ASO | LEADERSHIP | 2025/26 Board of Directors
OFFICERS
Angela Evans chair
Patrick Viguerie immediate past chair
Joia Johnson treasurer
Galen Oelkers secretary
DIRECTORS
Phyllis Abramson
Keith Adams
Juliet M. Allan
Susan Antinori
Rona Gomel Ashe
Andrew Bailey
Jennifer Barlament*
Keith Barnett
Paul Blackney
Janine Brown
Betsy Camp
Lisa Chang
Susan Clare
Russell Currey
Sheila Lee Davies
Carlos del Rio, M.D. FIDSA
Lisa DiFrancesco, M.D.
Lynn Eden
Yelena Epova
Neil Berman
Angela Evans
Craig Frankel
Sally Bogle Gable
Anne Game
Rod Garcia-Escudero
Sally Frost George
Robert Glustrom
Julie Goosman
Bonnie B. Harris
Charles Harrison
Tad Hutcheson, Jr.
Roya Irvani
Joia M. Johnson
Raymond Kotwicki, M.D., M.P.H.
Carrie Kurlander
Scott Lampert
James H. Landon
Daniel Laufer*
Donna Lee
Janine Brown vice chair
Lynn Eden vice chair
Grace Lee, M.D.
Sukai Liu
Kevin Lyman
Deborah Marlowe
Arthur Mills IV
Molly Minnear
Hala Moddelmog*
Caroline Moïse
Anne Morgan
Terence L. Neal
Galen Lee Oelkers
Dr. John Paddock
Margie Painter
Cathleen Quigley
Doug Reid
James Rubright
Ravi Saligram
William Schultz
June Scott
BOARD OF COUNSELORS
Dona Humphreys
Benjamin Q. Brunt
John W. Cooledge, M.D.
John R. Donnell, Jr.
Jere A. Drummond
Carla Fackler
Charles B. Ginden
John T. Glover
Aaron J. Johnson, Jr.
James F. Kelley
Patricia Leake
Karole F. Lloyd
Meghan H. Magruder
Shelley McGehee
Penelope McPhee
LIFE DIRECTORS
Howell E. Adams, Jr.
John B. White, Jr.
* Ex-Officio Board Member
^ On Sabbatical
V Scott
Charles Sharbaugh
Gayle Sheppard
Fahim Siddiqui
W. Ross Singletary, II
John Sparrow
Elliott Tapp
Yannik Thomas
Maria Todorova
Ben Touchette
Benny Varzi
S. Patrick Viguerie
Kathy Waller
Chris Webber
Richard S. White, Jr.
Mack Wilbourn
Kevin E. Woods, M.D., M.P.H.
Howard D. Palefsky
Patricia H. Reid
Joyce Schwob
John A Sibley, III
H. Hamilton Smith
G. Kimbrough Taylor, Jr.
Valerie Thadhani, M.D.
Connie Calhoun Azira G. Hill
Michael W. Trapp
Ray Uttenhove
Chilton Varner
Adair M. White
Sue Sigmon Williams
Ben F. Johnson, III
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Advisory Council is a group of passionate and engaged individuals who act as both ambassadors & resources for the ASO Board and staff. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra extends heartfelt gratitude to the members listed on this page.
2025/26 CHAIRS
Jane Morrison
advisory council chair
Justin Im
internal connections task force co-chair
Robert Lewis, Jr.
internal connections task force co-chair
Kristi Stathopolous internal connections task force co-chair
Jane Blount
patron experience task force co-chair
Frances A. Root
patron experience task force co-chair
Tiffany Rosetti
community connections & education task force co-chair
Otis Threatt
community connections & education task force co-chair
MEMBERS
Dr. Marshall & Stephanie Abes
Phyllis Abramson
Krystal Ahn
Kristi & Aadu Allpere
Logan Anderson & Ian Morey
Evelyn Babey
Asad & Sakina Bashey
Meredith W. Bell
John Blatz
Jane Blount
Carol Brantley & David Webster
Johanna Brookner
Mrs. Amy B. Cheng & Dr. Chad A. Hume, Ph.D
Kate Cook
DePorres & Barbara Cormier
Tracey Chu
Daniel P. Debonis
Donald & Barbara Defoe
Paul & Susan Dimmick
Bernadette Drankoski
John & Catherine Fare Dyer
Jerry H. Evans
Mary Ann Flinn
Bruce & Avery Flower
Karen Foster
Annie Frazer
John D. Fuller
Alex Garcias
Dr. Paul Gilreath
Nadeen Green
Greg Heathcock & Cesar Moreno
Elizabeth Hendrick
Mia Frieder Hilley
Caroline Hofland
Justin Im
Dr. Lillian Ivansco
Frank & Janice Johnston
Lana Jordan
Jennifer B. Kahnweiler
Rosthema Kastin
Andrea Kauffman
Alfred D. Kennedy & Bill Kenny
Brian & Ann Kimsey
Jason & Michelle Kroh
Jeff & Pam Kuester
Van & Elizabeth Lear
Dr. Fulton Lewis III & Mr. Neal Rhoney
Robert Lewis, Jr.
Jonathan Lively
Eunice Luke
Catherine & Bill Lundstrom
Thomas Mabry
Jamal Mohammad & Marcus Dean
Erin Marshall
Alfredo Martin
Belinda Massafra
Catherine Massey
Doug & Kathrin Mattox
Ed & Linda McGinn
Suneel Mendiratta
Keyeriah Miles
Berthe & Shapour Mobasser
Bert Mobley
Sue Morgan
Bill Morrison &
Beth Clark-Morrison
Jane Morrison
Gary Noble
Regina Olchowski
Bethani Oppenheimer
Joseph Owen, Jr.
Ralph & Suzanne Paulk
Ann & Fay Pearce
Jonathan &
Lori Peterson
Stephen Polley
Dr. John B. Pugh
Eliza Quigley
Joseph Rapanotti
Leonard Reed
Dr. Jay & Kimberley Rhee
Vicki Riedel
Felicia Rives
Susan J. Robinson & Mary C. Roemer
David Rock
Frances A. Root
Maurice & Tricia Rosenbaum
Tiffany & Rich Rosetti
Noelle Ross
Thomas & Lynne Saylor
Beverly & Milton Shlapak
Suzanne Shull
Baker Smith
Cindy Smith
Janice Smith
Victoria Smith
Peter & Kristi Stathopoulos
Tom & Ani Steele
Deann Stevens
Beth & Edward Sugarman
Stephen & Sonia Swartz
George & Amy Taylor
Bob & Dede Thompson
Otis Threatt Jr.
Roxanne Varzi
Robert & Amy Vassey
Juliana Vincenzino
Emily C. Ward
Dr. Nanette K. Wenger
Kiki Wilson
Dr. Jiong Yan & Baxter Jones
Camille Yow
For more information about becoming an Advisory Council member, please contact Beth Freeman at beth.freeman@atlantasymphony.org or 404.733.4532.
DONOR PROFILE
Judge Jane Morrison
Judge Jane Morrison has chaired the ASO Advisory Council since 2022 and is one of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's most active volunteer leaders. Below are excerpts from an interview with Jimmy Paulk:
About the Advisory Council
The Advisory Council is a bit like glue that helps the orchestra connect with the community. We build connections for the ASO in many different parts of the greater Atlanta community. Members are orchestra “ambassadors” who share their excitement about the ASO with friends, colleagues and neighbors. We develop connections to the musicians, the staff, and each other.
About Nathalie Stutzmann
When I found out Maestro Stutzmann was hired I spent the day calling friends to share the news. With Maestro Stutzmann, you’ve got someone who’s proven herself artistically. She’s been a fabulous and brave singer and she’s similarly brave as a conductor. She does it her way. She’s got the goods. It’s substantive talent and fierce drive. So I find it wonderful to support an orchestra that made the decision to hire her. What a role model she is to girls and young women to fearlessly pursue their talents professionally in music!
About the Atlanta experience
I think our Atlanta audiences are very open and hungry for more knowledge, more information. We’re a city where people in the audience say, oh, I like that and I’d like to know more about it. And that puts us in a really unique place… to educate and broaden people’s understanding of orchestral music.
About her musical experience
I played trumpet from the 5th grade, and I just really loved it. Girls weren’t supposed to play the trumpet. But if you’re going to do something a little different, you better be good at it. So I made sure I was good at it. I studied music at Interlochen Arts Academy, the Eastman School, then Boston University, before transitioning into activism.
Becoming an Activist
My first job after college was lobbying for the Gay Civil Rights Bill in Massachusetts. I went to law school to become more effective as an activist. And I came to Atlanta because there was work to be done here in the Gay Civil Rights movement. I helped found the Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia. Then, in 1997, I was hired by Lambda Legal to open their Southern regional office in Atlanta. Later, I was appointed as a part time Municipal Court judge,
and ultimately I ran for an open seat as a Judge on the Fulton County State Court. We didn’t have any “out” judges at that time, so it was a new experience. In January of this year, I was named Chief Judge of that court. It was through our shared activism that I met my late wife, Joan Garner, who became a Fulton County Commissioner before her death in 2017. I am now recently engaged to Atlanta native, Dr. Kathleen Williams, MD, an Anesthesiologist at Grady Hospital.
