Issuu

BRAVO JANUARY 16 & 17

ROCK LEGENDS OF THE ’60S & ’70S

ANDREAS DELFS, MUSIC DIRECTOR JEFF TYZIK, PRINCIPAL POPS CONDUCTOR CHRISTOPHER SEAMAN, CONDUCTOR LAUREATE

The Christopher Seaman Chair, Supported by Barbara and Patrick Fulford and The Conductor Laureate Society

IN THIS ISSUE: 2 25/26 Season Orchestra 3 Our Conductors 6 Board of Directors 7 Bravo to Our Season Sponsors 31 Bravo to Our Supporters 36 About Us

ROMANCE & REVELATION

THE SOUNDS OF LAUREL CANYON

January 8 & 10

January 16 & 17

DANCE FESTIVAL WEEK 1: AMERICAN MASTERS WITH GARTH FAGAN DANCE January 24 & 25

PLEASE NOTE:

Our Phils and Pops Series performances will feature a new start time of 7:30 PM unless otherwise noted.

23 DANCE FESTIVAL WEEK 2: ROCHESTER CITY BALLET & JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET January 31 & Feb 1

The safety of patrons, musicians, and staff is of the utmost importance. Following the University of Rochester masking protocols and guidelines, masking is currently optional at Eastman Theatre.

RPO.ORG | 454-2100

VIOLIN 1

BASS

The Caroline W. Gannett & Clayla Ward Chair, funded in perpetuity

The Anne Hayden McQuay Chair, funded in perpetuity

Juliana Athayde+, Concertmaster

Michael Griffin,

Daniel Morehead Edward Castilano Fred Dole Jeff Campbell+ Eric Polenik

TROMBONE

FLUTE

BASS TROMBONE

The Orchestra 2025/26 SEASON

Shannon Nance,

Assistant Concertmaster

Jeongwon An Tigran Vardanyan James Zabawa-Martinez Thomas Rodgers Anna Leunis Molly McDonald Kurt Munstedt Chihiro Kakishima Perrin Yang Jeremy Hill An-Chi Lin

VIOLIN 2

Jeanelle Thompson, Principal The Dr. Ralph F. Jozefowicz Chair

Rebecca Gilbert, Principal The Charlotte Whitney Allen Chair, funded in perpetuity

Sean Marron Elise Kim

PICCOLO

David Bruestle, Principal

The Austin E. Hildebrandt Chair, funded in perpetuity

Lisa Albrecht Jeffrey Gray+ Jeffrey Gray+

TUBA

W. Craig Sutherland, Principal The Rob W. Goodling Chair, funded in perpetuity

Sean Marron Elise Kim

TIMPANI

OBOE

The Harold and Joan Feinbloom Chair, funded in perpetuity

Erik Behr, Principal

Patricia Sunwoo John Sullivan Lara Sipols Sooyeon Kim Petros Karapetyan Liana Koteva Kirvan Margaret Leenhouts Heidi Brodwin Elin Schlichting Ellen Stokoe

Anna Steltenpohl Megan Kyle

The James E. Dumm Chair, funded in perpetuity

The Dr. Jacques M. Lipson Chair, funded in perpetuity

ENGLISH HORN Anna Steltenpohl

CLARINET

Hector Noriega*, Principal

The Robert J. Strasenburgh Chair, funded in perpetuity

Kamalia Freyling^ Andrew Brown

Charles Ross+, Principal

PERCUSSION

Caleb Breidenbaugh, Principal

The Marie-Merrill and George M. Ewing Chair, funded in perpetuity

Brian Stotz

The Barbara and Patrick Fulford Chair, funded in perpetuity

HARP

Grace Browning, Principal

The Eileen Malone Chair. A Tribute to Mr. and Mrs. Harcourt M. Sylvester

Rosanna Moore

KEYBOARD

Chiao-Wen Cheng+, Principal

Joshua Newburger+, Principal

E-FLAT CLARINET

Marc Anderson,

BASS CLARINET

PERSONNEL MANAGER

BASSOON

PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN

Assistant Principal

Rebecca Christainsen James Marshall Olita Povero Neil Miller Melissa Matson Ye In Son David Hult Grant Rieke

Assistant Principal

Daryl Perlo, Assistant Principal

The William L. Gamble Chair, funded in perpetuity

PHOTO: SMILLIEPHOTO.COM

Wesley Nance+ Herbert Smith Paul Shewan

The Fred M. And Lurita D. Wechsler Chair, funded in perpetuity

VIOLA

CONCERTMASTER

TRUMPET

Angelina Phillips,

Associate Concertmaster

JULIANA ATHAYDE,

Cory Palmer, Principal

CELLO

Ahrim Kim, Principal

The Clara and Edwin Strasenburgh Chair, funded in perpetuity

Lars Kirvan, Assistant Principal Samuel Pierce-Ruhland Christopher Haritatos Garri Hovsepyan Benjamin Krug Jennifer Carpenter^ Ingrid Bock

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Kamalia Freyling^ Andrew Brown

Matthew McDonald, Principal The Ron and Donna Fielding Chair, funded in perpetuity

Karl Vilcins Martha Sholl

CONTRA-BASSOON Karl Vilcins

The Lois P. Lines Chair, funded in perpetuity

Fred Dole

Kimberly Hartquist

Kathalee & Ian Hodge Library Operation Endowment

STAGE MANAGERS Danielle Suhr Cederick Martinez

HORN

YiCheng Gong, Associate Maura McCune Corvington+ Nathan Ukens Stephen Laifer+

+ Eastman faculty ^ Year leave of absence * 1-year appointment

Andreas Delfs has built a reputation over his 35-year career as one of the most dynamic and respected conductors on the international stage. Celebrated for his visionary leadership and deep musical insight, he is equally renowned as a masterful orchestra builder and an inspiring music director. Known for his emotionally charged and dramatically nuanced interpretations—particularly of the late Romantic repertoire—Delfs has earned critical acclaim across North America and Europe. His performances are marked by an ever-deepening artistic maturity, bringing a rare combination of passion, precision, and authenticity to every podium he graces. Educated at leading conservatories on both sides of the Atlantic and shaped by mentorships with legendary conductors, Delfs has cultivated a style forged through decades of experience. At the same time, his unwavering curiosity and enthusiasm for contemporary music have made him a champion of living composers. He has established lasting collaborations with many of today’s most compelling musical voices, conducting numerous world premieres and commissioning new works. Among his many artistic inspirations are Hans Werner Henze, György Ligeti, Philip Glass, and Roberto Sierra—composers whose diverse idioms have helped shape his unique interpretive voice. His artistry has also drawn world-class soloists to the stage, including André Watts, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang, and Renée Fleming. Delfs has held prominent leadership roles with orchestras on both continents. As Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra from 1996 to 2009—and later as its Conductor Laureate—he played a pivotal role in elevating the ensemble to national acclaim. He also led the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as Music Director (2001–2004) and Artistic Consultant (2004–2006). In Europe, he served as General Music Director of Hanover, Germany (1995–2000), overseeing both the city’s symphony orchestra and its distinguished opera company. Earlier appointments include Music Director of the Bern Opera, Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony during Lorin Maazel’s tenure, and Music Director—at an impressively young age—of the Orchestre Suisse des Jeunes.

