For the past 4 years, Art of Élan has been pioneering unique chamber music events and bringing back the excitement of classical music. Created by violinist Kate Hatmaker and flutist Demarre McGill, Art of Élan is breaking down the barriers that surround classical music through its innovative, one-hour programming. For its 5th Anniversary Season, entitled “Steppin’ Out,” Art of Élan and the San Diego Museum of Art offer four art-inspired concerts that focus on the wide range of musical genres that make up the diverse cultural fabric of San Diego. Pairing colorful programming with the showcasing of local talent, Art of Élan continues its commitment to “step out” of the classical music norm.

Each program offers a wide variety of exciting classical repertoire and promises to provide an engaging experience for the listener. By drawing inspiration from the word élan, which represents momentum, vigor and spirit, Art of Élan hopes to engage and energize audiences in new ways.

PROGRAMTuesday, November 29th, 2011, 7PM

Copley Auditorium, The San Diego Museum of Art

A Fiddler’s Tale Wynton Marsalis “ It Always Starts Somewhere”

Fiddler’s March “ Her Name is Beatrice Connors”

Fiddler’s Soul “ She’s Floating on a Dream Cloud”

Fiddler’s March Reprise “ Now That He Has Her Going...”

Reprise 2 (End of March) “ Beatrice Connors Is Now A Success”

Pastorale “ More Words on Fame”

Fiddler’s Soul Reprise “ Keeping One Hundred Dollars...”

Happy March “ The Illness of the Land”

Little Concert Piece “ Musicians, You Must Play...”

Tango, Waltz, Ragtime “ The Music Causes the Savior...”

The Devil’s Dance “ The Music Was Too Strong”

Little Chorale The Devil’s Song (BZB Speaks) Great Chorale

“ But Beatrice Connors...” The Blues on Top

Hassan El-Amin, narratorKate Hatmaker, violin and Jory Herman, double bass

Terri Tunnicliff, clarinet and Valentin Martchev, bassoonAndrew Elstob, trumpet and Kyle Covington, trombone

Andy Watkins, percussion

We always try to inspire our audience to open their ears and become active listeners/participants in our concert adventures. There are times, however, when a piece of music or a work of art sets a mood and takes you on a journey with little or no effort of your own. We were intrigued by the lone, walking figure in Hughie Lee-Smith’s painting Sunday Afternoon. This representation of melancholy and searching, in an environment of American urban decay, makes this a unique work in the Museum’s collection. As an African-American painter, segregation and alienation were subject matters that Lee-Smith knew well, and used in his paintings. Wynton Marsalis perfectly captures this sense of soul searching and feeling of estrangement in his “A Fiddler’s Tale.” Your imagination will no doubt be active during this haunting musical tale of damnation. This is definitely one time when we will simply encourage you to sit back and enjoy the ride!

-Demarre McGill

Hughie Lee-Smith • American, 1915-1999 • Sunday Afternoon • 1953 • Acrylic on boardThe San Diego Museum of Art • Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Norton S. Walbridge • 1996.5Art © Estate of Hughie Lee-Smith/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

COMPOsiTiOnsMarsalis’ “A Fiddler’s Tale”

Famed jazz artist Wynton Marsalis (b. 1961) has become a true ambassador for jazz and American culture. Winner of nine Grammy Awards, he is the only artist to have won Grammys for both jazz and classical records and was the first artist to ever win a Pulitzer Prize for jazz composition. He was born in New Orleans and spent his childhood playing trumpet in a variety of bands and jazz ensembles in New Orleans. He attended The Juilliard School and shortly thereafter joined the Jazz Messengers, under legendary bandleader Art Blakey. While he is most famous for his accomplishments as a jazz trumpeter, he has made countless classical recordings, and has most recently embarked on a major collaboration with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, helping establish Jazz at Lincoln Center as one of city’s premier cultural institutions. He wrote “A Fiddler’s Tale” in 1998 for the musicians of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in response to Igor Stravinsky’s “A Soldier’s Tale,” a work for 7-piece chamber ensemble and narrator written in the earlier part of the twentieth century. Marsalis intended to use the same thematic concept of someone who sells his soul to the devil, although he uses a female violinist and a record company executive to portray his characters in this version. He includes jazz elements and ragtime melodies, as well as classical motives, influenced by the original Stravinsky composition, but the text is original, written by American columnist and critic Stanley Crouch. It was recorded by Marsalis and the other musicians of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and bassoonist Milan Turkovic wrote the liner notes for the resulting CD. He describes the collaboration as follows:

“ In a conversation I had with Wynton Marsalis for a book I was writing, he always came back to the fact that musicians in different areas of music have many more similarities than differences, but that we simply have too few opportunities to make music together. But here at last was the ideal opportunity: David Shifrin, the artistic director of the Chamber Music Society

of Lincoln Center had the brilliant idea of putting us together with Jazz at Lincoln Center for a month of intense collaboration. The result was a tour that criss-crossed the entire United States, culminating in this recording. In the first half of the evening we played Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat. The second half was devoted to a piece by Wynton Marsalis. The idea was for Wynton to compose a work with the same orchestration as Stravinsky’s with a connection to the original text by Ramuz. Wynton’s friend Stanley Crouch wrote an American version of Ramuz’s typically European “devil’s tale,” and this became A Fiddler’s Tale. Thus began a journey that helped bring together a unique team. Its main characteristics were total artistic dedication combined with delightfully relaxed camaraderie, a camaraderie that even took command of our travel companions. For example, the cook in our hotel was bribed, as a precaution, so that after our long day, which often ended after midnight, we were able to have a hot meal. Of course, the concert didn’t always end after the audience left; occasionally Wynton would sit down at the piano in the dressing room and play the blues. He would also sing ironic, affectionate or sometimes even slightly offbeat songs about us, his fellow musicians. The sound checks before the concert often went the same way. Preparations often turned into gleeful improvisation. Wynton, Edgar Meyer and Stefon Harris would suddenly get carried away by an idea. I developed a great admiration for Wynton’s ability to improvise, and learned other things, too, from our “native jazzers:” Why shouldn’t we nod in approval to our fellow musicians after they play a successful solo? And what book of etiquette forbids classical musicians from having a glass of water onstage?

A few hours after the final bar was recorded, I was sitting on the plane returning to my home in Europe. Suddenly, I felt empty. A project, so unusual for all the participants, had just ended. Everyday music life was resuming. And, no matter how wonderful this everyday life might be, I knew that I would miss A Fiddler’s Tale. At least I was comforted by the fact that a CD would soon be released.”

-program notes by Kate Hatmaker

Support for Art of Élan performances at The San Diego Museum of Art comes from Gordon Brodfuehrer, Jean and Charles Hellerich, and Carol Strensrud; their extraordinary generosity helped to make this season possible. Additional thanks go to James Robbins, John Forrest and Deborah Pate, Pat and Jack Thomas, Rosanne and W. Gregory Berton, Jeanette Stevens, Joyce and Ted Strauss, the Lewis and Marnie Klein Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation, and the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture. We would also like to recognize Toni Robin for her tireless energy and support, as well as Ben Leggatt for his wonderfully creative and colorful graphics. Additional funding for the Museum comes from the Members of The San Diego Museum of Art, and by the County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program. Institutional support for the Museum is provided by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.

MusiCiAnsKyle Ross Covington

Kyle is a native Californian, born in Santa Rosa. He started playing trombone at the age of fifteen and was a member of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, studying privately with Mark Lawrence and John Engelkes of the San Francisco Symphony. Kyle earned his Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School in 2006 where he was accepted with a presidential distinction scholarship and studied with Joseph Alessi of the New York Philharmonic. In 2005, he was the winner of the Van Haney tenor trombone competition. His performances include appearances with the National Repertory Orchestra, the Music Academy of the West, the Pacific Music Festival and the Aspen Music Festival. He has also toured with the New York Philharmonic and performed with the San Francisco Symphony. While attending the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2006 - 2007 and working on his Masters Degree, he won the position of second trombone for the Buffalo Philharmonic. After playing two seasons with Buffalo, Kyle won the principal trombone position with the San Diego Symphony.

Hassan El-Amin

Hassan El-Amin is an Equity regional stage actor and a member of the Hal and Diane Brierley Resident Acting Company at the Dallas Theatre Center. He has performed at the Kennedy Center, Mark Taper Forum, The Goodman, Arena Stage, Guthrie Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Huntington Theatre, Denver Theatre Center, Portland Center Stage, Milwaukee Repertory, San Diego Repertory, Penumbra Theatre, Colorado, Oregon, and Utah Shakespeare Festivals in such plays as; Death of a Salesman, Fences, Seven Guitars, Radio Golf, Jitney, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Raisin in the Sun, The Lion King, The Tempest, Julius Cae-sar, King Lear, and Othello. Film/TV credits include: E-Ring (NBC) Soundtracks: Tears of the Sun (Sony Pictures), The Wild (Walt Disney Films). Education: MFA, University of Delaware

Andrew Elstob

Trumpeter Andrew Elstob is a native of Monterey, California. He has performed broadway shows for the Old Globe, Lyceum and Civic Theaters. Classically, Andrew has performed with Pavarotti, Classics for Kids, the Orchestra de Baja California, San Diego Chamber Orchestra and San Diego Symphony. His jazz experience is extensive, currently performing with the Brad Steinwehe Jazz Or-chestra. He received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from San Diego State University.

Kate Hatmaker

Kate Hatmaker is currently a violinist with the San Diego Symphony, in addition to being the co-founder and Artistic Director of Art of Élan. Ms. Hatmaker has played with a wide variety of American orchestras, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the New World Symphony, and the Pittsburgh “Live Chamber Orchestra,” which she helped promote in an effort to draw younger audiences to classical music. In addition to teaching at the Coronado School of the Arts, as well as privately in the San Diego area, Ms. Hatmaker is a frequent chamber music recitalist and has been a featured soloist with both the San Diego Symphony and the Breckenridge Music Festival orchestras. She completed her Master of Music degree at Carnegie Mellon University, in the studio of Andrés Cárdenes, and her undergraduate training at both the University of Iowa and the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with high honors and degrees in both Political Science and French.