Starting In Unison
I heard there was a group at the ASO called Bravo for Young Professionals, and I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be fun if there were something like that for the LGBTQ community? I spoke with a board member and with the staff, and we had our first meeting almost 6 years ago. We attend concerts and have a reception afterwards. It’s been great for ASO’s audience development. Around the same time, I became involved with the Advisory Council, which was just starting up.
Back to School
During COVID, the courts slowed down, and I was able to complete an Executive MBA program at Georgia State. I learned a new way of thinking collectively which is different from how lawyers and litigators think. I can now appreciate the mindset of the creative business process. Then, in 2024, I was chosen to participate in the League of American Orchestras’ flagship Leadership Development Program: “The Essentials of Orchestra Management,” on the Juilliard campus in New York. Jennifer Barlament (ASO Executive Director) was on the faculty. It’s fun to envision ways musical ensembles can employ good business practices to reach new audiences and expand how we share great orchestral music in the wider world.
About
being a donor to the Annual Fund
I believe in tithing. I give away a full ten percent of my gross income. I’m very fortunate to be able to do that. I want to share with the world of music the benefits of the alternative career I ended up in.
A Spark of Love for Music Leads to the Main Stage for One Young Violinist
By Jon Ross
Waverly Alexander, violin
Standing in front of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the guest violinist took a breath, paused, then slowly, with a steady hand and a full, gorgeous tone, revealed the first notes of “Adoration” by Florence Price.
Later, her excitement practically jumped through the computer screen.
“Solo at SIXTEEN? With the ASO? Who would have thought?” she wrote on Instagram after the show.
Violinist Waverly Alexander attributes much of her success—which includes a summer spent at the Heifetz International Music Institute— to her time orbiting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. She joined the organization’s Talent Development Program at age 9 (she got in on her first try, she notes). TDP has given her the space, the coaching and the encouragement to flourish.
That’s where the growing sparks of music in her life developed from mere flickers to a roaring flame. The ASO will soon nurture that spark in other young listeners with the new Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families. In a partnership between the ASO and the Alliance Theatre, this transformation of the old Rich Auditorium, which opened in January of 2026, serves as a celebration of the arts, focused on creating a sense of wonder for young minds.
The symphony will program concerts that create a flash of possibility in the minds of young listeners, turning that tiny spark into a glow that only grows brighter and deeper.
“On any given day, you’ll be able to stop by in the morning for a music or theater performance for young people; in the afternoon, you might find a rehearsal; and in the evening, you can catch a performance of anything from chamber music to theater to comedy and everything in between,” Jennifer Barlament, the ASO’s executive director, said during the Goizueta Stage groundbreaking last year.
Waverly’s musical spark, that initial feeling of awe at seeing what music can do, first flashed when she picked up the violin at age 3. It emerged again, at 6, when she first auditioned for a youth symphony. The ASO then nurtured her musical fire through the Talent Development Program, helping her explore avenues now open to her as a professional musician. She soon met “other like-minded musicians,” helping solidify her community of teenage music makers. It’s also where she’s learned to harness her pre-concert jitters into sublime performances.
“During performance, I try to let my nerves fuel me instead of holding me back. A lot of the nervous energy I feel right before performance, I consider it a good thing; it just means I’m really excited about what I’m about to perform,” she says.
When she’s not practicing around three hours a day or attending school, you might find Waverly with her nose in a book; her favorites include Hamlet and “Animal Farm.” She is also learning to cook in preparation for heading off to college in a few years. The TDP program also provides Waverly with a one-hour lesson every week, exposure to prestigious summer music programs and opportunities to perform. On top of all that, there are occasional Saturday lessons in music theory or conducting with the rest of the TDP cohort.
“I’ve performed on stages that I never really imagined that I would ever get the opportunity to perform on,” she says of the TDP program. “I’ve worked with people that I never would have dreamed of working with.”
Waverly says that the initial drive to use art as a means of expression came from her parents. Her mother loved dance; her father played music in school.
“They were always drawn toward music and expressing themselves,” she says. “They just thought, why don’t we share our love for music with our child.”
At the ASO, love of the arts, and maybe even a career making music, starts with a spark of imagination. The ASO hopes to begin spreading that musical glow throughout Atlanta with the opening of the new Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families.
“When children see performances, they hear music, they see art that looks and feels like them—it just makes them feel more hopeful,” Hala Moddelmog, president and CEO of Woodruff Arts Center, said during the groundbreaking. “What this Goizueta Stage will be is a sanctuary for dreams.”
We are deeply grateful to the following leadership donors whose generous support has made the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's season possible.
The 4,186th and 4,187th concerts of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Thursday, February 12, 2026, 8pm
Saturday, February 14, 2026, 8pm
Atlanta Symphony Hall
TEDDY ABRAMS, conductor
MARTIN FRÖST, clarinet
The use of cameras or recording devices during the concert is strictly prohibited. Please be kind to those around you and silence your mobile phone and other hand-held devices.
ARTIE SHAW (1910-2004)
Concerto for Clarinet (1940) 8 MINS
Martin Fröst, clarinet
VALERIE COLEMAN (b. 1970)
Renaissance: Concerto for Orchestra (2024) (Atlanta Premiere—ASO Co-commission) 25 MINS
I. American Odyssey
II. Portraits
III. Cotton Club Juba
INTERMISSION 20 MINS
AARON COPLAND (1900-1990)
Concerto for Clarinet (1948) 18 MINS
I. Slowly and expressively
II. Rather fast
Martin Fröst, clarinet
LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990)
Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (1957) 24 MINS
I. Prologue
II. “Somewhere”
III. Scherzo
IV. Mambo
V. Cha Cha
VI. Meeting Scene
VII. “Cool” Fugue
VIII. Rumble
IX. Finale
Thursday’s concert is dedicated to SALLY & PETE PARSONSON in honor of their generous support of the 2024/25 Annual Fund.
by Noel Morris Program Annotator
Notes to Know
• At the time he wrote West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein was one of the busiest musicians on the planet. To keep the project moving forward, he hired the young composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim.
• In addition to being an in-demand composer, Valerie Coleman is active worldwide as a teacher and performer (flute). She has founded renowned ensembles and programs to uplift music and young performers.
• Although Aaron Copland was a native New Yorker, he developed his interest in jazz while living in the Montmartre neighborhood of Paris, where Josephine Baker and other jazz greats performed.
America @ 250
In 1910, about a third of Chicago’s population was foreignborn. The percentage was even higher in Boston and New York City. The 20th century, the “American Century,” is a case study in highly motivated people converging from around the globe. Bringing diverse ideas and cultures into contact with American soil, they fueled unprecedented innovation and growth.
Domestically, some six million Black Southerners moved North in search of jobs and relief from Jim Crow. With the “Great Migration,” there followed a flowering in Black visual art, literature, and music, including the rise of Gospel, R&B, Chicago Blues, Soul, Motown, and the dissemination of Jazz.
This program highlights the legacy of this historic mingling of cultures. Aaron Copland, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Leonard Bernstein all came from immigrant families. All but Copland played in jazz bands as teens, absorbing that irresistible gumbo of Creole music, spirituals, plantation work songs, Civil War band music, West African rhythms, and ragtime.
During the Big Band era of the 1930s and 40s, clarinet phenom Artie Shaw and his rival, Benny Goodman, achieved international fame. They made their fortunes while bringing clarinet playing to new heights.
First and most recent ASO performance: July 26, 1994
A. SHAW Clarinet Concerto
Clarinetist, composer, and bandleader Artie Shaw was a giant of the Big Band era. Thanks to radio, he became a household name, paving the way for him into Hollywood. Not only did he marry a series of leading ladies, including Ava Gardner and Lana Turner, but he also appeared in the 1940 film Second Chorus, starring Fred Astaire and Paulette Goddard.
Shaw wrote the Clarinet Concerto for himself to play during an extended sequence in the film, and claimed he never expected the score to have a life beyond the silver screen. Naturally, exceptionally agile clarinet players disagreed and brought the music into the concert repertoire.
When it came to his role as a bandleader, Shaw was a serial dater—he founded a series of orchestras and promptly disbanded them after only a couple of years.
COLEMAN Renaissance: Concerto for Orchestra
A note from the composer:
Renaissance Concerto for Orchestra is a three movement tone poem that connects the listener into a journey from the early to mid 20th century to present day.
The first movement is all about the period of the Great Migration and events adjacent to it, as told through the paintings of Jacob Lawrence. The opener correlates to the painting War Series: Beachhead. It begins with a sense of shock and devastation as if the catastrophic impact of bombs and missiles are still ringing through the air. The trumpet sounds distant wails of grief, but also a message of resilience and survival. One by one, each section within the strings adds their voice... a growing consensus of a people... I envision my ancestors humming a repetitive phrase as they till the soil in fields building into a single chorus of full-throated dissension and prayer. Raw guts and heartstrings of spirituals of will and survival.