Our Conductors 2025/26 SEASON

ANDREAS DELFS Music Director

Throughout his career, Delfs has conducted many of the world’s premier orchestras. His international credits include the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Danish National Symphony, Netherlands Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Beijing Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan. Born in Flensburg, Germany, Delfs began studying piano and music theory at the age of five. He studied under Christoph von Dohnányi and Aldo Ceccato at the Hamburg Conservatory, where, at just 20 years old, he became the youngest Music Director of the Hamburg University Orchestra and served as Musical Assistant at the Hamburg State Opera. He later continued his training at The Juilliard School, studying with Jorge Mester, Sixten Ehrling, and Leonard Bernstein, and was honored with the prestigious Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship. PHOTO: ALEX CASSETTI

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JEFF TYZIK Principal Pops Conductor

Our Conductors 2025/26 SEASON

25/26 marks Jeff Tyzik’s 32nd season as RPO Pops Conductor. But his musical journey began long before his permanent residency in Kodak Hall. Born in Hyde Park, New York, he started playing cornet at age nine—inspired by the buglers during an Independence Day parade in nearby Poughkeepsie. He switched to trumpet at age 11, and eventually went on to attend Rochester’s Eastman School of Music, ultimately earning Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees. Even before Tyzik’s schooling was completed, his star was on the rise. While at Eastman, Tyzik met Chuck Mangione, with whom he worked between 1973 and 1980 —both as lead trumpeter in Mangione’s band and as co-producer of four albums. During that time, Tyzik befriended Tonight Show band leader Doc Severinsen, who eventually invited Tyzik to London to record two albums. That relationship proved fruitful, with Tyzik producing the Grammy-winning The Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen, Vol. 1. Severinsen’s albums with Tyzik would go on to earn three additional Grammy nominations. Tyzik also recorded his own albums as a solo trumpeter between 1981 and 1990, when he and his big band frequently performed in Rochester. In 1993, Tyzik proposed a four-concert series featuring RPO members dubbed “All in the Family.” The first debuted Oct. 22 and highlighted Kenneth Grant (clarinet), Joseph Werner (piano), and percussionists William Cahn and Dave Mancini. Less than a month later, Tyzik was asked to become Principal Pops Conductor. Jeff quickly made his mark on the orchestra, in his second season performing the first in his endearing, enduring Gala Holiday Pops series. He also made RPO history conducting an all-Gershwin album featuring pianist Jon Nakamatsu. The recording topped the Billboard Classical chart and remained in the top 10 for three months. Over five decades, Tyzik has guest-conducted more than 100 orchestras, including the Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, and Milwaukee Symphony. In September 2023, he made his debut with the New York Philharmonic and returned later that season to conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra’s 2023–24 finale. He’s also shared the stage with a remarkable range of artists across genres—from Tony Bennett and Leslie Odom Jr. to Wynonna Judd, Art Garfunkel, Marilyn Horne, Arturo Sandoval, The Chieftains, Megan Hilty, Dawn Upshaw, and John Pizzarelli. In 2012, Tyzik and his daughter Jami co-founded the management and production company Greenberg Artists. Since 2016, in partnership with Schirmer Theatrical, they’ve developed dozens of orchestral Pops programs now performed by nearly 200 orchestras. In 2023, Tyzik launched TyzikMusic.com, a digital publishing platform featuring more than 150 of his arrangements, orchestrations, and compositions for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, and wind ensemble.

PHOTO: SMILLIEPHOTO.COM

RPO.ORG | 454-2100

CHRISTOPHER SEAMAN Conductor Laureate

Christopher Seaman was music director of the RPO from 1998-2011, and was subsequently named conductor laureate. During his 13-year tenure, the longest in RPO history, he raised the Orchestra’s artistic level, broadened its audience base, and created a new concert series. This contribution was recognized with an award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. In May 2009, the University of Rochester made him an honorary doctor of music. Previous positions include music director of the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra (Florida) for 10 years, conductor-in-residence with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and artistic advisor of the San Antonio Symphony. He is recognized for his wealth of repertoire, which ranges from baroque to contemporary, and in particular the works of Bruckner, Brahms, and Sibelius Seaman also is highly regarded for his work with younger musicians, and he served as course director for the Symphony Services International Conductor Development Program (Australia) for many years. Recent conducting engagements include the Aspen Music Festival, Detroit, Houston, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Seattle symphony orchestras; the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Kristians Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North, and Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais in Brazil. He frequently visits Australia and Asia where he has conducted the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Taiwan, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Singapore symphony orchestras, among others.

Our Conductors 2025/26 SEASON

The Christopher Seaman Chair, supported by Barbara and Patrick Fulford and The Conductor Laureate Society

RPO.ORG | 454-2100

RPO Board of Directors 2025/26 SEASON

Maintaining and operating the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (Founded in 1923 —Incorporated in 1930) OFFICERS

Diana Clarkson, Esq., Chair of the Board

Katherine Lindahl, Chair-Elect of the Board Cindy Yancey,

EX-OFFICIO

Vice Chair of the Board Secretary

Kate Sheeran

Treasurer

Nathan Ukens

Karen Kessler, Richard Stein,

Ross P. Lanzafame, Esq., Immediate Past Chair

TERM EXPIRES JUNE 2026

Daisy R. Algarin Diana Clarkson, Esq. George Daddis Catherine Frangenberg Allyson Hiranandani Dr. Diane Lu Sujatha Ramanujan Elizabeth F. Rice Ronald E. Salluzzo Dr. Eva P. Sauer George J. Schwartz, M.D. Richard Stein Dr. James Watters

Brian Bennett Emerson Fullwood Kimberly Gangi Paulette Gissendanner Catherine Gueli Zuzanna Kwon Katherine Lindahl Jack McGowan Sidney Sobel, M.D. Cindy Yancey

CHAIR OF THE BOARD

Ron Dougherty Sreeram Dhurjaty James Fulmer Laurie A. Haelen Ralph F. Jozefowicz. M.D. Karen Kessler Deborah Onslow Keila Pena Sara Poe Joseph B. Rizzo, Esq. Curtis S. Long President & CEO Ross P. Lanzafame, Esq.,

TERM EXPIRES JUNE 2027

DIANA CLARKSON,

TERM EXPIRES JUNE 2028

RPO.ORG | 454-2100

Immediate Past Chair

Dean, Eastman School of Music Orchestra Representative

Wesley Nance

Orchestra Representative

James Englert

Chairperson, Honorary Board

HONORARY BOARD James Englert,

Chairperson, Honorary Board

Stephen B. Ashley Nancy Beilfuss* James M. Boucher Paul W. Briggs* William L. Cahn Louise Epstein Joan Feinbloom Ilene Flaum Betsy Friedman Patrick Fulford Ronald A. Furman* Mary M. Gooley* Suzanne Gouvernet* David C. Heiligman A. Thomas Hildebrandt Harold A. Kurland, Esq. Dr. Dawn F. Lipson Jacques M. Lipson, MD* Cricket and Frank Luellen* Michael Millard Elizabeth F. Rice Nathan J. Robfogel, Esq. Jon L. Schumacher, Esq. Katherine T. Schumacher Ingrid Stanlis Betty Strasenburgh* Josephine S. Trubek Suzanne D. Welch Patricia Wilder* Deborah Wilson Robert Woodhouse

The RPO expresses its gratitude to all those who have served as Honorary Board members in the past.

PAST RPO CHAIRPERSONS

1930–32: Edward G. Miner* 1932–34: Simon N. Stein* 1934–38: George E. Norton* 1938–41: Leroy E. Snyder* 1941–42: Frank W. Lovejoy* 1942–43: Bernard E. Finucane* 1943–46: L. Dudley Field* 1946–48: Edward S. Farrow, Jr. * 1948–51: Joseph J. Myler* 1951–52: Joseph F. Taylor* 1952–55: Raymond W. Albright* 1955–57: Arthur I. Stern* 1957–59: Thomas H. Hawks* 1959–61: Walter C. Strakosh* 1962–63: Ernest J. Howe* 1963–65: O. Cedric Rowntree* 1965–67: Frank E. Holley * 1967–69: Thomas C. Taylor* 1969–71: Thomas H. Miller* 1971–72: Mrs. Frederick J. Wilkens* 1972–73: Edward C. McIrvine 1973–74: Robert J. Strasenburgh* 1974–75: John A. Santuccio 1975–76: Robert J. Strasenburgh* 1976–78: Dr. Louis Lasagna* 1978–80: Edward C. McIrvine 1980–82: Peter L. Faber 1982–84: Paul F. Pagerey* 1984–85: Peter L. Waasdorp* 1986–89: Robert H. Hurlbut* 1989–91: Paul W. Briggs 1991–93: Karen Noble Hanson* 1993–95: Ronald E. Salluzzo 1995–98: A. Thomas Hildebrandt 1998–00: Harold A. Kurland, Esq. 2000–04: David C. Heiligman 2004–06: Ingrid A. Stanlis 2006–09: James M. Boucher 2009–11: Suzanne D. Welch 2011–13: Elizabeth F. Rice 2013–15: Dr. Dawn F. Lipson 2015-17: Jules L. Smith, Esq. 2017-19: Ingrid A. Stanlis 2019-2024: Ross P. Lanzafame, Esq.

