RPO Bravo 6 (Feb 6-Mar 1)

& MENDELSSOHN

THIS ISSUE:

The Orchestra 2025/26 SEASON

VIOLIN 1

Juliana Athayde+, Concertmaster

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

Angelina Phillips, Associate Concertmaster

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

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

Daryl Perlo, Assistant Principal

The James E. Dumm Chair, funded in perpetuity

Patricia Sunwoo

Lara Sipols

Sooyeon Kim

Petros Karapetyan

Liana Koteva Kirvan

Margaret Leenhouts

Heidi Brodwin

Elin Schlichting

Ellen Stokoe

VIOLA

Joshua Newburger+, Principal

The William L. Gamble Chair, funded in perpetuity

Marc Anderson, Assistant Principal

Rebecca Christainsen

James Marshall

Olita Povero

Neil Miller

Melissa Matson

Ye In Son

David Hult

Grant Rieke

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

BASS

Cory Palmer, Principal

The Anne Hayden McQuay Chair, funded in perpetuity

Michael Griffin, Assistant Principal

Daniel Morehead

Edward Castilano

Fred Dole

Jeff Campbell+

Eric Polenik

FLUTE

Rebecca Gilbert, Principal

The Charlotte Whitney Allen Chair, funded in perpetuity

Sean Marron

Elise Kim

PICCOLO

Sean Marron

Elise Kim

OBOE

Erik Behr, Principal

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

Anna Steltenpohl

Megan Kyle

ENGLISH

HORN

Anna Steltenpohl

CLARINET

Hector Noriega*, Principal

The Robert J. Strasenburgh Chair, funded in perpetuity

Kamalia Freyling^

Andrew Brown

E-FLAT CLARINET

Kamalia Freyling^

BASS CLARINET

Andrew Brown

BASSOON

Matthew McDonald, Principal

The Ron and Donna Fielding Chair, funded in perpetuity

Karl Vilcins

Martha Sholl

CONTRA-BASSOON

Karl Vilcins

HORN

YiCheng Gong, Associate

Maura McCune Corvington+

Nathan Ukens

Stephen Laifer+

TRUMPET

Wesley Nance+

Herbert Smith

Paul Shewan

TROMBONE

David Bruestle, Principal

The Austin E. Hildebrandt Chair, funded in perpetuity

Lisa Albrecht

Jeffrey Gray+

BASS TROMBONE

Jeffrey Gray+

TUBA

W. Craig Sutherland, Principal

The Rob W. Goodling Chair, funded in perpetuity

TIMPANI

Charles Ross+, Principal

The Harold and Joan Feinbloom Chair, funded in perpetuity

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

The Lois P. Lines Chair, funded in perpetuity

PERSONNEL MANAGER

Fred Dole

PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN

Kimberly Hartquist

Kathalee & Ian Hodge Library

Operation Endowment

STAGE MANAGERS

Danielle Suhr

Cederick Martinez

+ Eastman faculty

^ Year leave of absence

* 1-year appointment

ANDREAS DELFS Music Director

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.

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.

Our Conductors

JEFF TYZIK Principal Pops Conductor

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.

CHRISTOPHER SEAMAN Conductor Laureate

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

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.

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, Vice Chair of the Board

Karen Kessler, Secretary

Richard Stein, Treasurer

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

TERM EXPIRES

JUNE 2027

Brian Bennett

Emerson Fullwood

Kimberly Gangi

Paulette Gissendanner

Catherine Gueli

Zuzanna Kwon

Katherine Lindahl

Jack McGowan

Sidney Sobel, M.D.

Cindy Yancey DIANA

CLARKSON, CHAIR OF THE BOARD

TERM EXPIRES

JUNE 2028

Ron Dougherty

Sreeram Dhurjaty

James Fulmer

Laurie A. Haelen

Ralph F. Jozefowicz. M.D.

Karen Kessler

Deborah Onslow

Sara Poe

Joseph B. Rizzo, Esq.