A return to the Beachhead moment bookends the section. What follows is a meditational offering, a point of healing rest from war in a rubato moment of earnest conversation.
Yoel Levi, conductor
Laura Ardan, clarinet
The way that Lawrence depicts the Great Migration struck me, as hope and subtle courage jumps out of the canvas, as if the necessity of leaving for a better life is simply a matter of fact. Clusters of people, wearing different hats with faces focused outward... this chorus of voices had to be represented by a raspy raw rhythmic melody within the violins with support from an undercurrent of water and thumb piano sounds (channeling the Orisha of healing waters, Yemenja), created by upper woodwinds, harp, and keyboard percussion. Their arrival of hope turns into realism, as they face a different kind of racism and segregation within labor and housing. The grind and grit of labor camps, car horns beeping (French horns syncopation), the cello section bustles a riff as industrial machines, and a brief moment of trombones a la Andrews Sisters reminds of that we are within the age of WWII.
The movement ends with a powerful shout sitting in both 3/4 and 6/8 time, starting with the bassoons sounding out the rhythms for the word ‘F-I-R-E’ in morse code, and also ‘MARIAN’ (as in Marian Anderson - whose rhythm is shared by another work written at the same time, Fanfare for Marian).
A grandiose, film noir sky view of a metropolitan city opens the second movement, with fire engines and police cars screaming by as they race across the city to put out fires. The riots that occurred throughout the Midwest and the North (riot of east St. Louis, Tulsa massacre, and the red summer of 1919 in Philadelphia) are depicted here, as the flames turn into the smoldering embers of a tuba solo. As the violin section takes over, they sing the heart of this movement: a ballad of urban life, with all the joys and pain that come with it.
The final movement, Cotton Club Juba, emerges with raindrops and the scene shifts to Harlem and the nightlife of big bands and clubs during the prohibition era. The movies often depict this time as a dance filled escapism, but I wanted to capture the reality of the 'exoticism' and stereotype of 'jungle music' that took hold both in Harlem
and ‘Le Jazz Hot’ cabaret of Paris. There is no artwork for this from Jacob Lawrence, but I hope that the audience can visualize jazz big bands, Duke Ellington, Josephine Baker and many others who found release through dance and song within this era.
There is a slow sinister groove between the bassoons and horns as if we are riding the railways across the country. Arriving at the eastern seaboard, we are immersed into the dancing nightlife of mafia, illegal alcohol, showgirls, zoot suit fashion, and the underbelly of Broadway afterhours. Small clusters of Charleston dance rhythm appear, alternating with slower sections dedicated to the storied writers of the era, Langston Hughes, Zora Neal Hurston, and Ernest Hemingway. From the wailing sounds of the start, all the way to the rip-roaring dancing of the early twentieth century, it is my hope that the Concerto for Orchestra connects us all through story and song.
VALERIE COLEMAN, composer
Internationally acclaimed, Grammy® nominated composer and flutist Valerie Coleman is one of the most performed living composers in the world. Named Performance Today’s 2020 Classical Woman of the Year, her works have garnered multiple awards including the Van Lier Fellowship Award, Herb Alpert Awards’ Ragdale Prize and MAPFund.
In addition to multiple commissions at Carnegie Hall and with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Coleman’s works have been performed by The Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestra among many others.
Coleman is the founder of the acclaimed ensemble Imani Winds and holds positions at The Juilliard School, Tanglewood Institute and Manhattan School of Music. Her works are published by Theodore Presser and her own company, Coleman Page.
COPLAND Clarinet Concerto
After World War II, the “King of Swing,” Benny Goodman, made a tremendous contribution to the clarinet repertoire. He commissioned works from Paul Hindemith, Béla Bartók, Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud, and Leonard Bernstein.
In 1947, Goodman found American composer Aaron Copland (who was the son of Lithuanian immigrants) working in Rio de Janeiro and persuaded him to compose a clarinet concerto. Copland started sketching the piece and finished it while teaching at Tanglewood in 1948.
“Some of this material represents an unconscious fusion of elements obviously related to North and South American popular music,” wrote Copland. “For example, a phrase from a popular Brazilian tune, heard by the composer in Rio, became embedded in the secondary material in F major.”
Goodman gave Copland free rein with the piece before later suggesting that some of the highest notes in the jazzy second movement could be overly taxing. Copland edited the piece according to his soloist’s specifications. Goodman played the premier in 1950.
BERNSTEIN West Side Story
Not unlike today, gang violence was a recurring theme in 1950s newspapers. It was just such a news story that awakened Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, and choreographer Jerome Robbins to the social relevance of a modern-day Romeo and Juliet
Eyeing the mixed neighborhood where, ironically, Lincoln Center stands today, Laurents sketched a scenario around Puerto Rican immigrants in New York City. Pitting a gang of white youths against the darker-skinned newcomers, the “Romeo project” got underway. Bernstein found his creative fire in the rhythms and harmonies of Latin music, which he affixed to the Puerto Rican girl Maria and the Sharks (a street gang). He applied a jazzier, more urban sound to Maria’s lover, Tony, and a rival gang, the Jets.
First ASO performance: October 12, 1985
Robert Shaw, conductor Richard Stoltzman, clarinet
Most recent ASO performance: September 27, 2015
Robert Spano, conductor Laura Ardan, clarinet
First ASO performance: October 30, 1971
Robert Shaw, conductor
Most recent ASO performance: January 10, 2019
Christopher Allen, conductor
West Side Story premiered in 1957, drawing cheers and jeers from theatergoers who puzzled at its serious themes and edgy score. The 1957 Tony Awards snubbed the show. Just four years later, the film adaptation swept the Oscars, clinching ten Academy Awards.
TEDDY ABRAMS, conductor
The winner of a Grammy® Award and Musical America’s 2022 Conductor of the Year, Teddy Abrams has been the galvanizing force behind the Louisville Orchestra’s extraordinary artistic renewal and innovative social impact since his appointment as Music Director in September 2014. His Kentucky achievements include the Louisville Orchestra Creators Corps, a trailblazing residency initiative for composers; the In Harmony Tour, a grand-scale community-building project funded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky; and adventurous collaborations with artists including Chris Thile, Jim James, Jack Harlow, Storm Large, and Jecorey “1200” Arthur, with whom Abrams founded the Louisville Orchestra Rap School.
Beyond Louisville, Abrams has conducted the Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Cincinnati, National, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Vancouver, and Phoenix Symphonies; the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; the Buffalo and Los Angeles Philharmonics; and the Minnesota, Florida, and Sarasota Orchestras, all in North America, as well as the Helsinki and Luxembourg Philharmonics and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Europe. He makes debuts with the Atlanta Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, and London’s BBC Symphony Orchestra in the 2025-26 season, before starting a new role as Artistic and Executive Director of California’s Ojai Music Festival in September 2026.
Abrams is an award-winning composer, whose recent compositions for the Louisville Orchestra include his rap opera, The Greatest: Muhammad Ali; a piano concerto for Yuja Wang, which they recorded for Deutsche Grammophon’s The American Project, winning the pianist and himself a Grammy® Award; and Mammoth, premiered with Yo-Yo Ma and Davóne Tines at Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park. Abrams’s
recording of his piano collection Preludes was released on New Amsterdam Records in 2025. He is now at work on a Broadway musical, ALI, and an orchestral history of the state of Kentucky.
MARTIN FRÖST, clarinet
Clarinetist, conductor and Sony Classical recording artist, Martin Fröst is known for pushing musical boundaries and has been described by the New York Times as having “a virtuosity and a musicianship unsurpassed by any clarinetist — perhaps any instrumentalist — in my memory”. Winner of the 2014 Léonie Sonning Music Prize, one of the world’s highest musical honours, Fröst was the first clarinetist to be given the award. International Classical Music Awards voted him their 2022 Artist of the Year Award for his innovative global career, his impressive discography, and his philanthropy.
As a soloist, Fröst has performed with some of the world’s greatest orchestras and has performed in Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Berliner Philharmonie, among others. He has toured in Europe, Asia, North America and Australia. He was Artist in Residence with Royal Concertgebouworkest for the 2022/23 season.
In the 2025/26 season, Fröst continues his role as Chief Conductor of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Artist in Residence with the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. He returns to Kristiansand Symfoniorkester with a play-conduct program and gives recitals at Boulez Saal Berlin, Fondation Pierre Gianadda in Martigny, and La Musikfest Parisienne.
His most recent recordings include Mozart: Ecstasy and Abyss with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, part of a multi-year project exploring Mozart’s late works, as well as albums dedicated to Vivaldi and Messiaen. His upcoming release, Beyond All Clarinet History (B.A.C.H.), scheduled for October 2025, intertwines Bach’s timeless melodies with new arrangements.