* Deceased

CYAN

MAGENTA GIALLO

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Bravo to our Sponsors 2025/26 SEASON

SEASON & SERIES SPONSORS: SEASON SPONSOR POPS SERIES SPONSORS SUNDAY MATS AT NAZ SERIES SPONSOR ORKIDSTRA SERIES SPONSOR

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

LENORE P. LESSER

RPYO SPONSOR HOLIDAY SPONSOR RPO FOR ALL SPONSOR SEASON MEDIA SPONSORS

CONCERT SPONSORS: ROMANCE & REVELATION IS SUPPORTED BY:

DEBORAH RONNEN, THE ROSENBERG OPERA FUND, AND BRUCE JACOBS AMERICAN MASTERS WITH GARTH FAGAN DANCE IS SUPPORTED BY:

DAVID AND CLAUDIA WEBER

OFFICIAL VENUE PARTNER

OFFICIAL HOSPITALITY PARTNER

OFFICIAL HOTEL PARTNER

OFFICIAL VENUE PARTNER

ROCHESTER

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT:

ADAM BELLO COUNTY EXECUTIVE

PHOTO: SMILLIEPHOTO.COM

RPO PERFORMANCES ARE MADE POSSIBLE BY THE NEW YORK STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR AND THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATURE.

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THU

7:30 PM SAT

JAN 10 7:30 PM KODAK HALL AT EASTMAN THEATRE

Andreas Delfs, conductor

For Andreas Delfs’ biography, please see page 5.

Yefim Bronfman, piano Jasmine Habersham, soprano

LOWELL LIEBERMANN

The Second Coming, for Soprano and Orchestra, Op.149 [World Premiere] Jasmine Habersham, soprano

12:00

ROBERT SCHUMANN

Piano Concerto in A minor, op. 54

31:00

Allegro affettuoso Intermezzo: Andantino grazioso Allegro vivace

Yefim Bronfman, piano

INTERMISSION GUSTAV MAHLER

Symphony No. 4 in G major

55:00

I. Bedächtig, nicht eilen II. In gemächlicher Bewegung, ohne Hast III. Ruhevoll (Poco adagio) IV. Sehr behaglich

ROMANCE & REVELATION

JAN 8

Jasmine Habersham, soprano

SEASON SPONSOR: CONCERT SPONSORS:

OFFICIAL COFFEE OF THE RPO DEBORAH RONNEN, THE ROSENBERG OPERA FUND, AND BRUCE JACOBS

We kindly ask you to please silence all cellphones and electronic devices. Also, please note that photography and video recordings are prohibited during the performance.

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ARTISTS Internationally recognized as one of today’s most acclaimed and admired pianists, Yefim Bronfman stands among a handful of artists regularly sought by festivals, orchestras, conductors, and YEFIM BRONFMAN JASMINE HABERSHAM recital series. His commanding technique, power, and exceptional lyrical gifts are consistently acknowledged by the press and audiences alike. Following summer festival appearances in Vail, Tanglewood, and Aspen, the 25/26 season begins with an Asian tour including China, Japan, and South Korea. In Europe, Bronfman can be heard with orchestras in London, Kristiansand, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Dresden, and on tour with Israel Philharmonic. A special trio project with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Pablo Ferrandez will continue with performances in Switzerland, Spain, Germany, and France in the fall of 2025. With orchestras in North America, he returns to New York, Rochester, Cleveland (in Miami), Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Montreal and in recital, Bronfman can be heard in Prague, Milan, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Orange County, Charlottesville and Toronto. Born in Tashkent in the Soviet Union, Yefim Bronfman immigrated to Israel with his family in 1973, studying with pianist Arie Vardi at Tel Aviv University. In the United States, he studied at The Juilliard School, Marlboro School of Music, and the Curtis Institute of Music, under Rudolf Firkusny, Leon Fleisher, and Rudolf Serkin.

JASMINE HABERSHAM, soprano

American soprano Jasmine Habersham is a versatile and dynamic performing artist whose voice has been hailed as “exquisite” by Broadway World and possessing a “well-controlled, silvery tone” by Opera Today. Jasmine’s 2024-2025 season featured numerous house and role debuts. She debuted the role of Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance at Central City Opera, Adina in The Elixir of Love at Florida Grand Opera, Ashley in The Listeners at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and created the role of Claudette Colvin in She Who Dared (World Premiere) at Chicago Opera Theatre. In addition to these roles, she reprised the role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at Minnesota Opera. She also made her debut with Fort Worth Symphony, Savannah Philharmonic, and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. She has performed as a featured soloist in numerous concert productions including Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater, Schubert’s Mass in G, Bach’s B Minor Mass, Handel’s Messiah, and Duke Ellington’s Concert of Sacred Music. A finalist in the Lotte Lenya Competition, she is well-versed as a crossover artist in opera and musical theatre. She has performed the roles Edith in The Pirates of Penzance with The Atlanta Opera, Susannah in The Musical: Tintypes with Janiec Opera Company, and Pearl in Morning Star with Cincinnati Opera Fusion. Ms. Habersham received her Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance at Shorter College and her Master of Music and Artist Diploma from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

RPO.ORG | 454-2100

DANIEL WELCH

YEFIM BRONFMAN, piano

PROGRAM NOTES

LOWELL LIEBERMAN

The Second Coming, for Soprano and Orchestra, Op.149

B. NEW YORK, NEW YORK February 22, 1961

When Maestro Delfs first contacted me about writing a work for soprano and orchestra, he told me that he planned to program it with Mahler’s 4th Symphony, and asked for a work that would be somehow complementary to it: either by providing a similar outlook or a contrary one to the poem Mahler set to music from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Following that prompt, I immersed myself in poetry, looking for weeks for the right text to use. Yeats has always been one of my favorite poets: I had set six of his poems for an earlier work, A Poet To His Beloved. I suppose I had finally gotten to the letter “Y” in my library of poetry books, when I came across The Second Coming. It seemed to me to be the perfect counterpoint to the text of the Mahler: its ominous, dark, and ambiguous message, that mirrored some of the universal upheavals of our own time, contrasting with the sunny, Utopian vision that the Wunderhorn text of the Mahler provides. What I did not quite realize until later when I did more research on the poem and Yeats, was that in recent times it has apparently become one of the most quoted poems by people from all walks of life to encapsulate the anxieties of a society in turmoil. In fact, one writer pointed out that in the first six months of 2016, The Second Coming was quoted in print more than it had been in the previous 30 years combined. Yeats wrote The Second Coming in 1919, when the world was still reeling from the aftermath of the First World War and of the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. Yeats’s beloved Ireland was headed towards revolution and there were widespread anxieties at what seemed to be a new world order taking shape. Yeats’s outlook, rooted in his mysticism, was complex in some respects and perhaps naïve in others. It has been suggested that the lion-bodied monster “slouching towards Bethlehem” was not the AntiChrist that it is often assumed to be, but rather Yeats’s fear of a spreading secularism that threatened the old-world order and his ideals of an aristocratic and spiritually rooted society. Whatever the reality of Yeats’s beliefs, his poem stands as a masterful encapsulation of societal upheaval that has been quoted, adapted and repurposed many times by many different artists in many different contexts. I made the conscious decision to end my setting with a restatement of the opening lines of the poem, in this way hinting at the cyclical nature of history. Yeats’s poem has been seen as a prophesy of World War II, is seen by many as a presagement of our own times, and will likely be quoted time and time again in years to come as history goes through its endless cycle of conflict and resolution. The Second Coming is scored for a similar orchestral complement as Mahler’s Fouth Symphony, in that it dispenses with the trombones and tuba that an orchestra of this size would usually have. ©2025 by Lowell Liebermann. All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced or quoted without permission.

RPO.ORG | 454-2100

PROGRAM NOTES ROBERT SCHUMANN

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54

B. ZWICKAU, GERMANY June 8, 1810

D. ENDENICH, BONN, GERMANY

July 29, 1856 Nineteenth-century composers and pianists Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck had more than a romantic connection. They had a musical connection, too. Robert first studied piano with Clara’s father, where he had a front-row seat to the young Clara’s prodigious talents. After a hand injury sidelined his piano playing, Robert shifted his energies towards composition, writing an early set of piano impromptus on a theme by Clara, the beginning of many musical exchanges that would fuel their romance. They were engaged when Robert began a singlemovement piano and orchestra Phantasie in 1839. Having written a piano concerto in A minor of her own when she was only 15 years old, Clara encouraged Robert to write something more expansive. With her motivation, he reworked his Fantasie into the first movement of a concerto, also in A minor. But that’s not the end of Clara’s influence: he borrowed a theme from Clara’s concerto for the coda of his first movement, a nod to his muse. Clara gave the full concerto premiere in Dresden in 1845. The piano concerto displays Robert’s clarity of ideas, with subtle shadings that add emotional depth.

