemble.
The Faktura Piano Trio has worked closely with distinguished musicians Clive
Greensmith and Fabio Bidini as well as Arnold Steinhardt, Peter Wiley, and
Jean-Yves Thibaudet. All members of the Trio are currently attending the
Colburn Conservatory of Music, studying privately with Fabio Bidini (piano),
Robert Lipsett (violin), and Clive Greensmith (cello), respectively.
PACIFIC SYMPHONY
Pacific Symphony, currently in its thirty-eighth season, celebrates a decade
of creative music-making as the resident orchestra of the Renée and Henry
Segerstrom Concert Hall. Led by Music Director Carl St.Clair for the past twentyseven years, the Symphony is the largest orchestra formed in the United States
in the last fifty years and is recognized as an outstanding ensemble making
strides on both the national and international scene, as well as in its own
community of Orange County. Presenting more than one hundred concerts
and events a year and a rich array of education and community engagement
programs, the Symphony reaches more than 300,000 residents—from school
children to senior citizens.
The Symphony offers repertoire ranging from the great orchestral masterworks
to music from today’s most prominent composers, highlighted by the annual
American Composers Festival. Five seasons ago, the Symphony launched the
highly successful opera initiative, Symphonic Voices, which just completed
Verdi’s Aida in February 2017. It also offers a popular pops season, enhanced
by state-of-the-art video and sound, led by Principal Pops Conductor Richard
Kaufman, who celebrated twenty-five years with the orchestra in the 2015–
16 season. Each Symphony season also includes Café Ludwig, a chamber
music series; an educational Family Musical Mornings series; and Sunday
Casual Connections, an orchestral matinee series offering rich explorations of
selected works led by St.Clair.
Founded in 1978 as a collaboration between California State University,
Fullerton (CSUF), and North Orange County community leaders led by Marcy
Mulville, the Symphony performed its first concerts at Fullerton’s Plummer
Auditorium as the Pacific Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of then-CSUF
orchestra conductor Keith Clark. Two seasons later, the Symphony expanded
its size and changed its name to Pacific Symphony Orchestra. Then in 1981–
82, the orchestra moved to Knott’s Berry Farm for one year. The subsequent
four seasons, led by Clark, took place at Santa Ana High School auditorium
where the Symphony also made its first six acclaimed recordings. In September
1986, the Symphony moved to the new Orange County Performing Arts Center,
where Clark served as music director until 1990, and from 1987–2016, the
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orchestra additionally presented a summer outdoor series at Irvine Meadows
Ampitheatre. In 2006-07, the Symphony moved into the Renée and Henry
Segerstrom Concert Hall, with striking architecture by Cesar Pelli and acoustics
by Russell Johnson—and in 2008, inaugurated the hall’s critically-acclaimed
4,322-pipe William J. Gillespie Concert Organ. The orchestra embarked on
its first European tour in 2006, performing in nine cities in three countries.
The 2016–17 season continues St.Clair’s commitment to new music with
commissions by pianist/composer Conrad Tao and Composer-in-Residence
Narong Prangcharoen. Recordings commissioned and performed by the
Symphony include the release of William Bolcom’s Songs of Lorca and
Prometheus in 2015–16, Richard Danielpour’s Toward a Season of Peace
and Philip Glass’ The Passion of Ramakrishna in 2013–14; and Michael
Daugherty’s Mount Rushmore in 2012–13. In 2014–15 Elliot Goldenthal
released a recording of his Symphony in G-sharp Minor, written for and
performed by the Symphony. The Symphony has also commissioned and
recorded An American Requiem by Danielpour and Fire Water Paper: A
Vietnam Oratorio by Goldenthal featuring Yo-Yo Ma. Other recordings have
included collaborations with such composers as Lukas Foss and Toru
Takemitsu. Other leading composers commissioned by the Symphony include
Paul Chihara, Daniel Catán, James Newton Howard, William Kraft, Ana Lara,
Tobias Picker, Christopher Theofanidis, Frank Ticheli, and Chen Yi.
In both 2005 and 2010, the Symphony received the prestigious ASCAP
Award for Adventurous Programming. Also in 2010, a study by the League of
American Orchestras, Fearless Journeys, included the Symphony as one of
the country’s five most innovative orchestras.
The Symphony’s award-winning education and community engagement
programs benefit from the vision of St.Clair and are designed to integrate the
orchestra and its music into the community in ways that stimulate all ages.
The list of instrumental training initiatives includes Pacific Symphony Youth
Orchestra, Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble, and Pacific Symphony
Santiago Strings. The Symphony also spreads the joy of music through its
many programs including arts-X-press, Class Act, Heartstrings, OC Can You
Play With Us?, Santa Ana Strings, Strings for Generations, and Symphony in
the Cities.
