Friday Evening, November 18, 2016, at 8:00Isaac Stern Auditorium / Ronald O. Perelman StageConductor’s Notes Q&A with Leon Botstein at 7:00

presents

Bernstein and the BostoniansLEON BOTSTEIN, Conductor

LEONARD BERNSTEIN Overture to Candide

ARTHUR BERGER Ideas of Order

HAROLD SHAPERO Symphony for Classical Orchestra Adagio—AllegroAdagiettoScherzo: VivaceFinale: Allegro con spirito

Intermission

RICHARD WERNICK … and a time for peace (“… v’eyt shalom”)(U.S. Premiere)

K’ta’im mi k’ta’vim atikim (fragments of ancient writing)

Interludio dal Paradisomi Kohelet (from Ecclesiastes)

KATHERINE PRACHT, Mezzo-soprano

IRVING FINE Symphony (1962)Intrada: Andante quasi allegrettoCapriccio: Allegro con spiritoOde: Grave

This evening’s concert will run approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes including one 20-minute intermission.

Tonight’s program has been made possible due in part to The Amphion Foundation, Inc.

American Symphony Orchestra welcomes the many organizations who participate in our CommunityAccess Program, which provides free and low-cost tickets to underserved groups in New York’s five

boroughs. For information on how you can support this program, please call (212) 868-9276.

PLEASE SWITCH OFF YOUR CELL PHONES AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES.

FROM THEMusic DirectorFriends and Colleagues: Bernstein,Brandeis, and the 1950sby Leon Botstein

Tonight’s concert gives voice to a webof interconnections. All five composerson the program knew one another andwere, at one time or another, friends.The most active and close period oftheir engagement took place relativelyearly in Leonard Bernstein’s meteoriccareer—between his college days and1957, the year West Side Story opened.Four of them (Wernick is the exception)studied at Harvard with Walter Piston,three as undergraduates. All five com-posers were influenced and supportedby Aaron Copland and admired the musicof Stravinsky. Four of them were bornin and around Boston (save Berger, aNew York native). And all had stronglinks to the Boston Symphony Orches-tra and Tanglewood. All are AmericanJews whose careers flourished in the

post-World War II era when the influenceof anti-Semitism was on the wane. Allfive were associated with Brandeis Uni-versity in its early years in the 1950s.

Leonard Bernstein served as a visitingprofessor at Brandeis from 1951 to1956. Richard Wernick did his under-graduate studies at Brandeis, studyingclosely with Irving Fine. Fine taught atBrandeis from 1950 until his untimelydeath in 1962. Berger became the firstholder of the Irving Fine Professorshipat Brandeis. He and Shapero taught atBrandeis for decades until reaching retire-ment age. Shapero began in 1951 andBerger in 1953.

Berger was the senior member of thisgroup. He pursued a distinguished careeras a theorist and writer, and was a co-founder of the highly influential journalPerspectives of New Music. In terms ofage, Fine was next in line. He was born in

Friday, February 10, 2017Prague Central: Great 20th-Century Czech ComposersThese four Czech composers, who often felt like outsiders looking in, produced what hasbeen thought to be some of the most original and influential works of the early 20th century.Vítezslav Novák – In the TatrasBohuslav Martinuº – Symphony No. 3Josef Suk – Fantastické scherzoErwin Schulhoff – Symphony No. 5

Friday, May 12, 2017The Apostleswith the Bard Festival ChoraleEngland’s greatest composer after Purcell wrote a magnificent but rarely heard setting of theNew Testament. Elgar’s The Apostles follows the story of the Twelve through the Resurrec-tion, and is at once sublime and heartbreakingly human.Edward Elgar – The Apostles

ASO THIS SEASON AT CARNEGIE HALL

1914 and was one of Leonard Bernstein’sclosest friends. Bernstein was devastatedby Fine’s death, as was Wernick, Fine’sprotégé and eminent and devoted stu-dent. Many thought Fine the most giftedand promising of this group—the mostlikely to succeed Copland as the “dean”of American composers.

The most famous of them all, Bernstein,was born in 1918, two years before hisclose Harvard friend, Shapero. Shaperoshowed amazing promise early on—in hiscollege years—as a composer. The sym-phony on tonight’s program was writtenwhen he was 27. It is widely consideredhis best work and one of the great Amer-ican symphonies. Bernstein was an earlychampion of the work. But Shapero,perhaps distracted by the security andcivility of a tenured professorship, seemsgradually to have stopped composing.

The four older composers often havebeen grouped together as exponents ofa particularly American approach tomusical modernism. The influence ofStravinsky, Nadia Boulanger, and, moredirectly, Copland, encouraged the ideathat new and distinctive “classical”music could actually capture the heartsand minds of the public and not inad-vertently imply either a gulf betweenthe classical and the popular or someaesthetic superiority over various formsof popular music. All five of these com-posers admired Marc Blitzstein. Bernsteinwas a particular champion. Togetherwith Copland they held fast to an idealof a culture particularly suited to democ-racy, art that was accessible to a wideliterate audience, with an aesthetic castin the lineage of Walt Whitman. Thebook version of Candide for the Bernsteinscore was written by Lillian Hellman, awriter who was controversial and out-spoken, a colorful icon of liberal andprogressive politics during the McCarthyera and throughout the 1950s. Fine,

Wernick, and Bernstein all composed inexplicitly popular genres.