RPO.ORG | 454-2100

PROGRAM NOTES GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 4

B. KALISCHT, BOHEMIA (NOW KALIŠTĚ, CZECH REPUBLIC) July 7, 1860

D. VIENNA, AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE One word can describe the works of Austro-German composer Gustav (NOW AUSTRIA) Mahler: maximal. His eighth symphony requires at least a few hundred May 18, 1911 performers; his third symphony is one of the longest symphonies in the standard repertory. His musical ideas, too, seem exponential, quickly shapeshifting between gestures and moods, often incongruent. For extra emotional oomph, Mahler uses vocal or choral forces in half of his orchestral works. Mahler’s maximalist tendencies were his way of ushering in the fin de siècle, into the turn of the twentieth century. Using the tools of late romanticism, he defined early twentieth-century modernism through his expansion of forces, structures, and philosophical themes, which are vividly experienced in his symphonies.

Given Mahler’s inclinations, the Fourth Symphony almost seems an anomaly: it’s Mahler’s shortest and most conventional symphony. Just shy of an hour (still a time investment, as symphonies go), it is a standard four-movement symphony with modest, for Mahler, forces (extending the woodwinds but leaving out the low brass). The movement’s general cheerfulness and emotionally direct style—with the fourth movement’s song text (more on that in a moment)—might suggest that it is about viewing the world through a child’s eyes. But it was around the time of the fourth symphony that Mahler asserted, “Down with programs, which are always misinterpreted!” The symphony isn’t all sunshine, though; it has an underlying unsettled character that does make a challenging job of mining for thematic programs. This unsettledness is foreshadowed at the symphony’s opening: sleigh bells and flutes trot in uneasily, which are immediately contrasted with the first movement’s childlike, pastorale themes. The sleigh bells return in the final movement, one of several connections between movements. The first movement’s development occasionally dips into stranger territory, as with sliding strings and alarm-like figures in the woodwinds, and then, with a singular passing storm with some leftover shakes from the ominous sleighbells. It quickly veers back to its pastoral atmosphere. But the hints of uncanniness are fully realized only in the second movement, the scherzo. Hauntingly, the concertmaster’s top string is tuned up a pitch to create an ‘out of tune,’ macabre sound. But this strangeness is neutralized by a jaunty, country waltz-like trio. The third movement, an adagio theme with variations, is one of Mahler’s most meditative, a precursor only to the fifth symphony’s gorgeously suspended adagio. As the movement slows to a near halt near its end, Mahler jolts listeners by striking an enormous, triple-forte E major chord with the full orchestra, a not-so-subtle harmonic hint about where the symphony is ultimately headed. The final movement returns to a lighter, childlike quality and adds a soprano soloist. The text source is the early Romantic German folk poetry collection called Des Knaben Wunderhorn, or The Boy’s Wondrous Horn. Mahler uses the text from the poem, “Das himmlische Leben,” or “The heavenly life,” which is a child’s take on heaven, where one can skip and sing and eat fresh food grown in heaven’s garden, a place where “no music on earth can compare.” Mahler also used poems from the same source in his prior two symphonies, which, together with the fourth, are known colloquially as his Wunderhorn symphonies. Mahler may have cut down on the maximalism in the fourth symphony because he wrote it at a time when he held the most prestigious musical post in the music-centric city of Vienna: director of the Vienna Court Opera. An arduous job, he had only summers to compose, while also contending with the construction of a second summer chalet. Unfortunately, the fourth symphony received consistently poor reviews after its 1901 premiere but found posthumous success in the U.S. in the mid-twentieth century. Its easy-going quality helped reignite an interest in Mahler’s works. Program notes © 2025 Anna Reguero, PhD, a Rochester-based scholar and arts writer.

RPO.ORG | 454-2100

FRI

7:30 PM

Jeff Tyzik, conductor

SAT

Rick Brantley, vocals Jesse Nager, vocals Sarah Darling, vocals

JAN 17 7:30 PM KODAK HALL AT EASTMAN THEATRE

For Jeff Tyzik’s biography, please see page 6.

All songs arranged by Jeff Tyzik

EAGLES

Already Gone Take it to the Limit California Dreamin’

THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS JAMES TAYLOR THE BYRDS CAROLE KING JONI MITCHELL EAGLES FLEETWOOD MAC CROSBY, STILLS AND NASH

Fire and Rain Mr. Tambourine Man I Feel the Earth Move Both Sides Now Desperado Dreams Guinnevere Southern Cross

4:11 3:50 2:35 3:25 2:30 3:00 3:35 4:20 4:10 4:50 4:35

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JAN 16

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ARTISTS RICK BRANTLEY, vocals

Hailing from the storied musical grounds of Macon, Georgia, Rick Brantley was raised on a steady diet of Southern gospel, gritty blues, and classic rock ’n’ roll. From the hymns echoing in his father’s Southern Baptist church to the raw energy of barroom stages, music wasn’t just a passion — it was the language of his world.

RICK BRANTLEY

By his late teens, Brantley had already begun carving out his place in the music scene, earning a reputation as a magnetic performer with a storyteller’s soul. A move to Nashville solidified his footing as a sought-after songwriter, penning songs for a diverse roster of artists, including Ruston Kelly, The White Buffalo, Meat Loaf, and David Nail. But Brantley wasn’t content to stay behind the scenes — he was made for the road. Over the next decade, Brantley toured relentlessly, building a loyal following across the U.S. and Europe. He shared the stage with artists as varied as John Hiatt, Brandy Clark, Zac Brown, and Kiefer Sutherland, while also headlining his own shows from Ontario to Hamburg, Los Angeles to NYC, and back again. A true multi-hyphenate, Brantley has expanded his creative reach beyond songwriting and performance. He’s produced critically acclaimed records for longtime collaborators like Rob Baird and Justin Halpin, and directed a number of strikingly creative music videos. His versatility as both an artist and a craftsman has become a hallmark of his career. In 2022, Brantley relocated to Brooklyn, New York, releasing his EP “BLUE” — a bold sonic departure that embraced lush string arrangements and cinematic textures, thanks to producer Bryan Dawley. The project marked a new chapter, both musically and geographically. That same year, Brantley entered the world of pops symphony collaborations, working with renowned conductor and composer Jeff Tyzik on Country Hits: Songs From Nashville, a genre-celebrating symphonic concert experience that continues to tour nationally. He also appears in pops shows Revolution and Twist & Shout, and will debut in Sounds of Laurel Canyon in 2025. Now, nearly two decades into his career, Rick Brantley remains a tireless creator — one who thrives at the intersection of tradition and evolution, roots and ambition, soul and showmanship. “This is it. This is what I always wanted to do: create something and share it with people,” he says. “The fact that I still get to do it almost 20 years later is crazy. Crazy good.”

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ARTISTS JESSE NAGER, vocals

Jesse Nager is an alum of LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts and The University of Michigan. He starred as Smokey Robinson in the Broadway revival of Motown JESSE NAGER SARAH DARLING The Musical (NAACP Theatre Award Nomination) and was also featured in the original New York productions of Motown The Musical, Mamma Mia, Mary Poppins, Scandalous, Good Vibrations, Windows, and Fame! Regional highlights include Stephen Sondheim’s Being Alive (dir. by Billy Porter at PTC), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Papermill), Jesus Christ Superstar (Jesus at Asolo Repertory Theater and The Ordway), as well as concerts, readings, and workshops of Children Of Eden, Disney’s Hercules, Rocky, Aladdin, and many more. He has performed with Mariah Carey and Shania Twain at Madison Square Garden, and his vocals have been heard on both seasons of NBC’s Smash, as well as the movie Hairspray, and numerous commercials and corporate recordings across the country. As a producer/director/choreographer/arranger/writer, Jesse is the founder and Artistic Director of The Broadway Boys, a collection of tenors from Broadway shows who rearrange traditional musical theater tunes with elements of pop/funk/rock for a dynamic, contemporary sound. The Broadway Boys have toured the world and have been featured on America’s Got Talent, The Today Show, and their first album debuted at #6 on the iTunes chart.