EX-OFFICIO

Curtis S. Long President & CEO

Ross P. Lanzafame, Esq., Immediate Past Chair

Kate Sheeran

Dean, Eastman School of Music

Nathan Ukens

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

SEASON & SERIES SPONSORS:

POPS SERIES SPONSORS

ORKIDSTRA SERIES SPONSOR LENORE P. LESSER IN

RPYO SPONSOR

HOLIDAY SPONSOR

RPO FOR ALL SPONSOR

SEASON MEDIA SPONSORS

CONCERT SPONSORS:

SUNDAY MATS AT NAZ SERIES SPONSOR ENDLESS

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT:

CONNECT WITH US:

7:30 PM SAT FEB 7

Herb Smith, conductor

Shayna Steele, vocals

Chester Gregory, vocals FRI FEB 6

7:30 PM

KODAK HALL

THEATRE A Schirmer Theatrical/Greenberg Artists co-production Arrangements by Jeff Tyzik

Creative Team

Robert Thompson, Producer

Jeff Tyzik, Arranger & Producer

Jami Greenberg, Booking Agent & Producer

Betsey Perlmutter, Producer

Alex Kosick, Associate Producer

7:30 PM

7:30 PM

KODAK HALL AT EASTMAN

Herb Smith, conductor

Shayna Steele, vocals

Chester Gregory, vocals

THEATRE INTERMISSION

SEASON SPONSOR:

ARTISTS

SHAYNA STEELE, vocals

This dynamic vocalist puts new meaning to diversity and grassroots talent. Shayna Steele’s natural ability to traverse musical genres, be it in the studio, on the stage, or on the screen, has kept her on the A-list of in-demand singers in the industry. Shayna’s effortless execution of both soul and jazz has grabbed the attention of audiences globally, be it Monterey Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival with Snarky Puppy, or the hundreds of symphony orchestras throughout North America.

Shayna’s creative abilities explode across multiple genres, highlighted by her original signature sound. Her mature songwriting abilities are dynamically evident, as heard through her infusion of soul, jazz, and blues.

In 2023, Shayna debuted her solo symphony show, American Diva, with the prestigious Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring Grammy-winning conductor and composer Mr. Jeff Tyzik, who arranged her music and favorite covers. Shayna has performed as the guest soloist with over 100 North American symphony orchestras, such as the Dallas Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, and Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where she debuted her solo blues program, Nothin’ But the Blues.

Throughout her career, Shayna has lent her talent to leading artists such as Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti and Moby, whose tracks Raining Again, Disco Lies, and Extreme Ways featured Shayna’s blockbuster vocals. Snarky Puppy’s Michael League handpicked Shayna’s original track, Gone Under, for inclusion in their huge hit Family Dinner, Volume 1 album (Ropeadope Records), which has become a viral sensation with over 2 million views and countless covers from musicians globally. No stranger to both the small and silver screens, Shayna has sung on the soundtracks of Hairspray, The Bourne Identity, and Sex and the City 2, as well as making a guest appearance on The Sopranos! Shayna recently made an appearance in two episodes of the Marvel series Penguin, starring Colin Farrell on MAX.

Shayna has appeared in the smash hit musical RENT, as well as Jesus Christ Superstar, and her original role in the massive Tony Award-winning musical Hairspray.

She has provided background vocals for artists such as Bette Midler, Rihanna, and Kelly Clarkson, along with countless other A-list stars. After going solo, writing, and putting her band together, Shayna has released four studio albums, with her second album RISE reaching #2 on the U.S. iTunes jazz charts and #1 on the international jazz charts.

Shayna holds a music degree from the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Interdisciplinary Music Studies and teaches private vocalists virtually. Shayna has also been a guest for many college masterclasses and workshops globally.

ARTISTS

HERB SMITH, conductor

Herb Smith is third trumpet with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a graduate of The Eastman School of Music and began playing in the orchestra after graduating in 1991.