The older four composers have beenclassified as American neo-classicists,and even as members of a “Harvard”school. More to the point is their sharedpenchant for transparency, compositionalprocedures of development, classical gen-res, a rhythmic vitality, and melodicinstinct. If music can suggest words andideas, this music evokes an optimismand brashness characteristic of America’spost-war years—the nuclear war threat,the specter of anti-communist witchhunts, and the racial strife in the wakeof the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Educa-tion notwithstanding. Wernick be longsto a subsequent generation, but he cameof age in the 1950s and his lineage—hisconnection to Brandeis, his studies withBernstein, Shapero, Berger, and, mostimportantly, Fine—place him squarelywithin this group, even though his musicexpresses its own independent, individ-ualistic modernism.

Last but not least, all five of the com-posers on this program devoted a greatdeal of their time and energy to teach-ing. Bernstein became this nation’s mostinspirational and influential teacher. Heused the medium of television, as con-ductor and inspirational presence, todemocratize access to the power andbeauty of the classical musical tradition.Berger, Shapero, Fine, and Wernickexcelled in the university classroom,and in Wernick’s case on the podium aswell. Wernick has had a long and dis-tinguished career with a substantial out-put of chamber and orchestral music. Iwas lucky enough to study with Wernickand play under him during his years onthe faculty of the University of Chicago.

These five composers represent a paral-lel in music to the literary achievementsof American Jewish writers from the

THE Programby Byron Adams

Leonard BernsteinBorn August 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts

Died October 14, 1990, in New York City

Overture to CandideComposed in 1956

Concert premiere on January 26, 1957, at Carnegie Hall by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Bernstein

Performance Time: Approximately 4 minutes

Instruments for this performance: 2 flutes, 1 piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 1 E-flatclarinet, 1 bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon, 5 French horns, 2 trumpets,3 trombones, 1 tuba, timpani, percussion (glockenspiel, xylophone, triangle,

cymbals, snare drum, tenor drum, bass drum), 1 harp, 19 violins, 6 violas, 6 cellos,and 6 double basses

same era—Saul Bellow, Louis Zukofsky,Bernard Malamud, Philip Roth, and E.L.Doctorow, to name a few. Bernstein’splace in the repertory now seems

secure. But the music of Fine, Wernick,Shapero, and Berger deserve a properand permanent place in our nation’sconcert repertory.

Despite its distinguished roster of col-laborators, including Lillian Hellman andRichard Wilbur, among others, LeonardBernstein’s Candide has always posed aconundrum for those seeking to pro-duce it. Candide, based on Voltaire’spicaresque 1759 novella, contains anembarrassment of riches that do notquite coalesce into a show. Hellman,who was an expert at concocting “wellmade” plays such as The Children’sHour, was not experienced at writingcomedy; Wilbur’s elegant verse is exces-sively clever at times; and Bernstein’stuneful, touching, and varied music canoften seem overwhelming.

In May of 1956 Bernstein, Hellman,and Wilbur, along with director TyroneGuthrie, met on Martha’s Vineyard towork on Candide. By August, Bernstein

had completed a score that consisted ofsome two hours of music and morethan 30 numbers. Candide opened inBoston for three weeks of tryouts, butgarnered only modest success: the dressrehearsal ran far too long and the audi-ence grew restive. A critic for Varietywarned, “A major hurdle to acceptanceis the somewhat esoteric nature of thesatire…. The musical needs severe cut-ting, especially in the second act.”Boston critics lauded the music, butfound the book heavy-handed.

Despite pruning, the New York pre-miere on December 1, 1956, was farfrom an unmitigated hit. Walter Kerr,the powerful drama critic of the HeraldTribune, wrote that Candide was a“really spectacular disaster.” Audiencesof the time were puzzled by the ways in

which Candide flouted the conventionsof musical theater, especially its lack ofa standard romantic plot. The showran for only 73 performances, but thescintillating original cast recording,conducted by Samuel Krachmalnick,was much praised and became a collec-tor’s item. The overture to Candide, a

cleverly designed potpourri of some ofthe show’s best tunes that Bernsteinrescored for full orchestra, quicklybecame its composer’s most popularorchestral work. It was performedmore than 200 times in the first twoyears after its publication and remains aconcert favorite.

Arthur BergerBorn May 15, 1912, in New York City

Died October 7, 2003, in Boston, Massachusetts

Ideas of OrderComposed in 1952, on commission from Dimitri Mitropoulos

Premiered on April 11, 1953, at Carnegie Hall by the New York Philharmonicconducted by Mitropoulos

Performance Time: Approximately 11 minutes

Instruments for this performance: 2 flutes, 1 piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 1 bassclarinet, 2 bassoons, 5 French horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, timpani, percussion

(bass drum), 1 harp, 19 violins, 6 violas, 6 cellos, and 6 double basses

Reviewing a concert of Arthur Berger’smusic in 1973, New York Times criticDonal Henahan characterized it as a“time capsule report” on the “post-warAmerican academic establishment.” Byusing the dreaded word “academic,”Henahan did Berger’s music no favors.Indeed, Berger’s accomplishments as aperceptive music theorist, especially hisarticles about Stravinsky’s music, alsoserved to put him in the dreaded pigeon-hole of “intellectual” composer, ignoringthe elegance, expressivity, and, indeed,charm of his work. His later reputationas a composer was hardly enhanced byhis early jobs as a music critic in the dayswhen a composer shaping public taste bywriting for newspapers was not consid-ered a conflict of interest.