SARAH DARLING, vocals

Sarah Darling is an American singer-songwriter drawing inspiration from the allure of freedom and beauty. She channels the spirit of 70’s California, with echoes from Laurel Canyon, narrating an American road trip story wrapped in Nostalgia and sunshine. Infused with a modern aura, her lyrics transport us to a golden era, sung with the warmth of honey vocals and unfiltered honesty. Her credits include five full-length albums, multiple singles, including a #1 on the UK Country charts, and many duets. She has over 20 million streams, 11 million video views, and over 90 appearances on the Grand Ole Opry stage. She is one of the first Sirius XM The Highway™ Finds and part of the first class of CMT’s Next Women of Country. Performances include: CMA Music Fest, C2C, BBC Radio 2 Stage, FSA Music Festival, Nashville Meets London, British Country Music Festival, British Summertime Festival supporting Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, Paul Simon, and Carrie Underwood. Sarah’s music has been featured on many Apple, Amazon, Pandora, and Spotify playlists including:, CMT’s Hot Twenty, Coffeehouse, New Boots, PopCo, Take it Slow, Wild Country, Cosmic Country, New Music Nashville, Next from Nashville, Fresh Folk, etc.

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SAT

DANCE FESTIVAL WEEK 1: AMERICAN MASTERS WITH GARTH FAGAN DANCE

JAN 24 7:30 PM SUN

JAN 25 2 PM KODAK HALL AT EASTMAN THEATRE

Aram Demirjian, conductor Garth Fagan Dance

LEONARD BERNSTEIN

Three Dance Episodes from On the Town

11:00

PHILIP GLASS

Days and Nights in Rocinha, Dance for Orchestra Garth Fagan Dance

20:00

Symphony No. 3

38:00

The Great Lover Lonely Town (Pas de deux) Times Square: 1944

INTERMISSION AARON COPLAND

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ARTISTS ARAM DEMIRJIAN, conductor

Winner of the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award from The Solti Foundation U.S., conductor Aram Demirjian has built a reputation as an insightful interpreter of the symphonic repertoire and ARAM DEMIRJIAN drawn praise for his “rejuvenating” (Washington Post) leadership as Music Director of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra.

GARTH FAGAN DANCE

As the eighth Music Director of the KSO, Aram has led the orchestra to new artistic heights and national distinction for its achievements. Notable upcoming KSO projects in the 2025-26 season include performances of Wynton Marsalis’ Swing Symphony with Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with Midori, participation in the League of American Orchestra’s Toulmin Orchestral Commissions Program for the second time, and 9 for 90, a celebration of the KSO’s 90th season comprising 9 world premieres across all of the KSO’s classical series including works by Jennifer Higdon, Jonathan Leshnoff, and Robert Paterson. As a guest conductor in 2025-26, Aram returns to The Philadelphia Orchestra in its 125th season and debuts with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Aram is American-born and of Armenian descent. He holds a joint Bachelor of Arts in Music and Government from Harvard University, and a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from New England Conservatory. www.aramdemirjian.com.

GARTH FAGAN DANCE

arth Fagan Dance is Western New York’s leading artist-led, predominately Black cultural institution G that develops young dancers, especially those of color. Garth Fagan Dance is founded by the man who taught more than 100 million audience members to move as one global community through Disney’s The Lion King on Broadway! Under the creative leadership of PJ Pennewell, GFD champions a process to offset limited opportunities for these dancers with a potential for a professional career. With over 53 years of award-winning choreography, Garth Fagan Dance stands as a beacon of innovation, creativity, and artistic excellence in the world of contemporary dance. The company has recently been welcomed into the ‘Archives of the Library of Congress’ and designated a 20th-century dance treasure, with Garth acclaimed as the longest-running Black choreographer on Broadway.

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PROGRAM NOTES

LEONARD BERNSTEIN

Three Dance Episodes from On the Town

B: LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS August 25, 1918 D:NEW YORK, NEW YORK

October 14, 1990 In the 1940s, handsome sailors from the U.S. Navy regularly roamed New York City, a major seaport during World War II. On quick shore leaves lasting 24 to 48 hours, sailors in uniform took in the Big Apple’s sights, adventured into entertainment venues, and flirted with local women. This is the backdrop of the ballet Fancy Free, choreographed by Jerome Robbins and set to music by Leonard Bernstein in 1944, just after Bernstein’s famed New York Philharmonic conducting debut at only 25. Set designer Oliver Smith thought the ballet would translate well to Broadway, and with his friend Paul Feigay, produced the show at the Adelphi Theater later that year, with a book and lyrics written by the songwriting team Comden and Green. Riding on its success, Bernstein reworked the show into a three-episode, showy orchestral work in 1945. The first episode is “Dance of the Great Lover,” in which the sailor Gabey falls asleep on the subway, dreaming of a beautiful woman seen on a poster. The second episode is the “Pas de Deux,” in which Gabey witnesses a sailor picking up a naive high school girl in Central Park. The final episode is Times Square Ballet, about a night of debauchery in Times Square. Opening with a jazzy clarinet solo, the episode features Bernstein’s famous song “New York, New York” and foreshadows the rhythmic syncopation that would make Bernstein’s West Side Story a classic.

PHILIP GLASS

Days and Nights in Rocinha

B. BALTIMORE, MD January 31, 1937

The bustle and energy of Latin America’s cities have provided creative fodder for several composers, and American composer Philip Glass is no exception. Glass visited the Rocinha neighborhood in the Brazilian city Rio de Janeiro several times in the 1990s, finding a “lively cultural life” with a “samba school” that performs in Brazil’s Carnival each year—a highlight of Carnival for Glass. In 1997, Glass wrote his Days and Nights in Rocinha, a through-composed “dance for orchestra,” as a musical impression of his visits. It premiered in 1998 with the Radio Symphonie Orchester Wein conducted by Dennis Russel Davies. Rocinha has a simmering, grooving energy, driven by a Latin bass ostinato, over which the strings and trumpets sing a simple, gentle melody that occasionally slides up chromatically with Latin flair. The music doesn’t move into new musical materials or sections; instead, the heat gradually builds through the addition of castanets, tambourine, and additive wind and brass forces, until it reaches a boiling point.

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PROGRAM NOTES

AARON COPLAND Symphony No. 3

B. BROOKLYN, NY November 14, 1900

D. NORTH TARRYTOWN, NY

December 2, 1990 Aaron Copland’s music is synonymous with the American sound, and his incorporation of folk music was a key ingredient. Before the mid-1930s, he was writing jazz-infused and more abstract contemporary works. But when the Great Depression hit, he—and other artists— were forced to reconsider their place in American society. In a 1939 essay, Copland wrote, “The economic crisis made all artists more aware of their public. It forced us to ask the question: for whom do we write?” He bemoaned the isolation and elitism of complex music. Changing course, he set out on a new aesthetic path to create music for everyday people, drawing on America’s vernacular sounds: jazz, hymns, spirituals, cowboy songs, folk songs, and beyond. Additionally, in collaborations with American choreographers, such as Martha Graham, he found that dance could enhance the dramatic and communicative goals of his music.

Ballets, tone poems (though he didn’t use the term), film and radio scores, Copland produced plentiful works for orchestra by the mid-1940s—all except a full-fledged symphony. Although he wrote a couple of prior orchestral works that were symphonies in nomenclature, they didn’t fit the grand, symphonic mold of serious symphonic composers such as Beethoven and Mahler. His first symphony, the Symphony for Organ and Orchestra from 1925, functioned less as a symphony and more as a showstopping concerto for the American debut of French composer and organist Nadia Boulanger, who had been Copland’s teacher in Paris. Copland’s Symphony No. 2, known as the “Short Symphony” with three movements played without breaks, was too slim to qualify as a real symphony, according to Copland. It wasn’t until 1944 that he wrote what he considered his “first proper full-scale symphony”: the Third Symphony. By the 1940s, pressure was mounting to produce a great American symphony. Not only would a real symphony secure his place among the top composers of the time, but it would also show that accessible materials could fuel even the most serious of genres, the symphony. To drive that point home, he wrote it without drawing on any real folk music. All the materials— which incorporate the same expansiveness, syncopated rhythmic, and jazzy style as the folk materials he often borrowed—were his own creation. Copland’s vision succeeded, with Leonard Bernstein comparing the work to an American monument, and Serge Koussevitsky, for whom the work was dedicated and who conducted the premiere with the Boston Symphony in 1946, claiming it was “the greatest American symphony.” The symphony opens with evocations of America’s sweeping plains through open fourths and fifths and other extended intervals that seem to glide up and down with the mid-Western wind. Modal inflections and contrapuntal movement create greater tension as the movement develops, climaxing with strident brass before the winds die down again, the movement ending with an almost spiritual aura. A brisk horn fanfare opens the second movement, to which the trumpets and trombones soon join, setting the movement off into a propulsive hoedown that has a Shostakovich-like bite. A mid-movement wind chorale offers a respite before the movement returns for a heroic final push, with the orchestra in unison for a final proclamation. Copland, however, reminds us of his modernist roots in the work’s nocturne-like third movement, writing a strange, soft opening violin line in the instrument’s stratospheric register. This strangeness first expands, then dissolves into a buoyant middle section punctuated by kinetic folk energy, before returning. The symphony heads without pause into a final movement, in which Copland seals his populist aesthetic stance by using his “Fanfare for the Common Man” as its primary material. After the fanfare, the winds set off in a scurrying dance, which is then passed to the strings and then into a more spacious rodeo, with the fanfare returning in fragments. The optimism of this movement was a needed balm after the end of World War II, which no doubt helped shape conceptions of its greatness. Program notes © 2025 Anna Reguero, PhD, a Rochester-based scholar and arts writer.

