Dance of the Paper Umbrellas (2013)
Elena Kats-Chernin (b. 1957)
Elena Kats-Chernin is a well-known Australian composer who was born in the Soviet Union. She began studying music at the Yaroslavl Music School, followed by the Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow. She moved to Australia in 1975 where she continued her studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Dance of the Paper Umbrellas is one of many pieces written by Elena Kats-Chernin in collaboration with the Hush Foundation, where she composed a collection of CDs to help children and their families as they undergo difficult medical procedures. These pieces were inspired by her conversations with those children, and their persistent optimism, wonder, excitement, and hope for the future despite the hardships they faced. Kats-Chernin explains:
The idea for this piece started when I visited the leukemia ward at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne and witnessed what wonderful work Dr. Catherine Crock and her team do. It was a moving experience that was still with me, when a few days later I sat at my piano. I wondered what kind of piece I would write that would be uplifting. I wanted to enter the world of magic and possibilities. I imagined a cake adorned with multi-colored umbrellas. A dance formed in my head, starting with a pattern in the harp, marimba, plucked strings, and flutes.
A notable characteristic of Kats-Chernin’s music is how she introduces a simple rhythmic or melodic fragment and continuously adds or changes its instrumentation, while lengthening the motive over time. This technique continuously creates forward momentum through change, while retaining familiarity due to its progressive nature. Throughout Dance of the Paper Umbrellas, an initially fragmented motif can be heard throughout the orchestra as it expands and undergoes many changes in timbre and duration before it is deconstructed toward the end of the piece, returning to its original shortened form.
Note by Aidan McManis
“Da tempeste il legno infranto” from Giulio Cesare (1724)
G.F. Handel (1685–1759)
The simile aria, which Rossini was to send up to hilarious effect in his comic opera finales, was still alive and well in the Baroque age, principally used as a pretext for the most brazen displays of vocal acrobatics on the part of the great divas of the period. Here Cleopatra compares her rescue by Julius Caesar to the safe arrival of a boat through stormy seas. As over-the-top as the opening section is, expect even more vocal acrobatics in the reprise.
Note by Vancouver Recital Society
Swan Lake Suite, op. 20a (1875–1876)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893)
One of the most popular ballets of all time, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, composed for the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, premiered on March 4, 1877. The original choreography and its production were inept, so the ballet initially failed. Tchaikovsky mistakenly thought that the fault lay in his music and decided to rewrite it, but died before he could do so.
In the story line of Swan Lake, the young Prince Siegfried accompanies his companions to hunt swans. In a mysterious, romantic lake, swans float gracefully, becoming lovely young ladies as they touch shore, but the evil magician, Rotbart only allows them to remain human between midnight and dawn. Siegfried falls in love with Odette, the Queen of the Swans, and invites her to a ball so he can propose to her. She cannot attend the ball unless Rotbart no longer weaves his spell.
At the ball, many seek the Prince’s hand, each performing a national dance from her country. The Prince dances with them all, but awaits Odette. Two new guests arrive: Rotbart, dressed as the Knight of the Black Swan, and Rotbart’s daughter Odile, transformed into Odette’s twin. Siegfried, initially deceived, declares he will marry Odile, while Odette, still a swan, beats against the window in vain to warn Siegfried. Rotbart, delighted that he has forced the prince to break his vow, disappears with Odile. Siegfried realizes the truth and rushes out to find Odette. Rotbart creates a storm in hopes that Odette will drown in the lake, but Siegfried risks his life to save her, proclaiming his willingness to die with her. His heroism breaks the magician’s spell. The floodwaters recede, and the girls regain their human form, freed forever.
In 1880, Tchaikovsky’s benefactress, Nadezhda von Meck, wrote that she had commissioned a young Frenchman to make piano arrangements of three dances from the ball scene; it became Debussy’s first published work. In 1882, Tchaikovsky decided to create a suite from the ballet, but unfortunately he never did. Swan Lake Suite was selected by others and varies greatly in movements from performance to performance.
Note by Susan Halpern
Toccata Marziale (1924)
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1893)
Perhaps more than any other English composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams is inextricably connected to the rich folk song tradition of his country. After studying composition and organ at the Royal College of Music and Cambridge University, Vaughan Williams struggled to find his identity as a composer, publishing his first work at age thirty. His career finally blossomed when he joined the English Folk Song Society, which inspired him to travel throughout the English countryside collecting tunes from native singers. He published the songs and incorporated them into his original compositions, creating a distinct style that helped to redefine English music.