Berger studied composition at New YorkUniversity, the Longy School, and at Har-vard, where his composition teacher wasWalter Piston. As a composer who wasalso an insightful theorist, Piston be -came a model for Berger. Aaron Coplandwas another admired figure: before

matriculating at Harvard, Berger joinedthe Young Composers Group that Cop-land had formed in New York. Berger’slove of Stravinsky was deepened by hisstudy with Nadia Boulanger in Paris from1937 to 1939. Upon returning to Amer-ica, he taught at Mills College, where hestudied informally with Darius Milhaud,and he later became the Irving Fine Pro-fessor of Music at Brandeis University.

By the early 1950s Berger becameintrigued by the challenge of reconcilingStravinskian neoclassicism with Schoen-berg’s serial techniques. Berger alwaysremained loyal to Stravinsky, however,calling him “the greatest composer ofour time.” Stravinsky’s influence is evi-dent in Berger’s lovely orchestral scoreIdeas of Order, named after WallaceStevens’ second book of poetry that waspublished in 1936. Berger’s score is asubtle theme and variations, and its firstperformance was well received by criticsand audiences alike. One commentatorenthused that the score “was as simpleand charming as a Haydn symphony.”

Harold Shapero was a precocious com-poser who enjoyed enormous successthroughout his 20s. He matriculated atHarvard where his principal teacherwas Walter Piston. Shapero admiredPiston’s music while being somewhatexasperated by his teacher’s dry wit andYankee reserve. At one point, whenShapero brought his brilliant 9-MinuteOverture (1940) to class, Piston lookedcoolly over the score and remarked,“Well, if it were mine, I’d put two bas-soons there.” During the summers of1940 and 1941 Shapero studied at Tan-glewood with Paul Hindemith, whosepedagogical method was to recomposehis pupils’ music before their very eyes.Far more important for Shapero’s devel-opment than either Piston or Hindemithwas Nadia Boulanger, with whom hestudied at Boston’s Longy School in1942 and 1943. Boulanger confirmedShapero’s predilection for the music ofStravinsky while analyzing with himthe music of Mozart, Haydn, and, espe-cially, Beethoven.

Shapero’s friendship with LeonardBernstein was particularly fruitful during

this period. Both Bernstein and Shaperoloved jazz, and Shapero had first-handexperience with American popularmusic as an arranger for dance bands.Jazz influences are evident in Shapero’sattractive Trumpet Sonata (1940) aswell as his Sonata for piano four hands(1941). Shapero and Bernstein played thefirst performance of this lively score,which is dedicated to “Bernstein andmyself.” Shapero’s music clearly influ-enced Bernstein’s Clarinet Sonata (1942)as well as his ballet Fancy Free (1944).

The composition of his Symphony forClassical Orchestra marked the climaxof Shapero’s early career. To create thisscore, Shapero drew upon Boulanger’sexplications of Beethoven along with hislove of Stravinsky and jazz. Shapero’ssymphony is certainly among the finestneoclassical works by any Americancomposer: each of the four movementsis poised and expressive. The warm andlyrical second movement, marked Adagi-etto, is particularly lovely. After itshighly successful premiere, even thehypercritical Irving Fine hailed it as “anextraordinary achievement.”

Harold ShaperoBorn April 29, 1920, in Lynn, Massachusetts

Died May 17, 2013, in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Symphony for Classical OrchestraComposed in 1947 in Boston on commission from the Koussevitzky FoundationPremiered on January 30, 1948, in Boston by the Boston Symphony Orchestra

conducted by Leonard BernsteinPerformance Time: Approximately 45 minutes

Instruments for this performance: 2 flutes, 1 piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon, 2 French horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 1 bass

trombone, timpani, 19 violins, 6 violas, 6 cellos, and 6 double basses

Richard WernickBorn January 16, 1934, in Boston

… and a time for peace (“… v’eyt shalom”)Composed in 1995 in Boston

Premiered on June 18, 1995, by the Orchestra Filarmonica Della Scala conductedby Riccardo Muti with mezzo-soprano Freda Herseth

Performance Time: Approximately 20 minutes

Instruments for this performance: 2 flutes, 1 alto flute, 1 piccolo, 2 oboes, 1 Englishhorn, 2 clarinets, 1 E-flat clarinet, 1 bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon,5 French horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, 2 bass trombones, timpani, percussion(crotales, finger cymbal, bell tree, chimes, bass drum, vibraphone, glockenspiel,suspended cymbal, tam-tam, bongos, tambourine, marimba, rute), 1 piano, 1 celeste,1 harp, 19 violins, 6 violas, 6 cellos, 6 double basses, and 1 mezzo-soprano soloist