In 2019, Fröst launched the Martin Fröst Foundation with the support of the world’s largest manufacturer of wind instruments, Buffet Crampon, to provide resources to improve young people’s access to music education and instruments. HarrisonParrott represents Martin Fröst for general management.
The 4,188th and 4,189th concerts of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Thursday, February 19, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, February 21, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Atlanta Symphony Hall
ROBERT TREVIÑO, conductor
SERGEI BABAYAN, piano
ANGÉLICA
NEGRÓN (b. 1981)
En otra noche, en otro mundo (On Another Night, In Another World) (2020) 14 MINS
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873-1943)
Concerto No. 4 in G minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 40 (1941 revision) 26 MINS
I. Allegro vivace
II. Largo —
III. Allegro vivace
Sergei Babayan, piano
INTERMISSION 20 MINS
ALEXANDER VON ZEMLINSKY (1872-1942)
Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) (1902-1903) (original version) 40 MINS
The use of cameras or recording devices during the concert is strictly prohibited. Please be kind to those around you and silence your mobile phone and other hand-held devices.
I. I. Sehr mässig bewegt (Very moderately moving)
II. Sehr bewegt, rauschend (Very moving, breathtaking)
III. Sehr gedehnt, mit schmerzvollem
Ausdruck (Very strained, with a pained expression)
by Noel Morris Program Annotator
Notes to Know
• Alexander Zemlinsky wrote The Mermaid after a brutal break-up and poured his sorrows into the title character, a jilted young sea maiden.
• Angélica Negrón wrote that En otra noche, en otro mundo takes its inspiration, in part, “from Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s tintinnabuli technique.” It is “derived from the Latin word tintinnabulum, which means ‘bell’ and which is based on the acoustic properties of bells.”
• Sergei Rachmaninoff spent the last third of his life in the United States and was a piano superstar. He wrote only six major compositions after he departed from Russia.
NEGRÓN En otra noche, en otro mundo
Puerto Rican artist Angélica Negrón moved to Brooklyn in 2006, where she joined a vibrant creative community. There, she melds her blend of interests, from Björk to Arvo Pärt to Latin American life, to create unique works as a composer and as a member of the indie band Balún. Negrón loves to experiment with sound. For the present work, she electronically altered recordings of bells to be played on a Midi keyboard.
“Crotales [antique cymbals], percussion bell sounds, and harp are at the heart of the piece,” she said.
Negrón also found inspiration in Alejandra Pizarnik’s eponymous poem, En otra noche, en otro mundo (On Another Night, In Another World), which captures a sense of longing.
“I’m always trying to reconnect with the sounds, textures, colors, and people I miss the most,” she told the Dallas News. In this work, she set out to evoke a sense of longing for things beyond her reach and a lingering sense of separation between worlds.
This is the first ASO performance.
ALEJANDRA PIZARNIK (1936–1972)
En otra noche, en otro mundo oh por favor la medianoche es venida y es el frío la noche el que yo espero no viene
On another night, in another world oh please midnight has come and it is the cold the night the one I wait for doesn’t come
ANGÉLICA NEGRÓN, composer
Angélica Negrón is a Puerto Rican-born composer and multi-instrumentalist. She writes music for voices, orchestras, ensembles and film as well as robots, toys, and plants. Angélica is known for playing with the unexpected intersection of classical and electronic music, unusual instruments, and found sounds.
Upcoming premieres include a cello concerto performed by Yo-Yo Ma and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and a requiem for Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Recent commissions include works for Opera Philadelphia (a drag opera film in collaboration with Mathew Placek and Sasha Velour), New York Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the NY Botanical Garden, Kronos Quartet, Roomful of Teeth, and her Carnegie Hall debut, commissioned and performed by Sō Percussion. As the recipient of the 2022 Hermitage Greenfield Prize, Angélica composed a new work synchronized to the setting sun for EnsembleNewSRQ.
Angélica’s original scores include the HBO docuseries Menudo: Forever Young and You Were My First Boyfriend directed by Cecilia Aldarondo. As an educator, Angélica has been a teaching artist with NY Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers program and with Lincoln Center Education.
Angélica lives in Brooklyn, where she’s always looking for ways to incorporate her love of drag, comedy, and the natural world into her work.
RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 4
Composer and conductor Sergei Rachmaninoff was a “first-wave émigré” — one of a flood of people who exited Russia at the outset of the Bolshevik Revolution. They included landowners, intellectuals, and members of the aristocracy (Rachmaninoff had been all three). Other refugees included soldiers, business leaders, and members of ethnic and political minorities — all heading for the border posthaste.
On a frosty December day, the composer took what he could carry, loaded his wife and daughters into a horsedrawn sleigh, and traveled across Finland into Sweden. There, he played twelve concerts. Now, with some money in his pocket, he took a breath and planned his next move — a piano career.
In November of 1918, the Rachmaninoffs sailed to New York City and checked into a Midtown hotel, only to be roused from their beds. Shouts and honking horns rose from the streets. Given the family’s recent traumas, the ruckus terrified them until someone translated the happy news: World War I had ended. Fast-forward seven years, and Rachmaninoff had played thousands of concerts and amassed a comfortable fortune. For the first time since his exile, he wanted to write music — a piano concerto — and decided to take a year off from touring.
First ASO performance: February 10, 1961
Henry Sopkin, conductor
Leonard Pennario, piano
Most recent ASO performance: December 1, 2018
Edward Gardner, conductor
Simon Trpceski, piano
Musically, Rachmaninoff took pains to be concise with his treatment of melodic material. Still, he feared he’d written a sprawling piece, prompting a gentle rebuke from a friend. “Is it possible that music in general is so unpleasant that the less of it the better?” chided Nikolai Medtner.
Rachmaninoff wrote back, “I also notice that the theme of the second movement is the theme of the first movement in Schumann’s concerto. How is it that you didn’t point this out to me?”
In fact, there is some surface resemblance to the Schumann concerto, but the two works come from different planets. Schumann’s music is Classically oriented. Rachmaninoff’s
piece could only have come from the 20th century, with its rhythmic and harmonic complexities, vivid orchestral colors, and tightly conceived architecture.
In November of 1926, the composer returned from his European getaway and prepared for another tour. He debuted his new concerto in Philadelphia and dedicated it to his friend and fellow Russian, Nikolai Medtner.
ZEMLINSKY The Mermaid
Alexander Zemlinsky was a gifted conductor, teacher, and composer of operas, chamber, and orchestral works. But people knew him as a Charlie Brown sort of figure. Things didn’t always go his way, and he suffered a series of public humiliations. Invariably, he comforted himself by writing music. The Mermaid came from one such episode.
Zemlinsky stood 5’2” with “bulging eyes.” In 1900, he met the glamorous local beauty Alma Schindler, who found him “dreadfully ugly, almost chinless.” Yet she became intensely attracted to his mind. At one point, Alma wrote in her diary, “I would gladly be pregnant for him, gladly bear his children. His blood and mine, commingled: my beauty with his intellect.”
And then she made the acquaintance of Gustav Mahler, head of the Vienna Court Opera. Within weeks, Alma forgot all about her Alex and announced her engagement to Gustav. She wrote to Zemlinsky, “You know how very much I loved you. You have fulfilled me completely. Just as suddenly as this love arrived, it has departed — has been cast aside. On my knees, I beg your forgiveness for the evil hours I have given you.”
Heartbroken and humiliated, Zemlinsky found a relatable character in Hans Christian Anderson’s Little Mermaid (the original version of the tale, without the Disney ending).
In the Anderson story, mermaids lack souls. When the young mermaid falls in love with a human prince, she learns she can acquire a soul by entering into wedded bliss with him. (Keep in mind, she’s only 15 years old). She cuts a deal with the sea witch to grow legs and then works her way into the palace.
This is the first ASO performance.
Sadly, her beloved prince marries another. The sea witch gives her a choice: she can either kill the prince or pay with her life. The wholesome girl refuses to commit murder. In the end, mythical beings scoop her up and promise her eternal salvation after 300 years of good deeds.
Zemlinsky started composing his symphonic fantasy The Mermaid in early 1902 — about the time Alma walked down the aisle with Gustav. Zemlinsky conducted the premiere in 1905 and set the score aside. Decades later, he fled the Nazis, immigrating to the United States in 1938. He died six months later, and his widow donated two movements of The Mermaid to the Library of Congress. Scholars reconstructed the piece in the 1980s and issued a critical edition in 2013.
ROBERT TREVIÑO,
conductor
Regularly seen on the podiums of the world’s leading orchestras, Robert Treviño is the Principal Conductor of the Filarmonica George Enescu, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI.
The 2025/26 season sees Treviño make debuts including the Minnesota Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and Baltic Sea Philharmonic Orchestra. He returns to the London Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Filarmonica della Scala, among others.