He works with students through the Young Audiences of America and Rochester City School District Artist in Residence program. Smith travels all over upstate N.Y. doing workshops and presentations on classical music and the accessibility of this music for non-musicians. He also is a regular presenter on world music and jazz.

Smith also plays many gigs with his jazz quartet and is a frequent substitute player for the Chautauqua Symphony and Buffalo Philharmonic orchestras. He is trumpet instructor for the Eastman Community Music School, and teaches trumpet from his home studio. He has played with many notable artists, including Al Jarreau, Natalie Cole, Doc Severinsen, and The O’Jays.

He also has played for many commercial jingles recorded in Rochester, N.Y. Other ventures include composing music for silent films, writing musical arrangements for local bands in the area, and a recent collaboration composing a full-length ballet for Garth Fagan Dance.

CHESTER GREGORY, vocals

Chester Gregory is an award-winning Broadway actor, singer, and recording artist, renowned for his extraordinary vocal talent, commanding stage presence, and deep emotional resonance. With starring roles in iconic productions such as Hairspray, Dreamgirls, Sister Act, Disney’s Tarzan, and Motown: The Musical, Chester has become a dynamic force in musical theater and live performances, captivating audiences with a unique energy that resonates across both grand Broadway stages and intimate concert settings.

His breakthrough role as legendary singer Jackie Wilson in The Jackie Wilson Story earned him widespread acclaim and a personal standing ovation from Michael Jackson. Known for blending soul, storytelling, and precision, Chester brings authenticity to every performance, whether delivering an electrifying showstopper or a heartfelt ballad.

A recipient of the NAACP Theatre Award, Joseph Jefferson Award, and Black Theatre Alliance Award, Chester has performed across the U.S., gaining recognition not only for his vocal abilities but also for his emotional depth and stage presence. His influence extends beyond live performances through his social media, where he engages millions, sharing his artistic journey, humor, and passion for wellness.

Chester Gregory is available for theatrical performances, symphonic collaborations, special events, and concerts. With an unwavering commitment to excellence, he ensures every performance is an unforgettable experience.

Chester’s social media presence reaches millions across platforms, where he shares humor, wellness, and the arts. Stay connected with Chester on social media @chestergregory for updates, and visit ChesterGregory.com for more information.

7:30

Lina Gonzalez-Granados, conductor Martina Filjak. piano

KODAK

No. 2

I. Andante sostenuto

II. Allegro scherzando

III. Presto

INTERMISSION

FELIX MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3, “Scottish” 38:00

I. Introduction

II. Scherzo

III. Adagio

IV. Finale guerriero

SEASON SPONSOR:

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. CONNECT

& MENDELSSOHN

ARTISTS

LINA GONZALEZ-GRANADOS, conductor

Praised for her “rich, heartfelt orchestral sound” (Chicago Sun-Times), “rhythmic vitality” (San Francisco Chronicle) and “raw power” (LA Times), Colombian American conductor Lina González-Granados has distinguished herself nationally and internationally as a singular talent. Her spectacular interpretations of the symphonic and operatic repertoire, as well as her dedication to highlighting new and unknown works by Latin American composers, have earned her international recognition. Most recently, she was named one of Bloomberg Línea’s 100 Influential Latinos of 2022. She is also the recipient of the 2021 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the Third Prize and ECHO Special Award (European Concert Hall Organization) of La Maestra Competition, and the 2020 and 2021 Solti Foundation US Career Assistance Award.

After winning the Fourth Chicago Symphony Orchestra Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition, Lina was named the Solti Conducting Apprentice and served as the assistant to Maestro Riccardo Muti from February 2020 through June 2023. In the fall of 2022, she was appointed Resident Conductor by the LA Opera, a post she will hold through June 2028. She has also previously held positions as the Inaugural Conducting Fellow of the Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as the Conducting Fellow of the Seattle Symphony.