The distinguished American composerRichard Wernick was born in Bostonand began piano lessons at the age of11. He studied at Brandeis Universitywith Irving Fine, Harold Shapero, andArthur Berger. In the summers of 1954and 1955 he studied composition atTanglewood with Ernst Toch and AaronCopland, and studied conducting withLeonard Bernstein. In the late 1950sand early 1960s Wernick lived in NewYork, writing music for stage, film, andtelevision. The importance of his workin these areas cannot be overestimated,as it gave the composer immense prac-tical experience. Wernick then taught atSUNY Buffalo and the University ofChicago before joining the faculty of theUniversity of Pennsylvania. Among hisresponsibilities there was conducting thePenn Contemporary Players, an ensemblethat he brought to national prominence.Wernick has received many honors,including grants from the Ford Founda-tion, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Ken -nedy Center Friedheim Award, and the1977 Pulitzer Prize for his powerful andecstatic Visions of Terror and Wonder.

Wernick has remained committed toreaching out to listeners. Due in part tohis early experience writing for film andtelevision, his approach to compositionhas always been principled and prag-matic. Wernick once commented to aninterviewer, “I’m not writing to anaudience which is illiterate and I’m notwriting to an audience which is techni-cally educated in music, but I do writefor an audience that I assume has expe-rience in listening to music and is will-ing to at least meet me halfway. So I’llgo halfway to meet them.”

When Riccardo Muti was the musicdirector of Philadelphia Orchestra inthe 1980s, Wernick served twice as hisadvisor for new music. The conductorand the composer formed a strong bond,which led to the commission of a pow-erful orchestral score entitled … and atime for peace (“v’yet shalom”). Com-posed for the 1995 season of theRavenna Music Festival in Italy, … anda time for peace is scored for mezzo-soprano and large orchestra, the sameforces as Visions of Terror and Wonder.

Irving FineBorn December 3, 1914, in BostonDied August 23, 1962, in Boston

Symphony (1962)Composed in 1962 in Boston on commission from the Boston Symphony OrchestraPremiered on March 23, 1962, in Boston by the Boston Symphony Orchestra

conducted by Charles MunchPerformance Time: Approximately 22 minutes

Instruments for this performance: 2 flutes, 1 piccolo, 2 oboes, 1 English horn, 2 clarinets, 1 bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon, 5 French horns, 3 trumpets,3 trombones, 1 tuba, timpani, percussion (timpano piccolo, snare drum, bassdrum, tambourine, cymbals, suspended cymbal, wood block, triangle, tam-tam,xylophone, glockenspiel, antique cymbals, chimes), 1 piano, 1 celeste, 1 harp,

19 violins, 6 violas, 6 cellos, and 6 double basses

Irving Fine was born, educated, taught,and died in Boston. His childhood wasmiserable on a Mahlerian scale: his par-ents were an ill-matched and quarrel-some pair. As musicologist HowardPollack has noted, there are numerousdepictions of parents throughout hiswork. Some are chilling, some ironic,but few are benign. Unsurprisingly, thisled Fine to seek out father figures,including Walter Piston, his teacher atHarvard, and Igor Stravinsky, whom hemet in 1939. He found a loyal friend inAaron Copland, with whom he taughtat Tanglewood.

Given the circumstances of his earlylife, it is unsurprising that Fine culti-vated a certain detachment in both hispersonality and his music. Piston, whocombined reserve with rectitude, mayhave provided a model for Fine in thisregard. (Piston resigned from theHarvard Musical Association in 1948when one of its members blackballedFine’s nomination because he wasJewish.) Fine became disenchantedwith Piston’s music by the late 1950s,however, writing that his erstwhileteacher’s scores “no longer offers usany surprises.”

No such reservations marred his admi-ration for Stravinsky. This affection wasonly intensified by Fine’s study with NadiaBoulanger, who was the Russian com-poser’s most ardent and loyal champion.Indeed, the objectivity of Stravinsky’sneo-classical aesthetic had a profoundand lasting influence on Fine’s music.Like Stravinsky, Fine was often drawnto droll subjects: one of Fine’s belovedscores in the repertory today is his wittyThree Choruses from Alice in Wonder-land for chorus and piano (1942).

Fine began to compose using Schoenberg’s“12-tone technique” slightly beforeStravinsky began his own explorationof this method in 1951. Fine was neverdoctrinaire, however, and his serializedmusic evinces an admirable independenceof thought. Fine’s late Symphony (1962)represents the culmination of his style inthe directness of the opening movement,the Stravinskian wit of the second, and theunremitting tragedy of the finale. Sadly,Fine died of a massive coronary throm-bosis at the age of 47 just 11 days afterconducting the Symphony at Tanglewood.

Byron Adams is a professor of musicologyat the University of California, Riverside.