Robert Treviño has conducted the Münchner Philharmoniker, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Dresdner Philharmonie, London Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, and Helsinki Philharmonic, among others. He has conducted a wide variety of orchestras in North America and at leading festivals, including the Mahler Festival Leipzig, Milan Mahler Festival, Puccini Festival, Enescu Festival, and Interlochen Festival. Treviño’s opera work has included productions at Opernhaus Zurich, La Fenice and Washington National Opera. Previously, Treviño was Music Director of the Basque National Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Malmo Symphony Orchestra.
Treviño’s recording contract with Ondine has resulted in a widely-praised complete Beethoven symphonies cycle, two much-acclaimed Ravel albums, a Rautavaara album, Respighi’s Roman Trilogy, “Americascapes” (‘Best Recording of 2021,’ Presto Music; Gramophone Award shortlisted) and “Americascapes 2 – American Opus.”
SERGEI BABAYAN, piano
A“pianist’s pianist” whose interpretations combine “quiet beauty and emotional fire” (The Times, UK), Armenian American pianist Sergei Babayan is celebrated for his solo recitals, chamber concerts, and concerto collaborations with leading orchestras around the globe. These include the Baltimore Symphony, Bamberg Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Czech State Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, São Paulo Symphony, and Toronto Symphony. As well as performing at such prestigious venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Elyseés, Zurich’s Tonhalle, and Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Babayan appears at key international festivals including Salzburg, Verbier, Aspen, and the BBC Proms.
Babayan is also an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, whose recordings include Prokofiev for Two with Argerich, Rachmaninoff for Two with Trifonov, and the solo Rachmaninoff, a BBC Music “Recording of the Month.” Besides streaming worldwide on Medici TV, his performances have been broadcast by Britain’s BBC TV and Radio 3, Radio France, and Japan’s NHK Satellite Television.
Born in Soviet Armenia, Babayan studied at the Moscow Conservatory before drawing international notice with first-prize wins at the Cleveland, Hamamatsu, and Scottish International Piano Competitions. He is now an American citizen who lives in New York City.
The 4,190th and 4,191st concerts of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Thursday, February 26, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, February 28, 2026 at 8:00 PM
NICHOLAS COLLON, conductor
KIAN SOLTANI, cello
The use of cameras or recording devices during the concert is strictly prohibited. Please be kind to those around you and silence your mobile phone and other hand-held devices.
OUTI TARKIAINEN (b. 1985)
The Ring of Fire and Love (2020) 9 MINS
WITOLD
LUTOSŁAWSKI (1913-1994)
Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra (1970) 24 MINS
Kian Soltani, cello
INTERMISSION 20 MINS
JEAN SIBELIUS (1865-1957)
Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82 (1915, rev. 1919) 33 MINS
I. Tempo molto moderato. Allegro moderato. Presto
II. Andante mosso, quasi allegretto
III. Allegro molto. Misterioso
Presented with generous support from FARIDEH & AL AZADI
by Noel Morris Program Annotator
Notes to Know
• Through much of his life, Lutosławski faced persecution and censorship. The Soviets banned his First Symphony. Only recently, the Berlin Philharmonic listed the piece as “an enthralling rediscovery.”
• Before the advent of the euro, Finland’s 100 Markka banknote featured a picture of composer Jean Sibelius.
• Like contemporary Finn Outi Tarkiainen, Sibelius often heard music while communing with nature. His Fifth Symphony ends with a bevy of swans.
OUTI TARKIAINEN The Ring of Fire and Love
Anote from the composer:
The Ring of Fire is a volcanic belt that surrounds the Pacific Ocean and in which most of the world’s earthquakes occur. It is also the term referring to the bright ring of sunlight around the moon at the height of a solar eclipse, when the moon covers only the central part of the sun. Yet, the same expression is also used to describe what a woman feels when, as she gives birth, the baby’s head passes through her pelvis. That moment is the most dangerous in the baby’s life, its little skull being subjected to enormous pressure, preparing it for life in a way unlike any other. The Ring of Fire and Love is a work for orchestra about this Earthshattering, creative, cataclysmic moment they travel through together.
OUTI TARKIAINEN, composer
Outi Tarkiainen was born in Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland, a place that has proved a constant source of inspiration. She has long been drawn to the expressive power of the human voice, but in addition to song cycles and operas, has written chamber and solo instrumental works as well as symphonic poems and concertos.
Outi has been commissioned by ensembles including the BBC Symphony, Scottish Symphony, and Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as the San Francisco, Gothenburg, Finnish Radio, and Netherlands Symphony Orchestras, the Royal Stockholm
This is the first ASO performance.
and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestras, and the National Arts Center Orchestra.
Outi studied composition at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, the Guildhall School in London and at the University of Miami. She was co-artistic director of the Silence Festival in Lapland, has twice been nominated for the Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco’s Musical Composition Prize. In 2023, she won Finland’s Music Publishers’ Award.
This is the first ASO performance.
LUTOSŁAWSKI Cello Concerto
Witold Lutosławski lacks the name recognition of some of the 20th century’s musical giants, yet many musicians agree he belongs among the greats.
As a Warsaw native, he faced circumstances that worked against him. In World War I, as bombs fell across Europe, his family escaped to Moscow, only to see the rise of the Bolsheviks in 1917. In 1918, the Soviets murdered his father and uncle. The broken family returned to Warsaw, where Witold entered the Conservatory. After graduation, he hoped to study in Paris, but Adolph Hitler had other plans. The young composer enlisted in the Polish military and quickly landed in a P.O.W. camp. Witold escaped and walked 250 miles to Warsaw, where he and Andrzej Panufnik formed a piano duo.
After the war, Soviet censors made it impossible for him to write music the way he wanted, so Lutosławski wrote jingles and popular songs for Polish radio under the name “Derwid.” He had to wait for the Khruschev Thaw before he could really flex his muscles as a composer.
Belatedly, Lutosławski gained international recognition and made enough money to support emerging composers and musicians who came after him.
A note from the composer:
“When I came to write the concerto, the fact that I was writing for such a phenomenal artist, [Mstislav Rostropovich], not only in his field but also generally, was immensely stimulating for me. Already, Rostropovich
told me not to think about the technicalities of writing for the cello but to concentrate on composing the music; he would take care of making the playing of it technically possible... I could propose to him, amongst other things, completely new fingering. It was necessary to play quarter-tones, which I used extensively. Later, when he worked on the finished solo part, Rostropovich told me with a smile that after 30 years of playing the cello he had had to learn new fingering!
In my concerto, the orchestra has a different relationship with the soloist. This conflict should be clear to the listener from the first moments: the orchestra intervenes in the cello part, interrupts, and even disrupts it. Then come the tentative attempts at “reconciliation” in the form of dialogues, but they are constantly interrupted by brass instruments, which, in this piece, assume a role of intervention.”
While Lutosławski never acknowledged that the “conflict” in the music had a specific message, some musicians speculate that by pitting the orchestra against the soloist, he made a bold statement about free speech.
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5
For most people, fiftieth birthdays are a big deal, a time for celebration and perhaps reflection. For Jean Sibelius, it was a reason to write a symphony.
Throughout his childhood, his country had been under the thumb of the Russian tsar. Using compositions inspired by nature and Finnish folklore, Sibelius stirred in the Finns a new level of patriotic fervor. By his fiftieth birthday, he was a national hero.
Curiously, the composer’s first language was Swedish (there is a population of Swedish-speaking Finns). Still, he attended Finnish-speaking schools and eventually fell in love with the daughter of General Alexander Järnefelt, the governor of Vaasa. With wedding bells on the horizon, Sibelius switched to speaking Finnish at home. Together, he and the general’s daughter, Aino, had six daughters and eventually built a cottage in the
First ASO performance: November 24, 1979
Louis Lane, conductor
Most recent ASO performance: November 19, 2022
John Storgårds, conductor
country, which the composer named Ainola, “Aino’s Place.”
In a 65-year marriage, Jean and Aino were not without their sorrows. In 1900, their daughter Kirtsi died of typhoid fever, and Sibelius took to spending long stretches away from the family. Staying in Helsinki, he enjoyed the nightlife: drinking, dining, and running up bills. He loved to smoke cigars, which led to a bout of throat cancer in 1907. For a time, he quit drinking and smoking, which fostered some healing in the marriage. Sadly, with the outbreak of war in 1914, he lost much of his income and slid back into substance abuse.
Money problems aside, Sibelius contemplated the Fifth Symphony for several years, writing much of it at Ainola. In April of 1915, he wrote in his journal: “In the evening, working on the symphony. This is an important task that, strangely, enchants me. As if God the Father had thrown down pieces of a mosaic from the floor of heaven and asked me to work out the pattern.” And that’s what you get in the Fifth: fragments of themes that knit themselves together into a greater whole.
In honor of the composer’s fiftieth birthday, Finnish authorities declared a national holiday and planned a grand celebration culminating in the world premiere of the Fifth Symphony. Sibelius himself conducted that concert on his birthday, December 8, 1915. Over the next several years, he revised the piece several times until it took its final form.