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SAT

Andreas Delfs, conductor

7:30 PM

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano Rochester City Ballet Shannon Purpura, executive director Megan Kamler, artistic director John Deming, ballet master Timothy Draper, founder/choreographer

SUN

FEB 1

2 PM KODAK HALL AT EASTMAN THEATRE

For Andreas Delfs’ biography, please see page 5.

JOHANNES BRAHMS

Tragic Overture

13:00

AARON JAY KERNIS

Piano Concerto No. 2 [World Premiere]

35:00

I. With Feeling II. Aria III. MultiColor

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

INTERMISSION SERGEI PROKOFIEV

Suite No. 2 from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64ter

32:00

1. Montagues and Capulets 2. Juliet as a Young Girl 3. Friar Laurence 4. Dance 5. Romeo and Juliet Before Parting 6. Dance of the Girls with Lilies 7. Romeo at Juliet's Tomb

DANCE FESTIVAL WEEK 2: ROCHESTER CITY BALLET & JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET

JAN 31

Rochester City Ballet, dance

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ARTISTS JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET, piano

Through elegant musicality and an insightful approach to contemporary and established repertoire, Jean-Yves Thibaudet has earned a reputation as one of the world’s finest pianists. He is especially known for his diverse interests beyond the classical world, including numerous collaborations in film, fashion, and visual art. He is the first-ever Artist-in-Residence at the Colburn School, which awards several scholarships in his name.

JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET

This season, Thibaudet appears in concerts and recitals around the world in works ranging from Gershwin’s Concerto in F to Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 5, Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2, “Age of Anxiety,” Scriabin’s Prometheus, and Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie. A major champion of Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto, Thibaudet performs the piece with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. In addition to his orchestral dates, Thibaudet joins violinist Lisa Batiashvili and cellist Gautier Capuçon on a fall trio tour, with stops throughout western Europe. He also continues his multi-season focus on Debussy’s Préludes, performing both books in their entirety at recitals around the world. A prolific recording artist, Thibaudet has appeared on more than 70 albums and six film scores; his extensive catalog has received two Grammy nominations, two ECHO Awards, the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the Diapason d’Or, the CHOC du Monde de la Musique, the Edison Prize, and Gramophone awards. Recent recordings include Khachaturian, a celebration of the Armenian composer including his Piano Concerto and several solo piano pieces; and Gershwin Rhapsody, a selection of Gershwin pieces recorded with Michael Feinstein, including four newly-discovered ones. He is the soloist on Dario Marianelli’s recently reissued score for Pride & Prejudice, which was certified Gold by the RIAA in 2025; his playing can also be head on Marianelli’s score for Atonement, Alexandre Desplat’s scores for The French Dispatch and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, and Aaron Zigman’s score for Wakefield. His concert wardrobe is designed by Dame Vivienne Westwood. Mr. Thibaudet's worldwide representation: HarrisonParrott. Mr. Thibaudet records exclusively for Decca Classics.

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ARTISTS SHANNON PURPURA, executive director

Shannon Purpura received her dance training in Rochester, NY. In high school, she performed alongside RCB in notable roles that include Lead Spanish Hot Chocolate in The Nutcracker, SHANNON PURPURA MEGAN KAMLER Daniel Gwirtzman’s Encore, and George Balanchine’s Serenade. After training, Ms. Purpura attended the University of Arizona on scholarship where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance after just two and a half years. While at the University of Arizona, she performed River North Dance Chicago’s Evolution of a Dream, George Balanchine’s Rubies, Ernie Flatt’s Firebird, as well as many soloist roles in works by Michael Williams and James Clouser. Following graduation, Ms. Purpura returned to Rochester to join the RCB, as a company member, in 2015. Since joining RCB, she has performed soloist roles such as “Dew Drop Fairy”, “English Toffee”, “Chinese Tea”, “Christmas Spirit”, “Harlequin,” and “Spanish Hot Chocolate” in The Nutcracker. Contemporary works include Jamey Leverett’s featured soloist in My Songs Plead Softly, Images, Katarzyna Skarpetowska’s Terminus, Salvatore Aiello’s The Waiting Room, and David Palmer’s Rite of Spring. She has also performed leading roles in Robert Gardner’s Carmen as Carmen, The Sleeping Beauty as Carabosse, David Palmer’s Under the Moonlight: A Tribute to David Bowie. In August 2023, Shannon and Megan Kamler were announced as the Artistic Directors of Rochester City Ballet. Since then, Ms. Purpura has choreographed numerous works for Rochester City Ballet including “Peter & the Wolf” which premiered with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in January 2024. In April 2024, Shannon was commissioned by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra to create works for the Eclipse Spectacular: Symphonic Celebration performance at the Blue Cross Arena. Shannon Purpura serves as the Executive Director of Rochester City Ballet, appointed to the role in June 2025 after leading the company as Artistic Director since August 2023. With experience in both creative and executive leadership, she brings a holistic vision to RCB—guiding its artistic programming, educational outreach, and long-term strategic development. Her dual experience ensures a strong bridge between RCB’s artistic integrity and its community-focused mission.

MEGAN KAMLER, artistic director

Ms. Kamler joined Rochester City Ballet in 2011 after receiving her training at the Timothy M. Draper Center for Dance Education and the University of Arizona where she earned her BFA in Dance. She received additional training at the National Ballet School of Canada summer intensive on scholarship and the summer intensives of Ballet Austin and the Ellison Training Program in New York City. While at the University of Arizona she performed highlighted roles such as Choleric in Balanchine’s Four Temperaments, Big Swan in Swan Lake, and the Friend in Carmina Burana. Following her college graduation she was invited to perform with Art.if.act Dance in an 18 city tour of China. With the Rochester City Ballet she has performed as the Maid, Harlequin, English Toffee, Magical Doll, Dew Drop, Snow Queen, and Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Anna in The Blood Countess, Cinderella in Cinderella, Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, and Elegy Girl and Waltz Girl in Balanchine’s Serenade. Contemporary roles with RCB include Jamey Leverett’s 4Play, New York CityScapes, Bravo! Colorado, and InCantation, The Ugly Duckling by Jimmy Orrante, Slightly Sinful by Danny Rosseel, The Summer of Love and The Rite of Spring by David Palmer, and Bach de Trois by Nikolai Kabaniev. Megan’s choreographic works include a debut on the Rochester City Ballet with her piece titled So On, and So Forth, and a commissioned piece by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for their Eclipse Spectacular: Symphonic Celebration performance at the Blue Cross Arena in April 2024. More recently in May 2025, she choreographed her first full length story ballet Anastasia: A Ballet Reimagined alongside Shannon Purpura.

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ARTISTS JOHN DEMING, ballet master

John is a Rochester, New York native. He received his training at the Draper Center for Dance Education and later the Boston Ballet as a trainee on a full scholarship.