Lina’s 2025-26 starts with an extensive tour with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Anne-Sophie Mutter as soloists, performing across France, Germany, and Austria, followed by debuts with Orquestra Sinfonica de Mineria, Tulsa, Grand Rapids, and Omaha Symphonies, Hong Kong Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra Taiwan, Istanbul State Orchestra, Franz Schubert Filharmonia, and National Orchestra of Spain. This season Lina will be returning to the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco and Kristiansand Symphony, Symphony, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, National Symphony Dublin, Orchestre Métropolitain, and LA Opera to lead the production of La bohème in the fall of 2025.

Born and raised in Cali, Colombia, Lina made her conducting debut in 2008 with the Youth Orchestra of Bellas Artes. She holds a master’s degree in conducting with Charles Peltz, a graduate diploma in choral conducting from New England Conservatory with Erica Washburn, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in orchestral conducting from Boston University. Her principal mentors include Riccardo Muti, Yannick Nézet- Séguin, Bernard Haitink, Bramwell Tovey, and Marin Alsop.

ARTISTS

MARTINA FILJAK, piano

Croatian pianist Martina Filjak established herself internationally with her passionate, poetic playing and the brilliant technical mastery of her instrument. She captivates audiences and the press with her charismatic personality and magnetic stage presence.

She garnered international attention in 2009 by winning first prize and the Beethoven Prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition. Prior to that she won first prizes at the Viotti International Piano Competition in Italy (2007) and the Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona (2008) and was a prizewinner at the Busoni Competition in Bolzano. Since then, the artist has worked with renowned orchestras, particularly in the USA, Germany, Italy and Europe, and has played piano evenings in important concert halls. She has already been a guest at Zankel Hall of Carnegie Hall New York, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Musikverein Vienna, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Sala Verdi and Auditorio in Milan, the Teatro San Carlo Naples, the Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the Ravinia Festival of Chicago and the Salle Gaveau Paris.

After her debut CD with sonatas by Antonio Soler and a chamber music recording with the cellists Jan Vogler and Christian Poltéra, which was released by Sony Classical in 2013, her second solo CD with works by Schumann, Bach / Liszt and Skrijabin was released in autumn 2016 at the label Solo Musica. On January 10, 2020 the new album “Light & Darkness” was released by the label Profil Edition Günter Hänssler

During the 21- 22 season she performed alongside the Kansas City Symphony and Michael Francis, the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock and Marcus Bosch, the Bilbao Symphony and Guenther Neuhold, the HRT Symphony and Pascal Rophe, the Liechtenstein Symphony under Sebastian Lang Lessing as well as the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra and David Danzmayr.

As a soloist Martina Filjak performed with the Symphony Orchestra of Aachen, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, the Bremen Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Staatskapelle Halle and the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock. Other orchestra engagements brought her to the Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires, the The Florida Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony, the Orchestra La Verdi Milano, the San Diego Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Barcelona, the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, the Japan Century Orchestra, the Israel Chamber Orchestra as well as the Orchester Philharmonique de Strasbourg.

As a recepient of various awards in her native Croatia, Martina takes pride of being awarded the ‘Vladimir Nazor’ prize, the ‘Milka Trnina prize’ of the Croatian association of musical artists, ‘Orlando’ prize for her performance at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, the ‘Judita’ prize for her performance of Dora Pejacevic’s Piano concerto at the Split Festival. In 2009 she was honored by the President with the ‘Red hrvatskog pletera’ for the international achievements.

The artist divides her time between Berlin and Zagreb, loves to travel and speaks seven languages.