… and a time for peace(“… v’eyt shalom”)RICHARD WERNICK

I. K’ta’im mi k’tavim atikim(fragments of ancient writing)

hashcha hashemeshhushlechu hakochavimhashamayim nikre’uge’tsalmavet ya’ale ba’eshgan eden mamtin

II. Interludio dal Paradiso

“… Le cose tutte quante hanno ordinetra loro, e questo è forma che l’universoa Dio fa simigliante.”—Dante, Paradiso, I. 103–105

III. mi Kohelet(from Ecclesiastes)

lakol z’man v’yet lechol heyfetz tachathashamayim:

eyt laledet v’yet lamuteyt lata’at v’yet la’akor natua:

eyt laharog v’eyt lir’poheyt lifrots v’eyt liv’not:

eyt livkot v’eyt lis’hokeyt sefod v’eyt rekod:

eyt lehashlich avanim v’eyt kenos avanim

eyt lahavok v’eyt lir’hok mehabbeyk:

eyt levakesh v’eyt le’abeydeyt lish’mor v’eyt lehashlich:

eyt lik’roa v’eyt lit’poreyt lahashot v’eyt ledabber:

eyt le’ehov v’eyt lis’noheyt milhamah v’eyt shalom.

Text ANDTranslation

The sun was darkenedThe stars were thrown downHeaven was torn apartThe Valley of Death was set ablazeParadise awaits

All things, whatsoever, have order amongthemselves, and this is the manner in whichthe universe is made to resemble God.

For everything a season, and a time forevery activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,a time to plant and a time to uproot:

a time to kill and a time to heal,a time to pull down and a time to build up:

a time to weep and a time to laugh,a time for mourning and a time for dancing:

a time to scatter stones and a time togather stones,a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing:

a time to seek and a time to lose,a time to keep and a time to throw away:

a time to tear and a time to mend,a time for silence and a time for speech:

a time to love and a time to hate,a time for war and a time for peace.

—from Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) 3; i–viii

THE Artists

Leon Botstein has been music directorand principal conductor of the Ameri-can Symphony Orchestra since 1992.He is also music director of The Orches-tra Now, an innovative training orches-tra composed of top musicians fromaround the world. He is artistic direc-tor of Bard SummerScape and the BardMusic Festival, which take place at theRichard B. Fisher Center for the Per-forming Arts at Bard College, where hehas been president since 1975. He isalso conductor laureate of the JerusalemSymphony Orchestra, where he servedas music director from 2003–11. In 2018he will assume artistic directorship ofthe institute of Grafenegg, Austria.

Mr. Botstein’s recent engagementsinclude the Royal Philharmonic, Wies-baden, UNAM Mexico, and the AspenFestival. He has appeared with the LosAngeles Philharmonic, Russian NationalOrchestra, NDR-Hamburg, BBC Sym-phony, and was the first non-Venezuelanconductor invited to conduct an El Sis-tema orchestra on an international

tour. Upcoming engagements includethe Magna Grecia Festival in Italy andthe Mariinsky Opera in St. Petersburg.Mr. Botstein can be heard on numerousrecordings with the London Symphony(including a Grammy-nominated record-ing of Popov’s First Symphony), theLondon Philharmonic, NDR-Hamburg,and the Jerusalem Symphony Orches-tra. Many of his live performances withthe American Symphony Orchestra areavailable online. His recording with theASO of Paul Hindemith’s The LongChristmas Dinner was named one ofthe top recordings of 2015 by severalpublications, and his recent recordingof Gershwin piano music was hailed byThe Guardian and called “somethingspecial…in a crowded field” by Music -web International.

Mr. Botstein’s most recent book is VonBeethoven zu Berg: Das Gedächtnis derModerne (2013). He is the editor of TheMusical Quarterly and the author ofnumerous articles and books. He is cur-rently working on a sequel to Jefferson’sChildren, about the American educa-tion system. Collections of his writingsand other resources may be foundonline at LeonBotsteinMusicRoom.com.For his contributions to music he hasreceived the award of the AmericanAcademy of Arts and Letters and Har-vard University’s prestigious Centen-nial Award, as well as the Cross ofHonor, First Class from the govern-ment of Austria. Other recent awardsinclude the Caroline P. and Charles W.Ireland Prize, the highest award givenby the University of Alabama; theBruckner Society’s Julio Kilenyi Medalof Honor for his interpretations of that

LEON BOTSTEIN, Conductor

RIC KALLAHER

composer’s music; the Leonard Bern-stein Award for the Elevation of Musicin Society; and Carnegie Foundation’s

Academic Leadership Award. In 2011he was inducted into the AmericanPhilosophical Society.

Mezzo-soprano Katherine Pracht’s recentand upcoming engagements include herreturn to Opera Philadelphia as Florain La traviata, Meg in Falstaff withOpera on the James, and several con-cert appearances including Mahler’sDas Lied von der Erde with the YorkSymphony, her return to Carnegie Hallperforming a program of Sir Karl Jenkins’works with Distinguished ConcertsInternational New York, Philip Glass’Symphony No. 5 with The WashingtonChorus, composer Bright Sheng’s TheIntimacy of Creativity 2017 festival atthe Asia Society Hong Kong Center,and her debut with the Grand RapidsSymphony performing Peter Lieberson’sNeruda Songs.