Jory Herman

Jory Herman, is the newest member of the San Diego Symphony Double Bass Section. In 2010, he performed the season with the National Symphony in Washington D.C. A native of Houston, he received both a Bachelors and Masters of Music Performance in an Honors 5-year degree program at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. After this, he spent three seasons with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach under the direction of Michael Tilson

Thomas. The awards he has received for solo competitions include second place in the 2007 ISB Competition and finalist with the Corpus Christi Young Artists Competition. His primary teachers have been Paul Ellison, Dennis Whittaker, and Andrew Moritz. He has participated in numerous orchestra festivals including Tanglewood Music Festival, Colorado Music Festival, Spoleto USA Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, and the Youth Orchestra of the Americas. In the summer of 2010, Mr. Herman was selected for the International Artist’s Residency at Recollets in Paris to study videography and experiment with works for Double Bass and Multimedia.

Valentin Martchev

Valentin Martchev was born in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, and started playing the bassoon at age 10. He went to the State Academy of Music in Sofia and Duquesne University, studying with Yordan Metodiev, Tony Komitoff, and Nancy Goeres. He attended the Aspen, Tanglewood, Music Academy of the West, and Marlboro Music Festivals, and has been a tenured member of the Bulgarian State Radio Orchestra and the Charlottesville Symphony in Virginia, where he was also on the university faculty. In 2001 Mr. Martchev joined the San Diego Symphony as their principal bassoonist. The SD Union Tribune said his 2007 performance of John Williams’ bassoon concerto “Five Sacred Trees” “… made this bassoonist a star.” He has performed multiple times with the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, Camera Lucida, the Mainly Mozart Festival, Jacaranda, and La Jolla Summerfest. In 2008 he was Guest Principal Bassoon with the LA Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen, and in 2010 he was Guest Associate Principal Bassoon with the Cincinnati Symphony under Paavo Jarvi. He is on the faculty of SDSU and plays on a 1985 Heckel Biebrich.

Terri Tunnicliff

Terri Tunnicliff has been a member of the San Diego Symphony since 2004. Before joining the SDS she was principal clarinetist of the San Diego Opera and San Diego Chamber Orchestras. She has also performed with the Los Angeles

Philharmonic, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the LA Opera and LA Chamber Orchestras and for film and television. She lived in Italy for three years performing with Musicus Concentus, Luciano Berio and Salvatore Accardo. She has performed at the Marlboro and Mainly Mozart festivals as well as a number of festivals in Italy, France, Spain and Israel. She has participated in six Music From Marlboro national tours. Her recordings include the Hindemith Octet for Sony Classical and the Mozart Clarinet Quintet for Nuova Era as well as many contemporary recordings for Nonesuch, Crystal and New Albion.

Andy Watkins

A native of Monticello, IL, Andrew Watkins has served as a percussionist and the assistant timpanist for the San Diego Symphony since February 2010. Prior to San Diego, he has played extensively with many well known orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, Chicago Lyric Opera, New World Symphony and Sapporo Symphony. Mr. Watkins is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Chicago Collegeof Performing Arts and the New England Conservatory. He has appeared at the Tanglewood Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, and SOAP Festival, among others. This is his second time appearing with the Art of Élan.

uPCOMinG EVEnTs

LiÁnJiE 連結Tuesday, March 27th, 2012 at 7PM

Continuing in the collaborative spirit of Liánjie (which means “connections” in Chinese), Art of Élan turns to its friends in the San Diego dance world to present a unique concert event that highlights the musical connection that modern composers have with Asian cultures. Featuring the Jean Isaacs’ San Diego Dance Theater, with music by Bright Sheng, Steve Reich, and an arrangement of the famous Korean folksong “Arirang” by local jazz pianist Geoffrey Keezer, this program also illustrates the strong connection between music and dance while paying homage to the rich heritage of Asian culture.

In partnership with

1450 El Prado, Balboa Park • Phone: 619.696.1978www.TheSanDiegoMuseumofArt.org

To support Art of Élan concerts at the Museum, please consider a donation to:The San Diego Museum of ArtAttn. Art of Élan concert series

PO Box 122107San Diego, CA 92112-2107

Contributions to this partnership in any amount are appreciated. Those contributing $500 or more will be invited to a special end-of-season dinner to celebrate the year’s performances. Contributions can also be e-mailed to Stephanie Ward at sward@sdmart.org.

Art of Élan Board of Directors: W. Gregory Berton

Kate HatmakerAlena HerranenDemarre McGillDeborah Pate

James RobbinsAlan Ziter

If you enjoyed this concert tonight, please join our Art of Élan family of supporters. Contributions of any kind are much appreciated, as even $25 can help us continue to provide exciting concerts. We believe that with our energy, innovative programming ideas, and genuine desire to share classical music with a wider audience, we can change the cultural climate of San Diego. We don’t need a million dollars to do it, but we do need your help and support.

To support Art of Élan, please send your donation to: 3730 1st Ave. #1, San Diego, CA 92103

Phone: 619.692.2081www.artofelan.org

Art of Élan is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and, as such, all contributions are fully tax-deductible. Tax ID: 20-8136710