PROGRAM NOTES

LILI BOULANGER

D’un matin de printemps (1918)

B. PARIS, FRANCE August 21, 1893

D. YVELINES, FRANCE March 15, 1918

If the name Lili Boulanger sounds vaguely familiar, it’s likely because you’ve heard of her older sister, Nadia Boulanger, the famous French composition teacher who taught hundreds of composers from the early to mid-twentieth century, including Aaron Copland, Astor Piazzolla, Darius Milhaud, and even Rochester’s David Diamond. Nadia tried her hand at composition but insisted that her sister, Lili, was the more talented of the two and championed her works. Lili’s works achieved greater success: she became the first female to win first prize in the prestigious Prix de Rome composition competition in 1913, at only nineteen years old, which elevated her reputation internationally. But she would only live another five years, succumbing to intestinal tuberculosis. It was an illness attributed to a weakened immune system from contracting bronchial pneumonia as a toddler, which plagued her health throughout her life. Still, her works during her short life caused a stir, and even conductor Walter Damrosch declared Lili Boulanger “the greatest woman composer the world has ever seen” upon returning from a trip to Paris. Adapted from chamber works, Lili Boulanger’s orchestral versions of D’un matin de printemps (On a Spring Morning), along with the companion piece D’un soir triste (On a Melancholy Evening), were her final works. D’un matin de printemps has a swirling energy in its delicate portrayal of a spring morning, with a clear nod to composers like Debussy in its impressionistic harmonies, enchanting sweeps, and colorful orchestration.

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS

Piano Concerto No. 2 (1868)

B. PARIS, FRANCE October 9, 1835

D. ALGIERS, FRANCE December 16, 1921

French composer Camille Saint-Saëns contributed works to nearly every genre of music, from symphonies and operas to concertos and tone poems. But perhaps his most idiomatic works are those for the keyboard, where it all began. He started piano lessons with his aunt at the age of three and made his public debut at ten, performing concertos by Beethoven and Mozart by heart. After studying at the Paris Conservatory, his earliest post-collegiate employment was as a church organist. Upon hearing him improvise at the organ, Franz Liszt—the nineteenth century’s most imposing keyboardist—declared Saint-Saëns the greatest organist in the world. Saint-Saëns’s fluidity and in-the-moment ingenuity as a keyboardist surely allowed him to compose and perform his Second Piano Concerto in record time. In 1868, he met pianist and conductor Anton Rubinstein, founder of the Moscow Conservatory, backstage at a concert in Paris; Rubinstein expressed interest in conducting a concert with Saint-Saëns at the piano, and Saint-Saëns suggested writing a brand-new concerto for the occasion. They scheduled the concert for three weeks later, at Saint-Saëns’s insistence, where Saint-Saëns performed his whipped-up concerto by memory. The expedited concerto remains one of his most popular works.

The concerto deviates from traditional concerto form in that it begins with a slow movement, features a scherzo in the usual slow second-movement spot, and ends with a presto finale. If the form is reminiscent of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, so is its sonic result: the first movement, especially, begins as a Beethovenian fantasia for piano, a brooding G minor appeal that opens as if it were a solo piano sonata before the orchestra helps finish its cadence, and then features an extended cadenza near the end. The second movement is a witty scherzo with a tuneful second theme, which quickly became an audience favorite following its premiere. The final movement is a wrathful Italian saltarello dance that ends with thundering arpeggios.

PROGRAM NOTES

FELIX MENDELSSOHN

Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, “Scottish”