During the 2014–15 season Ms. Prachtwas highly involved with Opera Philadel-phia’s mission to workshop and per-form new American operas, developingthe role of Baroness Pannonica deKoenigswarter in workshops of DanielSchnyder’s Charlie Parker’s YARDBIRDand covering the role in its world pre-miere performance, and also develop-ing the role of Glenda in We Shall notbe Moved. She performed the role ofMeg in Little Women with Opera onthe James and made her role debut as

Sharon Falconer in Elmer Gantry withFlorentine Opera. During that seasonMs. Pracht’s concert appearances in -cluded Elijah with the Blacksburg Mas-ter Chorale; Mozart’s Requiem withthe Choral Society of Grace Church,NYC; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphonywith the Black Pearl Orchestra; andProkofiev’s cantata Alexander Nevskywith the Georgia Symphony.

Ms. Pracht has been a MetropolitanOpera Competition regional finalist inSan Antonio, Memphis, and twice inMinneapolis, where, in 2006, she wonthe Outstanding Mezzo Award.

KATHERINE PRACHT, Mezzo-soprano

Now in its 55th season, the AmericanSymphony Orchestra was founded in1962 by Leopold Stokowski, with a mis-sion of making orchestral music accessible

and affordable for everyone. MusicDirector Leon Botstein expanded thatmission when he joined the ASO in1992, creating thematic concerts that

AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

explore music from the perspective of thevisual arts, literature, religion, and history,and reviving rarely performed works thataudiences would otherwise never have achance to hear performed live.

The orchestra’s Vanguard Series con-sists of multiple concerts annually atCarnegie Hall. ASO has also performedat the Richard B. Fisher Center for thePerforming Arts at Bard College in Bard’sSummerScape Festival and the BardMusic Festival. The orchestra has madeseveral tours of Asia and Europe, andhas performed in countless benefits for

organizations including the JerusalemFoundation and PBS.

Many of the world’s most accom-plished soloists have performed withthe ASO, including Yo-Yo Ma, Debo-rah Voigt, and Sarah Chang. Theorchestra has released several record-ings on the Telarc, New World, Bridge,Koch, and Vanguard labels, and manylive performances are also available fordigital download. In many cases, theseare the only existing recordings of someof the rare works that have been redis-covered in ASO performances.

VIOLIN I Laura Frautschi,

ConcertmasterSuzanne GilmanYukie HandaRobert ZubryckiDiane BruceJohn ConnellyAshley HornePatricia DavisAnn LabinYana Goichman

VIOLIN II Richard Rood,

PrincipalSophia KessingerRagga PetursdottirWende NamkungDorothy StrahlLucy MorgansternElizabeth KleinmanAlexander VselenskyKatherine Livolsi-

Landau

VIOLAWilliam Frampton,

PrincipalSally ShumwayShelley Holland-

MoritzMartha BrodyRachel RiggsAdria Benjamin

CELLO Eugene Moye,

PrincipalRoberta CooperAnnabelle HoffmanSarah CarterAlberto ParriniEliana Mendoza

BASS John Beal, PrincipalJordan FrazierJack WengerLouis BrunoPeter DonovanRichard Ostrovsky

FLUTE Laura Conwesser,

PrincipalRie SchmidtDiva Goodfriend-

Koven, Piccolo

OBOEAlexandra Knoll,

PrincipalErin GustafsonMelanie Feld,

English Horn

CLARINET Todd Palmer,

PrincipalShari Hoffman

Benjamin BaronLino Gomez, Bass

Clarinet

BASSOON Charles McCracken,

PrincipalMaureen StrengeDamian PrimisGilbert Dejean,

Contrabassoon

HORN Eric Reed, PrincipalSara CyrusDavid SmithChad YarbroughSteven Sherts,

Assistant

TRUMPET Carl Albach,

PrincipalJohn DentJohn Sheppard

TROMBONE Richard Clark,

PrincipalKenneth FinnBradley WardJeffrey Caswell, Bass

Trombone

TUBA Kyle Turner,

Principal

TIMPANI Jonathan Haas,

Principal

PERCUSSION Kory Grossman,

PrincipalJavier DiazCharles DescarfinoDavid Nyberg

PIANOElizabeth Wright,

Principal

HARP Sara Cutler, Principal

PERSONNEL MANAGER Matthew Dine

ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR Zachary Schwartzman

ORCHESTRA LIBRARIAN Marc Cerri

AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRALeon Botstein, Conductor

Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, ChairThurmond Smithgall, Vice Chair

Miriam R. BergerMichael DorfRachel KalnickiJack KligerShirley A. Mueller, Esq.

Debra R. PemsteinEileen RhulenFelicitas S. Thorne

HONORARY MEMBERSJoel I. Berson, Esq.L. Stan Stokowski

ASO BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Lynne Meloccaro, Executive DirectorOliver Inteeworn, General ManagerBrian J. Heck, Director of MarketingNicole M. de Jesús, Director of DevelopmentSebastian Danila, Library ManagerCarley Gooley, Marketing AssistantCarissa Shockley, Operations Assistant

James Bagwell, Principal Guest ConductorZachary Schwartzman, Assistant ConductorRichard Wilson, Composer-In-ResidenceJames Bagwell, Artistic Consultant

ASO ADMINISTRATION

AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PATRONS

Ticket sales cover less than a quarter of the expenses for our full-size orchestral concerts.