Toccata Marziale is one of two works Vaughan Williams composed for wind band after being exposed to military bands during his service in the British Army in World War I. Completed in 1924, the “toccata” references an early Baroque genre of virtuosic keyboard music. The piece’s long melodic lines are tempered only by its martial tempo and stately character. Vaughan Williams’ skillful use of the wind band features dialogue between the woodwind and brass sections in a brilliant and constantly shifting texture.
Note by Kristin Arp
Traveler (2003)
David Maslanka (1943–2017)
Traveler was commissioned in 2003 by the University of Texas at Arlington Band Alumni Association, the Delta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi and the Gamma Nu Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma, in honor of the career contributions of Ray C. Lichtenwalter, retiring Director of Bands at UT Arlington. Ray has been a close friend and champion of my music for many years, and it was a great pleasure for me to writ this piece for his final concert.
The idea for Traveler came from the feeling of a big life movement as I contemplated my friend’s retirement. Traveler begins with an assertive statement of the chorale melody “Nicht so traurig, nicht so sehr” (“Not so sad, not so much”). The chorale was not chosen for its title, although in retrospect it seems quite appropriate. The last part of life need not be sad. It is an accumulation of all that has gone before, and a powerful projection into the future – the potential for a tremendous gift of life and joy. And so the music begins with energy and movement, depicting an engaged life in full stride. At the halfway point, a meditative quiet settles in. Life’s battles are largely done; the soul is preparing for its next big step.
Note by composer
Caminantes (2019)
Ricardo Lorenz (b. 1961)
Caminantes––in English, hikers or walkers––explores the different emotional stages undergone by any one of the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who decide to walk to the border between Venezuela and Colombia and continue hiking in the hope of finding a hospitable place that offers basic human rights and opportunities. As a Venezuelan emigrant myself, fortunate to have been welcomed into the United States almost 40 years ago, I empathize deeply with each of those Venezuelans seeking the future they lost all hope of having in their country. Under very different circumstances, I have gone through similar emotions: the hunch that it is time to leave; the feeling of hope challenged by great uncertainty; immense longing for those who remain in Venezuela; acceptance; and the recurring dream of one day being able to return.
Note from Indiana University Symphonic Band concert program, 5 October 2021
Tarot (2021)
Lindsay Bronnenkant (b. 1988)
Gustav Holst was incredibly interested in Indian culture, going so far as to teach himself Sanskrit. Some evidence suggests that he tried to incorporate Indian ragas into his works, and after investigating Holst’s resources and analyzing his Planets, I believe that Holst tried to reference ragas that evoked similar characters to those of the planets in his suite. Holst’s access to authentic performance of Indian music was limited, however, and like many composers––especially as a British composer entrenched in modal composition during the English folk song revival of the early twentieth century––he took what he understood of ragas and filled in the gaps with Western theoretical knowledge, resulting in the treatment of what were once ragas as scales or modes.
I decided to compose a suite that traces Holst’s footsteps but applies his musical experimentation to a new topic: Tarot. Like astrology, Tarot cards have been used for divination, and as each planet in modern astrology represents specific characteristics and personality traits, so too does each Tarot card. Some elements of the Hindustani thats, Karnatak melakarta ragas, and pitch sets Holst references in his Planets are referenced in Tarot using a similarly Western approach to portray Tarot card analogs.
In Tarot, the Fool represents someone who dives head-first through open doors with enthusiasm (and sometimes with a blissful ignorance of any looming danger). The card represents new beginnings, playfulness, naïveté, and optimism. The first movement, The Fool, contains several intentionally comedic moments as the Fool, unaware of the luck manifesting from his will, manages to skip through a minefield unharmed. The movement references the pitches of the Kalyan that are found in Jupiter, a benefic planet of good fortune, to represent the Fool’s beginner’s luck. The movement also uses the whole-tone scale hinted at in some of Holst’s themes for Uranus, a chaotic and unpredictable planet, to depict the unintentional mayhem that inevitably follows each of the Fool’s steps.
In Tarot, the suit of cups corresponds with emotional energy and the element of water. A deeply empathic soul, the King of Cups tempers his emotions by balancing his heart with his head. The King leads diplomatically through compassion. The second movement, The King of Cups, references the pitches of melakarta raga Dhavalambari from Neptune as a nod to a fellow intuitive and ruler of the sea, and additionally employs the pitches of the Bhairavi that are found in Venus to allude to the King’s kind and gentle countenance.