B. HAMBURG, GERMANY February 3, 1809

D. LEIPZIG, GERMANY November 4, 1847

Felix Mendelssohn’s travels were highly influential on his musical imagination, as evidenced by works such as Fingal’s Cave (The “Hebrides” Overture) and the “Italian” Symphony. More than recreating sonic characteristics from these locales, these works express the feelings Mendelssohn associated with new senses of place. It was a trip to Britain in 1829—the start of a three-year European trip—that spurred his Symphony No. 3, the “Scottish” Symphony. Mendelssohn embarked on a walking tour of Scotland with his lifelong friend, Carl Klingermann, visiting the Palace of Holyrood, where Scotland’s monarchy resides, and which features historically preserved rooms and the ruins of its abbey. It was there that Queen Mary’s private secretary and confidant, David Rizzio, was stabbed to death in 1566 by Scottish noblemen over rumors of their adulterous relationship, a historical event that fascinated Mendelssohn. In a letter to his family, Mendelssohn wrote, “We went, in the deep twilight, to the Palace of Holyrood, where Queen Mary lived and loved. There is a little room to be seen there, with a winding staircase leading up to it. This the murderers ascended, and finding [David] Rizzio in a little room, drew him out. Three chambers away is a small corner where they killed him. The chapel below is now roofless. Grass and ivy thrive there and at the broken altar where Mary was crowned Queen of Scotland. Everything is ruined, decayed, and the bright sky shines in. I think I have found there the beginning of my Scottish Symphony.” Mendelssohn began sketching the symphony not long after, but then paused. He briefly picked it up in the 1830s, only to feel he had lost his “Scotch mood,” which he found again in 1841 and finished the work. Although Mendelssohn wrote a total of five numbered symphonies (which do not count the many unpublished string symphonies he wrote as a child), the third symphony became his final finished symphony.

Mendelssohn opens his symphony with a somber chorale—perhaps an evocation of Rizzio’s that, after an extended introduction, leads into a flowing Scottish dance that ranchettes up

Mendelssohn opens his “Scottish” Symphony with an extended introduction that begins with a somber chorale—perhaps influenced by the grim details of Rizzio’s death—that leads into a ratchetedup Scottish dance. Without pause between movements—something Mendelssohn specified in the score—the bright light shines through the chapel’s ruins in the second movement, a jaunty frolicking scherzo, with much folksy character due to the dotted Scottish “snap” rhythm. The third movement is a lamenting but flowing adagio that grows into a fully-fledged emotional appeal. The final movement is off to battle with an Allegro guerriero, meaning lively and warlike, which shifts into heroics with the coda, a Finale maestoso.

Program notes by Anna Reguero, PhD © 2026, a Rochester-based scholar and arts writer.

7:30 PM SAT FEB 28

7:30 PM

KODAK HALL AT EASTMAN THEATRE

Marcelo Lehninger, conductor Paul Huang, violin

I. Allegro ma non troppo

II. Adagio ma non troppo

III. Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo

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MARCELO LEHNINGER, conductor

Brazilian-born Marcelo Lehninger has been Music Director of the Grand Rapids Symphony since 2016 and was recently appointed Artistic Director of the Bellingham Festival of Music in Washington. Previously, he served as Music Director of the New West Symphony in Los Angeles, for which the League of American Orchestras awarded him the Helen H. Thompson Award for Emerging Music Directors. For five years, Lehninger was Assistant and then Associate Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a tenure that included many concerts in Boston, Tanglewood, and a highly praised debut at Carnegie Hall in 2011.

Lehninger brought the Grand Rapids Symphony to Carnegie Hall in 2018 for its first performance at the famed venue in thirteen years and released the album “Strauss & Villa-Lobos,” which has been internationally acclaimed. Following his commitment to education, he continues his annual Conducting Institute, which offers a one-month residency to promising young conductors as part of the Bellingham Festival of Music.

During the 2025-2026 season, Lehninger returns to the Rochester Philharmonic, North Carolina Symphony, and makes his debut with the Rhode Island Philharmonic. In addition, he maintains his close association with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, leading multiple engagements in Rio de Janeiro. Last year, he visited South Africa for the first time, conducting concerts with the Johannesburg and KwaZulu Natal Philharmonics.

Chosen by Kurt Masur in 2008, Lehninger was awarded the First Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Scholarship sponsored by the American Friends of the Mendelssohn Foundation. He was Maestro Masur’s assistant with the Orchestre National de France (during their residency at the Musikverein in Vienna), Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, and the New York Philharmonic.

Before dedicating his career to conducting, Lehninger studied violin and piano. He holds a master’s degree from the Conductors Institute at Bard College. A dual citizen of Brazil and Germany, Marcelo Lehninger is the son of Brazilian pianist Sônia Goulart and German violinist Erich Lehninger.