The finale is striking in its originality and came to him (as many musical ideas had) through an encounter with nature.
“Today at 10 minutes to 11, I saw 16 swans,” he wrote. “Lord God, what beauty! They circled over us for a long time. Disappeared into the solar haze like a gleaming silver ribbon. Their call is the same woodwind type as that of cranes but without tremolo . . . Nature-mysticism and life’s angst. The Fifth Symphony’s finale theme.”
NICHOLAS COLLON, conductor
British conductor Nicholas Collon is recognised for his elegant conducting style, searching musical intellect, and inspirational music-making. He is Founder and Principal Conductor of Aurora Orchestra, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and has been Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony since 2021. He was Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orkest in Den Haag (latterly also Artistic Advisor) 2016-2021, and Principal Guest of the Gürzenich Orchester from 2017-2022.
Under his leadership the Finnish Radio Symphony has toured to the BBC Proms, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and across Germany, and has been nominated for Orchestra of the Year 2025 by Gramophone. Their expanding discography together for Ondine includes Wennäkoski (Gramophone’s Best Contemporary Recording Award 2023) and Sibelius (Record of the Month in August 2025 for the 5th Symphony). Their 2025/6 season features works by Lili Boulanger, Hans Abrahamsen and Hector Berlioz, with releases this season to include Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie and Holst’s The Planets. Collon leads the Aurora Orchestra at the BBC Proms every year in their hugely popular memorized performances. They tour to major European venues and festivals every season, reviving their ground-breaking Sacre du Printemps production in Spring 2026, heading to Berlin, Munich, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Essen, Zurich, Bern and Geneva.
In 2025/26, Collon returns to conduct the Dresden Staatskapelle (televised live on ZDF), takes the Danish National to the Enescu Festival, and conducts the Swedish Radio Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, and Dresden Philharmonic orchestras. Highlights last season included debuts with the Munich Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony orchestras.
KIAN SOLTANI, cello
Hailed by The Times as a “remarkable cellist” and described by Gramophone as “sheer perfection”, Kian Soltani’s playing is characterised by profound depth of expression, a sense of individuality and technical mastery.
The 25/26 season includes performances with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, a return to Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, as well debuts with Orchestre National de France, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Further highlights include European tour of WDR Sinfonieorchester and his residency with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. As an active recitalist, Soltani will tour Europe in trio with Renaud Capuçon and Mao Fujita, and in duo with Benjamin Grosvenor, while joining Andreas Ottensamer and Alessio Bax for performances across the United States.
In 2017, Soltani signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon, releasing his acclaimed debut album Home in 2018. He went on to record Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Staatskapelle Berlin and Daniel Barenboim in 2020 and released a Schumann album with Camerata Salzburg in 2024. His 2021 album Cello Unlimited, a solo exploration of the cello’s expressive range and cinematic power, earned him the Innovative Listening Experience Award at the 2022 Opus Klassik Awards.
Born in Bregenz, Austria, to a family of Persian musicians, Soltani began playing the cello at age four and was only twelve when he joined Ivan Monighetti’s class at the Basel Music Academy. He was the recipient of Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation scholarship in 2014 and completed further studies at the Kronberg Academy in Germany and International Music Academy in Liechtenstein. Kian Soltani plays “The London, ex Boccherini” Antonio Stradivari cello, kindly loaned to him by a generous sponsor through the Beares International Violin Society.
FEB 26/28 | THU/SAT |
ATLANTA SYMPHONY HALL
Step into the vibrant world of Persian culture with a festival featuring local Persian artisans, food, music, and dance before the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra takes the stage with celebrated cellist Kian Soltani.
FESTIVAL AT 6PM + CONCERT AT 8PM TICKETS AT ASO.ORG
THANKS TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS
PRESENTING
Farideh and Al Azadi
GARDEN
NIGHTINGALE
Farideh Takaloo
Roxanne and Benny Varzi
Mallie Sharafat
CYPRESS
IRIS
Campaign for the
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has begun an ambitious campaign to generate new endowment and stability funding. Our Campaign for the Next Era will allow the ASO to achieve its vision while maintaining its financial health and ensuring long-term sustainability.
This Campaign will create sustainable funding to:
• Enable the ASO to continue to attract and retain the finest musicians in the world,
• Maintain and expand our community-wide education programs
• Fully fund our nationally-recognized Talent Development Program
Investments in the Campaign for the Next Era will help the ASO continue to enrich our beloved community with brilliant performances and music education for decades to come.
CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTORS
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is grateful to the following donors and volunteers who have supported our Campaign for the Next Era Endowment Campaign.
CAMPAIGN CHAIRS:
Kathy Waller
John B. White, Jr.
CAMPAIGN CABINET:
Bert Mills
Anne Morgan
Jim Rubright
For more information about the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Campaign for the Next Era, please contact Grace Sipusic, Vice President of Development at grace.sipusic@atlantasymphony.org or 404.733.5061.
Ross Singletary
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$500,000+
A Friend of the Symphony
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$250,000+
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The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra continues to prosper thanks to the support of our generous patrons. The list below recognizes the donors who have made contributions since June 1, 2024. Their extraordinary generosity provides the foundation for this worldclass institution.
$1,000,000+
A Friend of the Symphony
$100,000+
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$50,000+
The Antinori Foundation
Connie & Merrell** Calhoun
Ms. Lynn Eden
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$35,000+
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Slumgullion Charitable Fund
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$25,000+
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Mrs. Rona Gomel Ashe
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John M. Sparrow
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$15,000+
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Madeline** & Howell E. Adams, Jr.
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$10,000+
A Friend of the Symphony
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Karen & Rod Bunn
Lisa & Russ Butner ∞
John Champion & Penelope Malone
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas C. Chubb III
Janet & John Costello
Mr. & Mrs. Warren L. Culpepper
Mr. Christopher J. Decoufle & Ms. Karen Freer
Donald & Barbara Defoe °
Peter & Vivian de Kok
Marcia & John Donnell
Ms. Diane Durgin
Cheryl Etheridge in memory of David Etheridge
Dr. & Mrs. Leroy Fass
Mr. Nigel Ferguson
Mr. & Mrs. William A. Flinn
Dr. V. Alexander Garcias
Dr. Paul Gilreath
The Hertz Family Foundation, Inc.
Richard & Linda Hubert
Clay & Jane Jackson ∞
Cecile M. Jones
James Kieffer
Ann & Brian Kimsey ∞
Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Kuester
Meghan & Clarke Magruder
Ms. Erin M. Marshall ∞
Dr. & Mrs. Douglas Mattox
Mr. Cesar Moreno &
Mr. Greg Heathcock
Jane Morrison ∞
Margaret H. Petersen
Mr. Allen Phinney
Mr. Ron Raitz
Leonard Reed
David F. & Maxine A.** Rock
Ms. Frances A. Root
Thomas & Lynne Saylor
Ms. Barbara S. Schlefman
Michelle & Steve Shlansky
Beverly & Milton Shlapak
John & Yee-Wan Stevens
Mr. & Mrs. Edward W. Stroetz, Jr.
George & Amy Taylor ∞
Drs. Jonne & Paul Walter
Dr. & Mrs. James O. Wells, Jr.
Kiki Wilson
Camille W. Yow
$7,500+
Dr. Marshall & Stephanie Abes
Carol Brantley & David Webster
Judith D. Bullock**
Patricia & William Buss ∞
Mark Coan & Family
Ned Cone & Nadeen Green
Sally W. Hawkins
Grace Taylor Ihrig**
Jason & Michelle Kroh
Dr. Fulton D. Lewis III &
S. Neal Rhoney
Mr. Robert M. Lewis, Jr. &
G. Wesley Holt
Elvira & Jay Mannelly
Ed & Linda McGinn
Berthe & Shapour Mobasser
Sue Morgan ∞
Ms. Eliza Quigley ∞
Mr. & Mrs. Joel F. Reeves
Stephen & Sonia Swartz
Ms. Juliana T. Vincenzino
Alan & Marcia Watt
Mr. David J. Worley & Ms. Bernadette Drankoski
$5,000+
A Friend of the Symphony
Louis J. Alrutz
Mr. Logan Anderson
Dr. Evelyn R. Babey
Lisa & Joe** Bankoff
Anthony Barbagallo & Kristen Fowks
Asad & Sakina Bashey
Meredith Bell
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas D. Bell, Jr.
Mr. John Blatz
Rita & Herschel Bloom
Jane & Greg Blount
Dr. & Mrs. Jerome B. Blumenthal
Mrs. Robert C. Boozer
Margo Brinton & Eldon Park
Ms. Jane F. Boynton
Ms. Johanna Brookner
Jacqueline A. & Joseph E. Brown, Jr.