JOHN DEMING

TIMOTHY DRAPER

After leaving Boston, John joined the Carolina Ballet in Raleigh North Carolina under the direction of Robert Weiss. While in Raleigh he danced in numerous ballets such as Romeo & Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, Four Seasons, The Nutcracker, as well as George Balanchine’s Rubies and Brahms Schoenberg Quartet. In 2014, John joined Ballet Memphis. While in Memphis John performed soloist and principal roles such as Benvolio & Romeo in Steven McMahon’s production of Romeo & Juliet, Harlequin, Nutcracker Prince & Spanish Chocolate in Steven McMahon’s The Nutcracker. John also worked with many choreographers from around the country such as Matthew Neenan, Jennifer Archibald, Mark Godden, Reggie Wilson, Gabrielle Lamb, and Uri Sands. In 2018 John was contracted by Rochester City Ballet. In his 5 years in Rochester he has been cast in classical and neoclassical ballets by David Palmer, Julia Erickson, George Balanchine, Robert Gardner, Salvatore Aiello, Jimmy Orante and Jared Brunson. Additionally dancing principal roles in some of the most classic ballets such as Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Firebird and Raymonda Suites. John is currently Company Dancer and Ballet Master with Rochester City Ballet, and School Director of the School of Rochester City Ballet.

TIMOTHY DRAPER, founder, choreographer (1954-2003)

Timothy Draper began his training in Rochester, New York under the tutelage of Olive McCue with Mercury Ballet and Kathleen Crofton with the Festival Ballet of New York. He pursued his dance education in New York City with the Joffrey School of Ballet, Harkness House of Ballet Arts and Steps followed by an extensive performance career with Israel Ballet, the Puerto Rican Dance Theatre and Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo. After serving as Ballet Master of Dance Miami and Co-Director of Fort Lauderdale Ballet, Mr. Draper returned to Rochester with a passion for dance excellence and a vision for creating both a school with world class instruction and a permanent ballet company for the Rochester community. Timothy Draper’s dream in 1987 evolved into the Rochester City Ballet of today. With his guidance and expertise, RCB grew from modest beginnings to now delighting thousands of viewers at their annual collaboration with the RPO of The Nutcracker, and has presented performances throughout central and western New York.

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ARTISTS RCB STAFF

2025-2026 SEASON

RCB COMPANY DANCERS JOHN DEMING JOINED RCB: 2018 FAVORITE ROLE TO PERFORM: SPANISH HOT CHOCOLATE

ROCHESTER CITY BALLET COMPANY MEMBERS: John Deming, Katherine Duffy Deming, Samantha Howe, KATHERINE DUFFY DEMING Megan Kamler, Adam Kittelberger, Lydia Marbach, JOINED RCB: 2017 Shannon Purpura, Anna Turani FAVORITE ROLE TO PERFORM: ROCHESTER CITY BALLET APPRENTICES: SNOW QUEEN Samantha Goodelle, Abigail Jacobs, Lily Janneck, Thomas Montgomery, Elizabeth Pinel, Marlena Roberts ROCHESTER CITY BALLET JUNIOR APPRENTICES: SAMANTHA HOWE Sophia Barnard-DeCann, Jessica Bealer JOINED RCB: 2021 CHOREOGRAPHY: FAVORITE ROLE TO PERFORM: Timothy Draper, Megan Kamler, Jamey Leverett, SNOW QUEEN Shannon Purpura PRODUCTION DESIGN: Lighting Design by Gordon J. Estey, Jerry Smith MEGAN KAMLER Costume Design by Sylvia Hanlon, Chinese Tea Divertissement JOINED RCB: 2011 Costume Design by Yuanting Zhao FAVORITE ROLE TO PERFORM: Set Design by Sylvia Hanlon, Gordon J. Estey THE MAID & DEW DROP FAIRY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR: Katherine Duffy Deming COMPANY MANAGER: ADAM KITTELBERGER Jaimee Hauck JOINED RCB: 2005 HEAD OF WARDROBE: FAVORITE ROLE TO PERFORM: Deena Rodriguez SNOW KING WARDROBE VOLUNTEER MANAGER: Rebecca Kroll LYDIA MARBACH WARDROBE COORDINATOR: JOINED RCB: 2017 Michelle Higgins FAVORITE ROLE TO PERFORM: WARDROBE ASSISTANTS: Jessica Dugo, Amelia Hines, Laurie Shin WALTZ OF THE FLOWERS PHOTOGRAPHERS: Erich Camping, Thomas Rodriguez SHANNON PURPURA ASL INTERPRETER: JOINED RCB: 2014 Brittany Benson FAVORITE ROLE TO PERFORM: STAGE MANAGER: DEW DROP FAIRY Kaylyn Nichols ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER: ANNA TURANI Athan Marzen JOINED RCB: 2022 COMPANY REHEARSAL ASSISTANT: Fidel E. Orrillo FAVORITE ROLE TO PERFORM: ARABIAN COFFEE REHEARSAL ASSISTANTS: Lydia Marbach, Samantha Howe, Katherine Duffy Deming, Adam Kittelberger, Anna Turani *COMPANY HEADSHOTS BY ERICH CAMPING

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PROGRAM NOTES

JOHANNES BRAHMS Tragic Overture, Op. 81

B. HAMBURG, GERMANY May 7, 1833 D. VIENNA, AUSTRIA

April 3, 1897 Brahms was a passionate defender of the pure art of music, in the communicative power of traditional forms. He rallied against the “Music of the Future,” the new German school of composers like Liszt, who felt music could portray epic stories. Although Brahms’ music is deeply expressive, he avoided extra-musical meaning, writing works with generic titles (symphony, concerto, sonata). Still, in the summer of 1880, decades after the initial debates between old and new music, he curiously wrote a pair of works with programmatic leanings: his Academic Festival Overture and the Tragic Overture. Overtures are short works that typically introduce a theatrical work, such as a play, ballet, or opera, which are story-based by nature. But Brahms conceived these as stand-alone orchestral works. Additionally, the two overtures are worlds apart, with Brahms acknowledging, “one is laughing, the other crying.” The Academic Festival Overture was a celebratory piece written after being selected for an honorary doctorate, while Brahms once suggested his Tragic Overture was linked to his melancholic nature. In a turbulent D minor and in sonata form, the overture opens with two sledgehammer chords. Contrasts are built into the main theme: first, a tortuous legato line, followed by provocative dotted figures. Brahms offers brief reprieves in the relative F major, but the work’s tempestuous character and dark fate prevail.

RPO.ORG | 454-2100

PROGRAM NOTES AARON JAY KERNIS Piano Concerto No. 2 I. With Feeling II. Aria III. MultiColor

B. BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA, USA January 15, 1960

All of the concertos I’ve written have been deeply influenced by the soloist they were composed for, and this new piano concerto is no exception. Not only has Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s personal sound and utter virtuosity at the keyboard been formative to it, but his love of vocal music and lyricism, his mastery of 20th century French music and fascination with jazz have been fundamental inspirations to me. My fondness for Beethoven’s 4th piano concerto (with its quietly path-breaking solo piano opening) has also exerted an influence. Both the first and second movement of my concerto open with the piano alone, in subdued tone and beginning in G major, while the second movement highlights a dramatic dialogue between piano and strings suggested by the forceful middle section of the Beethoven. Like it, this is music without a story (though I’m happy for you to make one up...), only the development of musical ideas and emotional pathways. But the similarities end there. The opening movement of this 2nd concerto is the longest and most varied in character, a hugely effusive and expressive movement- Romantic in size and virtuosity in my own tonal language. Following a gently jazz-tinged solo and its rising melody, that same tune is taken up by the brass and is propelled by a series of dramatic, stormy episodes and interactions between piano and orchestra. The middle section, ringed by ethereal and mysterious percussion, introduces a new melody and five brief variations. These arrive at a peak of intensity, then the lyrical, floating music of the opening reappears in 4 solo cellos, moving outward into the strings and back to the soloist. Short dramatic episodes recur and lead back to the sweeping brass melody from earlier in the movement, culminating in the movements’ peak. A singing coda that suggests an earlier lyrical melody closes the movement gently. Like the first movement, the Aria opens with the piano alone, slowly and quietly singing. Winds join in, then the strings pick up the pace, leading to an active dialogue between strings and piano. Much building in intensity through flowing, lyric melodies occur before a quiet return of the opening Aria closes the movement. Opening with a series of rapidly undulating chords that forms the basis of its harmony, MultiColor is a vigorous fast movement, jazzy and virtuosic. Following the opening string tune, hints of lounge jazz, boogie-woogie, and stride pop up within the whirling virtuosity of the piano part, frequently joined by timpani and percussion. As contrast, a cantabile tune in the clarinet is echoed by the pianist, and transformed into a cadenza. After a series of short reminiscences of ideas heard earlier, a Latin-tinged mini-cadenza with percussion takes over before a final rousing rush ends the concerto. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2, was commissioned and created to honor the Centenary Celebration of the Founding of the Rochester Philhamonic Orchestra, Andreas Delfs, Music Director, and is dedicated in loving memory of Jim Rosenfield.