ARTISTS

PAUL HUANG, violin

Recipient of the prestigious 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, violinist Paul Huang is considered one of the most distinctive artists of his generation. The Washington Post remarked that Mr. Huang “possesses a big, luscious tone, spot-on intonation and a technique that makes the most punishing string phrases feel as natural as breathing,” and further proclaimed him as “an artist with the goods for a significant career” following his recital debut at the Kennedy Center.

Known for his “unfailing attractive, golden, and resonant tone” (The Strad), Mr. Huang’s recent highlights have included acclaim debut at Bravo!Vail Music Festival stepping in for violinist AnneSophie Mutter in the Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.4 with Chamber Orchestra Vienna-Berlin, Rotterdam Philharmonic with Lahav Shani, BBC Symphony Orchestra with Marie Jacquot, Detroit Symphony with Leonard Slatkin, Houston Symphony with Andres Orozco-Estrada, NHK and Dallas Symphonies with Fabio Luisi, Mariinsky Orchestra with Valery Gergiev, Baltimore Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic with Markus Stenz, San Francisco Symphony with Mei-Ann Chen, and recital debuts at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland and Aspen Music Festival. In Fall 2021, Paul also became the first classical violinist to perform his own arrangement of the National Anthem for the opening game of the NFL at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina to an audience of 75,000.

During the 2025-26 season, Mr. Huang makes debuts in Finland with Tampere Philharmonia, Barcelona at Palau de la Musica Catalana with Franz Schubert Filharmonia, London Philharmonic, Phion Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Naples Philharmonic, as well as returns to Rotterdam Philharmonic with Lahav Shani, Vancouver Symphony with Otto Tausk, Pacific Symphony with Carl St. Clair, Colorado Symphony with Rune Bergmann, North Carolina Symphony with Carlos Miguel Prieto, Omaha Symphony with Jose Luis Gomez, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan in the Brahms Double Concerto with cellist Daniel Muller-Schott.

Born in Taiwan, Mr. Huang began violin lessons at the age of seven. He is a recipient of the inaugural Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, where he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees under Hyo Kang and I-Hao Lee. He plays on the legendary 1742 “ex-Wieniawski” Guarneri del Gesù on extended loan through the Stradivari Society of Chicago and is on the faculty of Taipei National University of the Arts. He resides in New York.

PROGRAM NOTES

CARLOS SIMON

Festive Fanfare and Overture

B. WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES April 13, 1986

The nearly 40-year-old composer Carlos Simon writes activism into sound. His works are a composite of broad influences, blending his gospel and improvisational musical upbringing in Atlanta, Georgia with his classical training, which culminated with a doctorate from the University of Michigan, where he worked with composers such as Michael Dougherty. He currently serves as composer-in-residence with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, holds the inaugural composer chair with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and is an associate professor of composition at Georgetown University. Most of all, Simon believes in the power of music to incite social and political change, which is why he’s taken on topics as fraught as George Floyd in his commissions.

His recent Festive Fanfare and Overture, however, breaks with his usual socio-cultural explorations to celebrate the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s current music director, Andris Nelsons, who recently signed on to lead the BSO for an additional five years. Because Nelsons has championed Dimitri Shostakovich’s works—which include a Festive Overture—Simon thought to write one, too, for Nelsons. “To create a celebratory mood, I have also composed a brass fanfare at the beginning of the work in the style of Shostakovich,” Simon writes. “The piece moves gallantly with rhythmic syncopation across the various orchestral families before coming to a triumphant close with the entire orchestra.”