CBH International, Inc
Mrs. Amy B. Cheng &
Dr. Chad A. Hume, Ph.D
Helena & Phillip Choi
Mr. & Mrs. Dennis M. Chorba
Ms. Tracey Chu
Malcolm & Ann Cole
William & Patricia Cook
Matt & Kate Cook
Mary Carole Cooney & Henry R. Bauer, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. DePorres Cormier
Carol Comstock & Jim Davis
Kelly Goldston DeBonis & Daniel P. DeBonis
Mr. & Mrs. Paul H. Dimmick ∞
Xavier Duralde & Mary Barrett
Robert S. Elster Foundation
Jerry H. Evans & Stephen T. Bajjaly
Dr. & Mrs. Carl D. Fackler
Ellen & Howard Feinsand
Bruce W. & Avery C. Flower ∞
Mr. David L. Forbes
Dr. Karen A. Foster
Annie Frazer & Jen Horvath
Gaby Family Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Goodsell
Mr. James N. Grace
Mr. & Mrs. Steve Hauser
John** & Martha Head
The Reverend Elizabeth H. Hendrick
Hilley & Frieder
Mrs. Nicole L. House
Tad & Janin Hutcheson
Mr. Justin Im & Dr. Nakyoung Nam
Lillian Kim Ivansco & Joey Ivansco
Ann A. & Ben F. Johnson III °
Mr. W. F. & Dr. Janice Johnston
Lana M. Jordan ∞
Dr. Jennifer Kahnweiler & Dr. William M. Kahnweiler
Paul** & Rosthema Kastin
Mr. & Mrs. Mark A. Kauffman
Mona & Gilbert Kelly °
Mr. Alfred D. Kennedy & Dr. William R. Kenny
Mr. Charles R. Kowal
Pat & Nolan Leake
Mr. & Mrs. Van R. Lear
Jonathan Lively
Mr. William A. Lundstrom & Mrs. Catherine L. Lundstrom
Ms. Eunice Luke
Thomas & Marianne Mabry
In Memoriam: Betty (B.J.) Malone
Beau & Alfredo Martin
Mr. & Mrs. Christopher D. Martin
Belinda & Gino Massafra
Catherine Massey
Ms. Darla B. McBurney
Molly McDonald & Jonathan Gelber
Fred & Sue McGehee Family
Charitable Fund
Mr. Dale Metz & Ms. Lisa Williams
Key Miles
Mr. Bert Mobley ∞
Mr. Jamal Mohammad & Mr. Marcus Dean
Mr. William Morrison & Mrs. Elizabeth Clark-Morrison
Ms. Bethani Oppenheimer
Donald S. Orr & Marcia K. Knight
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Owen, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Solon P. Patterson
Mr. & Mrs. Edmund F. Pearce, Jr. °
Jonathan & Lori Peterson
In Memory of
Dr. Frank S. Pittman III
Stephen Polley
Dr. & Mrs. John P. Pooler
Dr. John B. Pugh
John H. Rains
Mrs. Susan H. Reinach
Dr. Jay Rhee & Mrs. Kimberley Rhee ∞
Ms. Felicia Rives ∞
Susan J. Robinson & Mary C. Roemer
Tiffany & Rich Rosetti ∞
Ms. Noelle Ross & Mr. Tim Dorr
John T. Ruff
Dr. & Mrs. Rein Saral
Dr. Robert D. Schreiner & Dr. Patricia M. Simone
Suzanne Shull ∞
Gerald & Nancy Silverboard
Baker & Debby Smith
Ms. Cynthia Smith
Janice B. Smith
Ms. Victoria Smith
Ms. Lara Smith-Sitton
Mr. & Mrs. Peter Stathopoulos
In memory of Elizabeth B.
Stephens by Powell, Preston & Sally ∞
Ms. Deann Stevens
Beth & Edward Sugarman
Dede & Bob Thompson
Trapp Family
Dr. Brenda G. Turner
Chilton & Morgan** Varner
Amy & Robert Vassey
Emily C. Ward
Ruthie Watts
Mr. & Mrs. Chris Webber
Dr. Nanette K. Wenger
David & Martha West
John F. Wieland, Jr.
Suzanne B. Wilner
Mr. & Mrs. M. Beattie Wood
Kaya Yamashita in memory of her parents, Hiroko & Tomohiro Yamashita
$3,500+
A Friend of the Symphony (2)
Sam & Linda Boyte
Liz & Charlie Cohn °
Jean & Jerry Cooper
Mr. David S. Dimling
Gregory & Debra Durden
Sandra & John Glover
Mr. Jeff Harms &
Mr. Peter MacLean
Ms. Susan V. Heerin
Barbara M. Hund
Cameron H. Jackson
Ms. Rebecca Jarvis
Sally C. Jobe
Mrs. Gail Johnson
Wolfgang** & Mariana Laufer
Ms. Ellen B. Macht
Martha & Reynolds McClatchey
Ms. Kathy Powell
S.A. Robinson
Ms. Donna Schwartz
Ms. Martha Solano
Kay R. Summers
Mrs. Dale L. Thompson
Russell F. Winch & Mark B. Elberfeld
Judy Zaban-Miller & Lester Miller**
$2,000+
A Friend of the Symphony (6)
Paul & Melody Aldo
Mr. James L. Anderson
Atlanta Symphony Associates
Herschel Beazley
Dr. Bruce & Linda** Beeber
Dr. & Mrs. Joel E. Berenson
Susan & Jack Bertram
Mr. & Mrs. Xavier Bignon
Leon & Joy Borchers
Martha S. Brewer
Harriet Evans Brock
Benjamin Q. Brunt
Laurel & Gordon Buchmiller
Dr. Aubrey Bush & Dr. Carol Bush
Mr. & Mrs. Walter K. Canipe
Betty Fuller Case
Mr. Jeffery B. Chancellor & Mr. Cameron England
Mr. Michael J. Clifford & Ms. Sandra L. Murray
Mr. James Cobb
Coenen-Johnson Foundation
Susan S. Cofer
Nicky Cohen & Simon Dibley
Ralph** & Rita Connell
Dr. & Mrs. John E. Cooke
Mrs. Nancy Cooke
Mr. William R. Cranshaw
R. Carter & Marjorie A. Crittenden Foundation
Claire & Alex Crumbley
Dr. & Mrs.** F. Thomas Daly, Jr.
Vicente del Rio
Ms. Suzanne Denton
Jerome J. Dobson
Mr. & Mrs. Graham Dorian
Mr. Christopher Drew
Mr. Trey Duskin &
Ms. Noelle Albano °
Mrs. Eve F. Eckardt
Dr. & Mrs. Ralph Edgar
Mr. & Mrs. Robert G. Edge
Dieter Elsner & Othene Munson
Mr. & Mrs. Paul G. Farnham
Dr. Donald & Janet Filip
Tom & Cecilia Fraschillo
Dr. Elizabeth C. French
Mr. & Mrs. Kevin Gaid
Mr. & Mrs. Sebastien Galtier ∞
Dr. & Mrs. John C. Garrett
Dr. Robert W. Gilbert
Marty & John Gillin °
Mrs. Janet D. Goldstein
Dr. & Mrs. Martin I. Goldstein
Mr. Robert Golomb
Mrs. Beverly Green
Richard & Debbie Griffiths
Mr. & Mrs. George Gundersen
Mr. & Mrs. Juanmarco Gutierrez
Deedee Hamburger
Ms. Ayonna Hammond
Phil & Lisa Hartley
Mr. & Mrs. John Hellriegel ∞
Bill & Babette Henagan
Ann J. Herrera & Mary M. Goodwin
Kenneth & Colleen Hey
Dr. Thomas High
Azira G. Hill
Sarah & Harvey Hill, Jr. °
Mr. & Mrs. Jacob Hill
Mrs. Leslie H. Hill & Mr. Jacob C. Hill
Mr. Larry B. Hooks & Mrs. Carole W. Hooks
Laurie House Hopkins & John D. Hopkins
James & Bridget Horgan °
Mr. & Mrs. Brian Huband
Mr. & Mrs. Paul Huesken
Dona & Bill Humphreys
Mr. Christopher Hurst
Ms. Olga Inozemtseva
Aaron & Joyce Johnson
Dr. & Mrs. Eike Jordan
Teresa M. Joyce, Ph.D
Ms. Alice Kwan
Dr. & Mrs. William C. Land, Jr.
Lillian Balentine Law
Mr. Andrew Liakopoulos & Mr. Mark Hawkins
Mr. & Mrs. J. David Lifsey
Deborah & William Liss
Barbara & Jim MacGinnitie
Dr. Marcus Marr
Marx & Marx LLC
Ben Mathis & Mary Anne Mathis
In Memory of Pam McAllister
Mr. & Mrs. James McClatchey
Mr. & Mrs. John G. McColskey
Mr. & Mrs. Robert McDuffie
Birgit & David McQueen
Anna & Hays Mershon
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas B. Mimms, Jr.