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PROGRAM NOTES

SERGEI PROKOFIEV

Romeo & Juliet Suite No. 2

B. SONTSOVKA, BAKHMUTSK REGION, YEKATERINOSLAV DISTRICT, UKRAINE April 23, 1891

D. MOSCOW, RUSSIA In Russia during the 1930s, artists watched as their independent arts March 5, 1953 organizations were dissolved and, in their place, government-controlled structures and aesthetics were thrust upon them. Artists were required to create works of socialist realism, a term for art that put an optimistic, even heroic spin on the socialist government. In short, artists were required to create propaganda. In the face of steadily mounting restrictions, many composers extended their trips abroad or fled the country altogether, including Stravinsky and Rachmaninoff. Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, however, didn’t need to flee, as he had already lived abroad for nearly twenty years, first in New York and then in Europe. But a yearning for home, along with a disenchantment with Europe, where he didn’t have enough of a reputation yet for commissions to flow easily, motivated him to return to Russia in 1935, right as things were getting downright dangerous for artists. It’s hard now, from the wisdom time and history affords us, to understand his choice. But Russia dangled a pretty carrot in front of him: an invitation to create a ballet on any story of his choosing, to be premiered at the Kirov Theatre. He saw the invitation, along with other musical projects planned in Russia, as a sign of acceptance from the Russian political establishment.

When considering options for a “lyrical” story, according to Prokofiev, he felt immediately drawn to a suggestion of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. But he ran into several issues that plagued its premiere. First, Prokofiev’s stage collaborator Sergei Radlov, who was artistic director at the Kirov Theatre at the time, lost his job after the communist party leader Sergei Kirov was assassinated. Secondly, Prokofiev planned to revise the plot to give the star-crossed lovers a happy ending, but the Kirov Theatre balked at the idea of modernizing a classic story. Without a signed contract, the ballet was postponed. The Bolshoi Theatre stepped in to revive the project, this time signing a contract to seal the premiere. But when the music Prokofiev wrote was deemed too unpredictable and undanceable, the Bolshoi backed out of the contract and dropped the project. Then, in 1936, Shostakovich was denounced in a government-written newspaper article for displaying too much formalism (read: modernism) over a performance of his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. This stoked fears in Russian theaters for backing any new musical drama, and so Romeo and Juliet sat unperformed even longer. Frustrated with waiting on Russian venues to step up, Prokofiev gave the premiere to the National Theatre Ballet in Brno, Czechoslovakia, which was staged in 1938. The Kirov Theater performed the Russian premiere in 1940, followed by a revised version staged by the Bolshoi in 1946. The ballet became an instant hit. Program notes © 2025 Anna Reguero, PhD, a Rochester-based scholar and arts writer.

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The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the generous individuals listed here who help us continue to enrich and inspire the community through the art of music. While space only permits us to list pledged gifts made at the Benefactor level and above in the printed program book, we value the generosity and vital support of all donors and have moved all donors from Contributor amount and above to be listed in our digital edition donor roll on www.rpo.org/donor-recognition. Please contact us at development@ rpo.org questions or corrections. Listings are in recognition of our current donors during the 2025-26 Season from July 1 through November 30, 2025.

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Anonymous Marie Aklin* Betty Jane Altier* Alva Angle* Catherine N. Asmuth* Jean Boynton Baker* John B. and Margaret Barnell* Walter J.* and Jeanne M. Beecher Walter S. Beecher Nancy and Harry Beilfuss** Carol and John Bennett Jack and Carolyn Bent Donald Berens* Ellen S. Bevan* Stuart* and Betsy Bobry James R. Boehler* Marilyn Bondy Beverly T. Bowen* John W.* and Margaret Z.* Branch William and Ruth Cahn Mary Allison Callaway and Paul R. Callaway* Catherine B. Carlson* Norris F. Carlson* Margaret J. Carnall* Joan and Paul Casterline** Susann* and Terence Chrzan Nancy A. Clemens* Barbara Colucci Christine Colucci Mary Consler* Judy and Joe Darweesh Alfred L. Davis* Barbara Dechario* Paul Donnelly* Marilyn A. Drumm* Amelia N. Dunbar* Frederick Dushay Richard and Harriet Eisenberg* James T. and Ellen Englert John R. Ertle* Julia B. Everitt* Glenn and Rebecca Fadner Ruth H. Fairbank* Joan and Harold* Feinbloom Albert Fenyvessy* Donald C.* and Elizabeth Fisher Catherine and Elmar Frangenberg Carolyn and Roger Friedlander Betsy Friedman Karyl P. Friedman Linda and David Friedman Patrick and Barbara Fulford William L. Gamble* Sharon Garelick Rob W. Goodling Mary M. Gooley*

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Since its founding by George Eastman in 1922, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra has been committed to enriching and inspiring our community through the art of music. Currently celebrating our 102nd Season, the RPO is dedicated to maintaining its deep commitment to artistic excellence, educational opportunity, and community engagement. Today, the RPO presents up to 120 concerts per year, serving nearly 170,000 people through ticketed events, education and community engagement activities, and concerts in schools and community centers throughout the region. Nearly one-third of all RPO performances are educational or community-related. In addition, WXXI 91.5 FM rebroadcasts approximately 30 RPO concerts each year. For more information, visit rpo.org.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

TICKETS: The RPO Patron Services Center is located at 255 East Avenue in the back of the Farash Place building in downtown Rochester. Free parking is available in a small lot between the parking garage and building. Open Monday through Friday 10 AM–5PM. GROUP SALES: Groups of 10 or more are eligible for discounts starting at 20%! Contact Group and Corporate Sales Manager: Sal Uttaro at suttaro@ rpo.org | Office: (585) 454-7311 ext. 267 | Mobile: (585) 530-0865 NIGHT-OF-CONCERT PURCHASES: RPO will-call tickets and concert tickets are available at the RPO tables in the Eastman Theatre Box Office lobby starting 90 minutes prior to concert time. PARKING: Paid parking for Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre is available at the East End Garage, located next to the theatre. Open entrances/exits change frequently while the garage is under construction. Visit rpo.org/parking for the most recent updates. Paid parking for the Performance Hall at Hochstein is available at the Sister Cities Garage, located behind the school at Church and Fitzhugh Streets. PRE-CONCERT TALKS: All ticketholders are welcome to attend free pre-concert talks held one hour before all Philharmonics concerts and all Jeff Tyzik-conducted Pops concerts. Ticketholders are asked to sit anywhere they would like in the orchestra level of the theatre, then head to their reserved seat for the concert. SERVICES FOR PATRONS WITH DISABILITIES: Wheelchair locations and seating for those with disabilities are available at all venues; please see the house manager or an usher for assistance. Elevators are located in the Eastman Theatre Box Office lobby. A wheelchair-accessible restroom is available on the first floor. SERVICES FOR HARD-OF-HEARING PATRONS: Audio systems are available at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre; headsets may be obtained from an usher prior to the performance. CHANGING SEATS: If you find it necessary to be reseated for any reason, please contact an usher who will bring your request to the House Manager. LOST AND FOUND: Items found in Kodak Hall will be held at the Eastman Theatre Box Office, 433 E. Main Street. For more info, call 585-274-3000. ELECTRONIC DEVICES: The use of cameras or audio recording equipment is strictly prohibited. Patrons are asked to silence all personal electronic devices prior to the performance. REFRESHMENTS: Food and drink are not permitted in the concert hall, except for bottled water. Refreshments are available for purchase in Betty’s Café located on the orchestra level of Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. TICKET DONATION: If you are unable to attend a concert, please consider donating your tickets to us as a tax-deductible contribution. Return your tickets to the RPO no later than 2 PM the day of the performance to make them available for resale. Bravo is published cooperatively by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Buffalo Spree Joyce Tseng| Editor, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Meg Spoto | Creative Director, m dash studio Anna Reguero, PhD | Program Annotator Editorial Offices: Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra 255 East Avenue, Suite LL02 Rochester NY 14604 585-454-7311 • Fax: 585-423-2256

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