The Tower represents surprise, upheaval, and destruction. It represents the collapse of structure, the crumbling of façades based on faulty foundations. The final movement references Mars, the Bringer of War with two similar pitch sets: the one Holst uses in Mars, as well as a theme that Holst may have meant to draw from, Bhairav.
Note by composer
Danzón No. 2 (1998/2009)
Arturo Márquez (b. 1950)
Arranged by Oliver Nickel
The idea of writing the Danzón No. 2 originated in 1993 during a trip to Malinalco with the painter Andrés Fonseca and the dancer Irene Martínez, both of whom are experts in salon dances with a special passion for the danzón, which they were able to transmit to me from the beginning, and also during later trips to Veracruz and visits to the Colonia Salon in Mexico City. From these experiences onward, I started to learn the danzón’s rhythms, its form, its melodic outline, and to listen to the old recordings by Acerina and his Danzonera Orchestra. I was fascinated and I started to understand that the apparent lightness of the danzón is only like a visiting card for a type of music full of sensuality and qualitative seriousness, a genre which old Mexican people continue to dance with a touch of nostalgia and a jubilant escape towards their own emotional world; we can fortunately still see this in the embrace between music and dance that occurs in the State of Veracruz and in the dance parlors of Mexico City.
The Danzón No. 2 is a tribute to the environment that nourishes the genre. It endeavors to get as close as possible to the dance, to its nostalgic melodies, to its wild rhythms, and although it violates its intimacy, its form and its harmonic language. It is a very personal way of paying my respects and expressing my emotions towards truly popular music. Danzón No. 2 was written on a commission by the Department of Musical Activities at Mexico’s National Autonomous University and is dedicated to my daughter Lily.
Note by composer
Kevin M. Geraldi
Kevin M. Geraldi is Director of Instrumental Ensembles and Professor of Conducting at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he conducts the UNCG Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and Casella Sinfonietta, and teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting. With UNCG ensembles, he has performed in Dvořák Hall in Prague, Czech Republic, the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, MD, at the national CBDNA conventions in Austin, TX, and Greensboro, NC, and at the American Bandmasters Association convention in Norfolk, VA. Previously, he taught at Lander University in Greenwood, SC and in the public schools of Westchester, IL, and was assistant conductor of the Central Illinois and Michigan Youth Symphonies.
Dr. Geraldi appears regularly as a guest conductor and he maintains an active schedule as a clinician and adjudicator throughout the country. Committed to promoting contemporary art music, he has commissioned and premiered numerous compositions and collaborated with composers including Philip Glass, Christopher Theofanidis, Joel Puckett, Steven Bryant, Carter Pann, and John Mackey. He has collaborated with artists including Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Lynn Harrell, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, and Lindsay Kesselman. He has published several articles in leading scholarly journals on topics that reflect his interest in the history and performance practice of chamber music for winds, brass, and strings. His recordings with the Minerva Chamber Ensemble, Casella Sinfonietta, and UNCG Wind Ensemble are available on the Equilibrium and Centaur Records labels.
A devoted advocate for music education, Dr. Geraldi conducts dozens of clinics annually with high school orchestras and bands and honors ensembles throughout the country, presents frequently at music education conferences, and has published articles for music educators on concert programming and effective rehearsal strategies.
Dr. Geraldi holds the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in conducting from the University of Michigan, where he studied with H. Robert Reynolds and Michael Haithcock, and the Bachelor of Music Education degree from Illinois Wesleyan University, where he studied with Steven Eggleston. His other conducting teachers include Gustav Meier, Kenneth Kiesler, Daniel Hege, and Rossen Milanov. He has also participated as a conducting fellow in workshops with Pierre Boulez, Paul Vermel, William Henry Curry, and Frederick Fennell. Dr. Geraldi is a recipient of the Thelma A. Robinson Award, presented by the Conductors Guild and the National Federation of Music Clubs, and the Outstanding Teaching Award in the UNCG School of Music. He is a member of the American Bandmasters Association, the Conductors Guild, the College Orchestra Directors Association, the College Band Directors National Association, the National Association for Music Education, Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and is a National Arts Associate of Sigma Alpha Iota.
Jonathan Caldwell
Jonathan Caldwell is assistant director of instrumental ensembles and assistant professor of conducting at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he conducts the Symphonic Band, teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting, and is associate conductor of the UNCG Wind Ensemble. Prior to his appointment at UNCG, Caldwell held positions at Virginia Tech, the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, and Garner Magnet High School (Garner, NC).