Pat Mitchell & Scott Seydel
Ms. Helen Motamen & Mr. Deepak Shenoy
Mr. & Mrs. Peter Muniz
Melanie & Allan Nelkin
Agnes V. Nelson
Mr. & Mrs. Denis Ng
Gary R. Noble, MD & Joanne Heckman
Mr. & Mrs. Charles H. Ogburn
Mr. & Mrs. James Pack
Mr. Albert Palombo & Mrs. Linda E. Berggren
Erica L. Parsons & J. Mark Stewart
Mr. & Mrs. Al Pearson
Mr. Doug F. Powell
Mr. & Mrs. Douglas G. Riffey, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Roberts
Betsy & Lee Robinson
Dr. Judith C. Rohrer
Stuart Romm
Ms. Lili Santiago-Silva & Mr. Jim Gray
Dr. Marianne Scharbo-DeHaan
Drs. Lawrence & Rachel Schonberger
Dick Schweitzer
Mallie Sharafat
Angela Allen Sherzer
Mr. David C. Shih
Alan & Marion Shoenig
Helga Hazelrig Siegel
Diana Silverman
Caryl & Kendrick Smith
Hamilton & Mason Smith
Anne-Marie Sparrow
Elizabeth Morgan Spiegel
James & Shari Steinberg
Dr. Steven & Lynne Steindel °
Ms. Lizanne E. Stephenson & Mr. Alan Kendall
Ms. Sandra Stine & Mr. Greg Burel
Dr. & Mrs. John P. Straetmans
Lauren, RJ, & Mia Stuart
Ms. Linda F. Terry
Johnny Thigpen & Clay Martin
Mr. & Ms. Nathaniel Thomas
Duane P. Truex III
Mr. Jerry Stacy Tucker
Bill & Judy Vogel
Mrs. Joyce Vroon
Dr. James L. Waits
Mr. Charles D. Wattles & Ms. Rosemary C. Willey
Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Welch
Mrs. Lynne M. Winship
Sandra L. Wong
Mr. Will Young
Zaban Foundation, Inc.
Herbert** & Grace Zwerner
** = deceased
° = We are grateful to these donors for taking the extra time to acquire matching gifts from their employers.
∞ = Leadership Council We salute these extraordinary donors who have signed pledge commitments to continue their support for three years or more.
Patron Leadership (PAL) Committee
We give special thanks to this dedicated group of Atlanta Symphony Orchestra donor-volunteers for their commitment to each year’s annual support initiatives:
Linda Matthews chair
Kristi Allpere
Helga Beam
Bill Buss
Pat Buss
Kristen Fowks
Deedee Hamburger
Judy Hellriegel
Belinda Massafra
Sally Parsonson
June Scott
Milt Shlapak
Lara Smith-Sitton
Kay Summers
Jonne Walter
Marcia Watt
CORPORATE PARTNERS
$1,000,000+
Delta Air Lines
$100,000+
AAA Parking
Bloomberg Philanthropies
The Coca-Cola Company
Georgia Power Company
Graphic Packaging International, Inc.∞
The Home Depot Foundation
Piedmont Realty Trust
$75,000+
Alston & Bird LLP
The Norfolk Southern Corporation
$50,000+
Accenture LLP
Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta
Google PwC
The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center of Emory University
$25,000+
AFFAIRS to REMEMBER
Bank of America
Charitable Foundation
BlueLinx Corporation
Cadence Bank
$25,000+ CONTINUED
Chick-fil-A Foundation | Rhonda & Dan Cathy∞ Deloitte
Eversheds Sutherland
Grady Health System
King & Spalding LLP
KPMG LLP, Partners & Employees
Porsche Cars North America Inc.
Publix Super Markets Charities, Inc.
The QUIKRETE® Companies
Regions Bank
Truist Bank
$15,000+
Atlanta Parent
BlackRock EY
FleishmanHillard
Georgia-Pacific
Tony Brewer and Company
SouthState Bank
WABE 90.1 FM
Warner Bros. Media
$10,000+
Buckhead Village
Costco Wholesale
Davis Broadcasting’s WJZA Smooth Jazz 101/100
Dennis Dean Catering
FOUNDATION AND GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
$250,000+
Lettie Pate Evans Foundation Goizueta Foundation
$100,000+
Amy W. Norman
Charitable Foundation
Charles Loridans Foundation, Inc.
Emerald Gate Charitable Trust
The Molly Blank Fund of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
The Zeist Foundation, Inc.
$50,000+
The Halle Foundation
Georgia Department of Public Health
Paul M. Angell Family Foundation
Robert & Polly Dunn Foundation, Inc.
$35,000+
City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs
Georgia Council for the Arts
The Hellen Plummer Charitable Foundation, Inc.
The Roy & Janet Dorsey Foundation
$25,000+
The Jim Cox, Jr. Foundation
Fulton County Arts & Culture
The Marcus Foundation, Inc.∞
Massey Charitable Trust
$15,000+
The Sartain Lanier Family Foundation
$10,000+ CONTINUED
Greenberg Traurig
Jazz 91.9 WCLK
La Fête du Rosé
Merrill
Music Matters
WVEE-FM | V-103.3 FM
$5,000+
A Friend of the Symphony
Chef Craig Richards
FayTak Designs | Farideh Takaloo
Marietta Neonatology
Parker Poe
Perkins&Will
The St. Regis Atlanta
Yellow Bird Project Management
$2,000+
Allen Organ Studios
The Backline Company
Big Dome Promotions, LLC
EventWorks
Morehouse School of Medicine
Phoenix Senior Living
The Piedmont National Family Foundation
Prime Pharmaceuticals & Compounding Pharmacy
Ticketmaster
$10,000+
The Graves Foundation
The Scott Hudgens Family Foundation
In Memory of Betty Sands Fuller
$5,000+
A Friend of the Symphony
The Breman Foundation, Inc.
National Endowment for the Arts
$2,000+
2492 Fund
Paul and Marian Anderson Fund
Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University
Georgia Humanities
The Parham Fund
HENRY SOPKIN CIRCLE
Named for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s founding Music Director, the HENRY SOPKIN CIRCLE celebrates cherished individuals and families who have made a planned gift to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. These special donors preserve the Orchestra’s foundation and ensure success for future generations.
A Friend of the Symphony (22)
Madeline* &
Howell E. Adams, Jr.
Mr.* & Mrs.* John E. Aderhold
Paul & Melody Aldo
Mr. & Mrs. Ronald R. Antinori
Elizabeth Ann Bair*
Dr. & Mrs. William Bauer
Helga Beam
Mr. Charles D. Belcher*
Neil H. Berman
Susan & Jack Bertram
Mr.* & Mrs.* Karl A. Bevins
The Estate of Donald S. & Joyce Bickers
Ms. Page Bishop*
Mr.* & Mrs.* Sol Blaine
John Blatz
Rita & Herschel Bloom
The Estate of Mrs. Gilbert H. Boggs, Jr.
W. Moses Bond
Mr.* & Mrs. Robert C. Boozer
Elinor A. Breman*
Carol J. Brown
James C. Buggs*
Hugh W. Burke*
Mr. & Mrs. William Buss
Wilber W. Caldwell*
Mr.* & Mrs. C. Merrell Calhoun
Cynthia & Donald Carson
Mrs. Jane Celler*
Mr. Jeffery B. Chancellor & Mr. Cameron England
Lenore Cicchese*
Dr. & Mrs. Grady S. Clinkscales, Jr.
Suzanne W. Cole Sullivan
Robert Boston Colgin
Mrs. Mary Frances
Evans Comstock*
Miriam* & John A.* Conant
Dr. John W. Cooledge
Dr. Janie Cowan
Mr. & Mrs. William R. Cummickel
Bob* & Verdery* Cunningham
Vivian & Peter de Kok
Mr. Richard H. Delay & Dr. Francine D. Dykes
John R. Donnell
Dixon W. Driggs*
Pamela Johnson Drummond
Mrs. Kathryn E. Duggleby*
Catherine Warren Dukehart*
Ms. Diane Durgin
Arnold & Sylvia Eaves
Mr. & Mrs. Robert G. Edge
Geoffrey G. Eichholz*
Elizabeth Etoll
Mr. Doyle Faler*
Brien P. Faucett
Dr. Emile T. Fisher*
Moniqua N Fladger
Mr. & Mrs. Bruce W. Flower
A. D. Frazier, Jr.*
Nola Frink*
Betty* & Drew* Fuller
Sally & Carl Gable
William & Carolyn Gaik
Dr. John W. Gamwell*
Mr.* & Mrs.* L.L. Gellerstedt, Jr.
Ruth Gershon & Sandy Cohn
Max Gilstrap*
Mr. & Mrs. John T. Glover
Mrs. David Goldwasser*
Robert Hall Gunn, Jr. Fund
Billie & Sig Guthman*
Betty G.* & Joseph* F. Haas
Dr. Charles H. Hamilton*
Sally & Paul* Hawkins
John* & Martha Head
Ms. Jeannie Hearn*
Barbara & John Henigbaum*
Ms. Elizabeth Hendrick
Jill* & Jennings* Hertz
Mr.* & Mrs. Charles K. Holmes, Jr.