The American Symphony Orchestra Board of Trustees, staff, and artists gratefully acknowl-edge the following individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies whohelp us to fulfill Leopold Stokowski’s avowed intention of making orchestral music accessi-ble and affordable for everyone. While space permits us only to list gifts made at the Friendslevel and above, we value the generosity and vital support of all donors.

Bernstein and The Bostonians has been made possible due in part to The Amphion Foun-dation, Inc.

MAESTRO’S CIRCLE Jeanne Donovan FisherThe Frank & Lydia Bergen

FoundationThe Lanie & Ethel FoundationNew York City Department

of Cultural Affairs (DCA)New York State Council on

the Arts (NYSCA)Open Society FoundationsThurmond SmithgallFelicitas S. Thorne

STOKOWSKI CIRCLE AnonymousThe Ann & Gordon Getty

FoundationThe Faith Golding Foundation,

Inc. Rachel and Shalom Kalnicki

Dimitri B. and RaniaPapadimitriou

Mr. and Mrs. Richard E.Wilson

BENEFACTORSAnonymous

PATRONSAnonymous (3)The Amphion FoundationLillian BarbashJoel I. and Ann BersonThe David & Sylvia

Teitelbaum Fund, Inc.Karen FinkbeinerGary M. GiardinaArthur S. LeonardMary F. and Sam MillerDr. Pamela F. Mazur and

Dr. Michael J. Miller

James and Andrea NelkinMark Ptashne and

Lucy GordonPatricia E. SaigoTides Foundation, on the

recommendation ofKathryn McAuliffe andJay Kriegel

SUSTAINERSAnonymous (3)Veronica and John

FrankensteinStephen M. GrahamIBM CorporationDoug B. JonesErica Kiesewetter Jeanne MalterJoanne and Richard MrstikShirley A. MuellerJames H. and Louise V. North

Anthony RichterDavid E. Schwab II and

Ruth Schwartz SchwabJanet Zimmerman SegalPeter and Eve SourianJoseph and Jean SullivanSiri von Reis

CONTRIBUTORS Anonymous (2)Gary ArthurJeffrey CaswellIsabelle A. CazeauxRoger ChatfieldB. Collom and A. MenningerElliott ForrestMax and Eliane HahnAshley HorneMichael and Anne Marie

KishbauchPeter KrollAdnah G. and Grace W.

KostenbauderDr. Coco LazaroffNancy Leonard and

Lawrence KramerSteve LeventisPeter A. Q. LockerStephen J. Mc AteerChristine MunsonKurt Rausch and Lorenzo

MartoneRoland Riopelle and Leslie

KanterHarriet SchonMartha and David SchwartzAlan StenzlerMichael and Judith ThoyerMr. and Mrs. Jon P. Tilley Robert and Patricia Ross Weiss

SUPPORTERSAnonymous (11)American Express Gift

Matching ProgramBernard AptekarJohn and Joanne BaerMarian D. BachThe Bank of America

Charitable FoundationReina BarcanCarol Kitzes BaronRuth BaronMary Ellin BarrettDr. Robert BasnerDavid C. Beek and Gayle

Christian Simone BeldaYvette BendahanAdria BenjaminDaniel and Gisela Berkson

Stephen M. BrownMarjorie BurnsMoshe BursteinCA TechnologiesRichard C. CellerBarbara and Peter ClapmanTheodore and Alice Ginott

Cohn Philanthropic Fund Laura ConwesserMichael and Frances CurranHerbert and Mary DonovanPaul EhrlichRichard FarrisLynda FergusonMartha FerryLaura FlaxJeffrey F. FriedmanChristopher H. GibbsAnn and Lawrence GilmanJune O. GoldbergGordon GouldGreenwich House, Inc.John L. HaggertyLaura HarrisLinda HerskowitzEric S. HoltzPenelope HortHudson Guild, Inc. Sara HunsickerGeorge H. HutzlerJewish Communal FundJosé JiménezRonald S. KahnRobert and Susan KalishDr. Roses E. KatzRobert and Charlotte KellyDavid KernahanIrving and Rhoda KleimanCaral G. and Robert A. KleinDr. Carol LachmanShirley LeongLinda LopezWilliam LublinerJoyce F. LuchtenbergAlan MallachElizabeth MateoCarolyn McColleyAlan B. McDougallSally and Bruce McMillenClifford S. MillerPhyllis and Stanley MishkinMartin L. and Lucy Miller

MurrayKenneth NassauMichael NasserKaren OlahClarence W. Olmstead, Jr.

and Kathleen F. HeenanRoger and Lorelle PhillipsDavid R. Pozorski and Anna

M. Romanski

Wayne H. ReaganJohn RoaneLeonard Rosen and Phyllis

RosenRochelle RubinsteinMichael T. RyanHenry SaltzmanPeter Lars Sandberg Albert SargentiNina C. and Emil SchellerJoe Ruddick and Mary Lou