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CARL ST.CLAIR • MUSIC DIRECTOR
William J. Gillespie Music Director Chair
RICHARD KAUFMAN • PRINCIPAL POPS CONDUCTOR
Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Foundation Principal Pops Conductor Chair
ROGER KALIA • ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR
Mary E. Moore Family Assistant Conductor Chair
NARONG PRANGCHAROEN • COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE
FIRST VIOLIN
Vacant, Concertmaster
Eleanor and Michael Gordon Chair
Paul Manaster, Associate Concertmaster
Jeanne Skrocki, Assistant Concertmaster
Nancy Coade Eldridge
Christine Frank
Kimiyo Takeya
Ayako Sugaya
Ann Shiau Tenney
Maia Jasper †
Robert Schumitzky
Agnes Gottschewski
Dana Freeman
Angel Liu
Marisa Sorajja
SECOND VIOLIN
Bridget Dolkas*
Elizabeth and John Stahr Chair
Yen-Ping Lai
Yu-Tong Sharp
Ako Kojian
Ovsep Ketendjian
Linda Owen
Phil Luna
MarlaJoy Weisshaar
Alice Miller-Wrate
Shelly Shi
Chloe Chiu
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VIOLA
Vacant,*
Catherine and James Emmi Chair
Meredith Crawford**
Carolyn Riley
John Acevedo
Victor de Almeida
Julia Staudhammer
Joseph Wen-Xiang Zhang
Pamela Jacobson
Adam Neeley
Cheryl Gates
Margaret Henken
CELLO
Timothy Landauer*
Catherine and James Emmi Chair
Kevin Plunkett**
John Acosta
Robert Vos
Lázló Mezö
Ian McKinnell
M. Andrew Honea
Waldemar de Almeida
Jennifer Goss
Rudolph Stein
BASS
Steven Edelman*
Douglas Basye**
Christian Kollgaard
David Parmeter
Paul Zibits
David Black
Andrew Bumatay
Constance Deeter
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FLUTE
Benjamin Smolen*
Valerie and Hans Imhof Chair
Sharon O’Connor
Cynthia Ellis
TRUMPET
Barry Perkins*
Susie and Steve Perry Chair
Tony Ellis
David Wailes
PICCOLO
Cynthia Ellis
TROMBONE
Michael Hoffman*
David Stetson
OBOE
Jessica Pearlman*
Suzanne R. Chonette Chair
Ted Sugata
ENGLISH HORN
Lelie Resnick †
CLARINET
Joseph Morris*
The Hanson Family Foundation Chair
David Chang
BASS TROMBONE
Kyle Mendiguchia
TUBA
James Self *
TIMPANI
Todd Miller*
PERCUSSION
Robert A. Slack*
HARP
Mindy Ball*
Michelle Temple
BASS CLARINET
Joshua Ranz
BASSOON
Rose Corrigan*
Elliott Moreau
Andrew Klein
Allen Savedoff
PIANO/CELESTE
Sandra Matthews*
CONTRABASSOON
Allen Savedoff
FRENCH HORN
Keith Popejoy*
Mark Adams
Joshua Paulus**
Andrew Warfield
* Principal
** Assistant Principal
†
On Leave
PERSONNEL MANAGER
Paul Zibits
LIBRARIANS
Russell Dicey
Brent Anderson
PRODUCTION/STAGE MANAGER
Will Hunter
STAGE MANAGER AND CONCERT VIDEO TECHNICIAN
William Pruett
The musicians of Pacific Symphony are members of
the American Federation of Musicians, Local 7.
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Upcoming Events...
The Americus Brass Band:
Top Brass
Sun . Jul . 2 . 2017 . 3 PM
The Americus Brass Band, under the
direction of Richard Birkemeier, performs
its faithful recreation of America’s best
brass band music from the past, on the
authentic instruments of the times. For
brass lovers, military families, veterans,
and music fans alike - enjoy the best brass
from America’s musical past.
iPalpiti Artists International presents
iPalpiti Orchestra of International
Laureates
Sun . Jul . 23 . 2017 . 2 PM
Under the direction of Maestro Eduard
Schmieder, the acclaimed ensemble of
prize-winning musicians from around the
globe has performed to sold-out audiences
in major concert halls throughout the
world. This performance will feature
violinist Kazuhiro Takagi.
Next Season’s Dates
May 9 Package Renewals Begin
June 13 New Packages on Sale
July 11 Single-Event Tickets on Sale
September 23 2017-18 Season Begins
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We would like to thank our Board of Trustees and our Administration for
their extraordinary support of Soka Performing Arts Center
Soka University of America Board of Trustees:
Steve Dunham, JD, Chair
Kris Knudsen, JD
Tariq Hasan, PhD, Vice Chair
Karen Lewis, PhD
Yoshihisa Baba, PhD
Daniel Nagashima, MBA
Matilda Buck
Gene Marie O’Connell, RN, MS
Lawrence E. Carter Sr., PhD, DD, DH, DRS
David P. Roselle, PhD
Maria Guajardo, PhD
Yoshiki Tanigawa
Clothilde V. Hewlett, JD
Shunichi Yamada, MBA
Lawrence A. Hickman, PhD
Soka University of America Administration:
Daniel Y. Habuki, PhD, President
Edward M. Feasel, PhD, Vice President of Academic Affairs & Dean of Faculty
Archibald E. Asawa, Vice President for Finance and Administration & CFO
Tomoko Takahashi, PhD, Vice President of Institutional Research and
Assessment & Dean of Graduate School
Wendy Harder, MBA, APR, Director of Community Relations
Katherine King, PHR, Director of Human Resources
Hyon J. Moon, EdD, Dean of Students
Andrew Woolsey, EdD, Director of Enrollment Services
Soka Performing Arts Center Staff:
David C. Palmer, General Manager
Rebecca Pierce Goodman, Marketing and Administrative Manager
Shannon Lee Blas, Patron Services Manager
Sam Morales, Technical Services Manager
Steve Baker, House Manager; Lindsey Cook, Stage Manager; Marcia Garcia,
Production Coordinator; Kay Matsuyama, Sound & Video Technician; Ray
Mau, Lighting Technician; May Nakatsuka, Stage Technician
Jim Merod, Director, Jazz Monsters Series and Soka University Jazz Festival
Students of Soka University of America who serve as patron and technical
services crew, as well as marketing assistants.
Citizens of Aliso Viejo and surrounding communities who volunteer their service
as ushers and hospitality aides.
Our Sponsors and Partners:
The Orange County Register, KJazz 88.1, KUSC 91.5, California Presenters,
and California Arts Council.
With deepest gratitude to the donors who made
Soka Performing Arts Center possible.
www.performingarts.soka.edu | (949) 480-4278 | [email protected]
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