Ensembles under Caldwell’s guidance have performed for the College Band Directors National Association Southern Division, the National Band Association–Wisconsin Chapter, and in Carnegie Hall. His writings have been published in the Journal of Band Research and the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series. He has given presentations for the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the College Band Directors National Association, the Internationale Gesellschaft zur Erforschung und Förderung der Blasmusik, and the Virginia Music Educators Association.
Caldwell received a Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from the University of Michigan and a Master of Music in instrumental conducting from the University of Maryland, College Park. He holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and a Bachelor of Music in performance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Caldwell’s conducting teachers include Michael Haithcock, Michael Votta, Jerry Schwiebert, James Ross, and Tonu Kalam. He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (Alpha Rho), Tau Beta Sigma (Beta Eta), Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi.
Aidan McManis
Aidan McManis is pursuing his master’s degree in orchestral conducting at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, studying with Dr. Kevin Geraldi and Dr. Jonathan Caldwell.
Aidan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Theory and Composition with an emphasis in Orchestral Conducting from East Carolina University. While at ECU, he studied conducting with Dr. Jorge Richter, and double bass with Leonid Finkelshteyn and Dr. Chris Buddo. Aidan regularly guest conducted the East Carolina University Symphony Orchestra and other ensembles, and premiered several works by student composers. As a high school student, he attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he briefly studied conducting with Stephen Mulligan and double bass with Paul Sharpe.
Aidan remains an active performer on double bass with orchestras, operas, and ballets around the region. He was a member of the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival as well as a guest bassist for the Long Bay Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina and the Anchorage Chamber Music Festival in Alaska.
Claire Griffin
Claire Griffin is a soprano from Brevard, North Carolina in her senior year at UNCG. She is pursuing a BM in Vocal Performance and is a student of Dr. Carla LeFevre. Her operatic credits include Eurydice (Orpheus in the Underworld) with the Utah Vocal Arts Academy and Lucy (The Telephone), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Sister Genevieve (Suor Angelica), and Jenny Slade (Roman Fever) with the UNCG Opera Theatre. In March of 2022, she will sing Marie in Bedřich Smetana’s The Bartered Bride at UNCG. For Greensboro Opera’s Opera at the Carolina, Ms. Griffin has sung Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi) and Gretel (Hansel and Gretel). In 2015, Ms. Griffin originated the role of Deanna Durbin in the world premiere of Chasing Rainbows: A New Musical at the Flat Rock Playhouse. Continuing with this project in the same role, she participated in numerous NYC readings and a four-month run at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, where she also understudied the role of Judy Garland. Ms. Griffin was accepted into the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center for the summer of 2020, which was unfortunately canceled due to COVID-19, where she would have sung Marzelline in Fidelio: In Concert and covered the role of Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail. She was one of 10 finalists in the Opera Grand Rapids Collegiate Vocal Competition in the spring of 2021 and was awarded First Place (Lower Collegiate Women) in the National NATS competition of 2020. Ms. Griffin was a 2018 YoungArts Winner in Voice and a Semi-Finalist for the U.S. Presidential Scholar for the Arts that same year. She will spend her 2022 summer at the Aspen Music Festival as a Studio Artist in the Opera Theatre and VocalARTS program under the co-artistic direction of Patrick Summers and Renée Fleming.
Heather Lofdahl
Heather Lofdahl is a conductor, string teacher, and violist living in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ms. Lofdahl is an assistant conductor of the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG) Sinfonia and teaches private violin and viola lessons at The Music Academy of North Carolina, where she was awarded the Mary Elizabeth King Brown Teaching Excellence Award in 2014. While living in Greensboro from 2012-2015, she was the assistant conductor of the Greensboro Symphony Youth Philharmonic. She also conducted the Greensboro Symphony Youth Strings from 2019-2021. Prior to returning to Greensboro in 2019, Ms. Lofdahl taught orchestra in Cobb County (GA). She has also taught elementary through university orchestra students in Illinois and North Carolina. She serves on the faculty of the Florida State University String Orchestra Camp every summer.
Ms. Lofdahl holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Music Education and Viola Performance from Augustana College and Master of Music degrees in Music Education and Viola Performance from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Music Education at UNCG, where she was named an Excellence Fellow in 2019. Ms. Lofdahl is an active guest conductor, clinician, and violist throughout the United States.