SchempSharon SchweidelGerald and Gloria ScorseMargret SellGeorgi ShimanovskyBruce Smith and Paul

CastellanoGertrude SteinbergSuzanne SteinbergSusan StempleskiHazel C. and Bernard StraussHelen StudleyRobert SweeneyMargot K. TalentiCatherine TraykovskiSusan and Charles TribbittMr. and Mrs. Jack UllmanJanet WhalenVictor WheelerDonald W. WhippleLarry A. WehrLeonard and Ellen ZablowAlfred ZollerMyra and Matthew

Zuckerbraun

FRIENDSAnonymous (4)Madelyn P. AshmanStephen BlumMona Yuter BrokawMrs. A. Peter BrownJoan BrunskillStephen J. and Elena ChopekNancy L. ClipperRobert CohenConcerts MacMusicsonPatricia ContinoLois ConwayJudy Davis Thomas J. De StefanoSusanne DiamondRuth Dodziuk-Justitz and

Jozef DodziukBarton DominusJonathan F. DzikLee EvansAnne Stewart FitzroyExxonMobil FoundationDonald W. Fowle

Helen GarciaGoldman, Sachs & Co. Robert GottliebMichael and Ilene GottsMr. and Mrs. Sidney GreenbergJohn HallDonald HargreavesAndrée HayumJohn HelzerRobert HerbertDiana F. HobsonChristopher HollingerCyma HorowitzDrs. Russell and Barbara

HolsteinTheresa JohnsonGinger KarrenRobin KatzPeter KeilKaori KitaoPete KlostermanFrederick R. KochSeymour and Harriet Koenig

Mr. and Mrs. Robert LaPorteDavid LaurensonPatricia LucaWalter LeviJudd LevyJosé A. LopezSarah LuhbyNancy LuptonDr. Karen ManchesterRichard and Maryanne

MendelsohnJohn Metcalfe Mark G. MiksicMyra MillerAlex MitchellDavid MortonMichael NassarLeonie NewmanSandra NovickMather PfeiffenbergerJane and Charles PrussackBruce RaynorMartin Richman

Catherine RoachJohn W. RoaneDr. and Mrs. Arnold RosenLeslie SalzmanDr. and Mrs. Herbert C.

SchulbergThe Honorable Michael D.

StallmanPaul StumpfMadeline V. TaylorRenata and Burt WeinsteinJon WetterauDavid A. WilkinsonAnn and Doug WilliamKurt WissbrunDagmar and Wayne YaddowLawrence YagodaMark and Gail Zarick

List current as of November 2, 2016

New York State Council on the Arts withthe support of Governor Andrew Cuomoand the New York State Legislature

The City of New YorkThe Honorable Bill De Blasio, MayorNYC Department of Cultural Affairs inpartnership with the New York CityCouncil

Music plays a special part in the lives of many New York residents. The American SymphonyOrchestra gratefully acknowledges the support of the following government agencies thathave made a difference in the culture of New York:

Since 1962 the American Symphony Orchestra has done something incredible: Present thewidest array of orchestral works, performed at exceptional levels of artistry—and offered atthe most accessible prices in New York City. Be they rare works or beloved masterpieces, noother Orchestra dares to present the same depth of repertoire every single season.

But the ASO has urgent need of your support. Production costs for full-scale, orchestral concertsare ever increasing, while public philanthropy for the arts has decreased at an alarming rate.As always, we keep to our mission to maintain reasonable ticket prices, which means ASOdepends even more than most other orchestras on philanthropic contributions.

That’s why we must call on you—our audiences, artists, and community partners, who cannotimagine a world without opportunities to hear live Strauss, Bernstein, or Elgar.

Every dollar counts. Please donate at any level to safeguard the ASO’s distinctive program-ming now and ensure another season!

UPHOLD THE CLASSICAL TRADITION: SUPPORT THE ASO!

ANNUAL FUNDAnnual gifts support the Orchestra’s creative concert series and educational programs. Inappreciation, you will receive exclusive benefits that enhance your concert-going experienceand bring you closer to the Orchestra.

SUSTAINING GIFTSMake your annual gift last longer with monthly or quarterly installments. Sustaining giftsprovide the ASO with a dependable base of support and enable you to budget your giving.

MATCHING GIFTSMore than 15,000 companies match employees’ contributions to non-profit organizations.Contact your human resources department to see if your gift can be matched. Matching giftscan double or triple the impact of your contribution while you enjoy additional benefits.

CORPORATE SUPPORTHave your corporation underwrite an American Symphony Orchestra concert and enjoy themany benefits of the collaboration, including corporate visibility and brand recognition,employee discounts, and opportunities for client entertainment. We will be able to provideyou with individually tailored packages that will help you enhance your marketing efforts.For more information, please call 646.237.5022

HOW TO DONATEMake your gift online: www.americansymphony.org/support

Please make checks payable to: American Symphony Orchestra

Mail to:American Symphony Orchestra263 West 38th Street, 10th FloorNew York, NY 10018

For questions or additional information: Nicole M. de Jesús, Director of Development,646.237.5022 or ndejesus@americansymphony.org.