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK

Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53

B. NELAHOZEVES, BOHEMIA, AUSTRIAN EMPIRE September 8, 1841

It took Antonín Dvořák four years to get his Violin Concerto premiered after writing its original version. That’s because he had hoped the great AustroGerman violinist Joseph Joachim would premiere it. It all began when Dvořák’s publisher, Fritz Simrock, suggested Dvořák write a concerto for Joachim. The composer and performer had recently become acquainted through a mutual friend, Johannes Brahms, an early supporter of Dvořák’s music. Joachim, too, was drawn to Dvořák’s works, even featuring a couple of Dvořák’s chamber works in a home concert in 1879. This was around the time that Dvořák’s career was blossoming in Vienna, where his distinctive Czech-inspired concert works were a hit (including the Sixth Symphony, performed earlier this season by the RPO). Despite reports that Joachim agreed to premiere the concerto, he remained hesitant, insisting on extensive rewrites and numerous revisions over several years, even putting off Dvořák for two years after a major rewrite at his behest. Whether Joachim held protestations at Dvořák’s unconventional writing or simply became too busy directing the Royal Academy of Music in Berlin, we will never know. But Dvořák finally gave the premiere to a new hotshot violin virtuoso, the young Czech, František Ondříček. The work opens not with an introduction but with an economical orchestral statement, before the violin boldly steps into the spotlight with double stops and a mini-cadenza full of folksy flavor. Dvořák finds plenty of ways to vary his themes that by the time the movement gets a recapitulation, there’s only a need for the slightest of transitions, without a break, into the emotive second movement, one of Dvořák’s best. The concluding rondo, which does receive a pause between movements, showcases the concerto’s most overt Czech references, drawing on the rhythms of the triple furiant and the duple dumka.

D. PRAGUE, BOHEMIA, AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE May 1, 1904

PROGRAM NOTES

DMITRY SHOSTAKOVICH

Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10

B. S. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

September 25, 1906

D. MOSCOW, RUSSIA

August 9, 1975

Shostakovich wrote his First Symphony as a graduation project while attending the Petrograd (Leningrad) Conservatory (now named the Saint Petersburg Conservatory). The Leningrad Philharmonic’s premiere performance coincided with the start of radio broadcasts from its hall, so Shostakovich’s symphony was heard widely and lauded as both a great Soviet symphony and the work of a ferociously talented teenager. It launched his career. Much attention is given to the political foibles and dangers Shostakovich navigated later as a mature composer under Stalin’s rule, but even as a student, Shostakovich was managing in difficult circumstances. Following the end of the Russian Civil War in 1922 and the introduction of Lenin’s new economic policies, the Soviet Union faced massive economic troubles and food shortages. The conservatory was often without heat, and with the government controlling food rations, Shostakovich reportedly received only spoonfuls of sugar and half a pound of pork every two weeks. The conservatory director, composer Alexander Glasunov, had to appeal for more rations for his talented student. (It was a hierarchical system, and students were not even at the lowest rung.) Thankfully, the situation didn’t dampen Shostakovich’s rebellious drive to study Western music or his innate wit, both of which are packed into his first symphony.

The symphony’s first movement opens with a muted trumpet and bassoon in clownish counterpoint. Shostakovich builds the work using stealthy melodic fragments, characterized by edgy chromatic motion and dissonance, that circulate through the orchestra. The crunchiness of the pitches and unusual harmonies sound angular and contemporary, but Shostakovich writes with enough character and melodic interest that the motives are easy to follow. After a sparse introduction, the clarinet marches off with the main theme, and eventually the work shifts into three, with a lyrical but offkilter flute solo, after which many of the motivic themes are wittily developed. The second movement, a scherzo, features the biting sarcasm that would become Shostakovich’s trademark, with the piano prominently featured in the orchestration. It moves into a relaxed but guarded middle section with lots of open, modal sonorities, but the scherzo returns, slowly first in the bassoon and then races ahead. The movement ends quietly and mystically. A strange oboe solo opens the stark Lento third movement, which is then taken up by the cello, building to a bleak melody in the strings with militaristic brass figurations. The movement becomes ever more desolate yet ends on a hopeful note, except for a snare roll that ushers in the fourth movement without pause. The final movement is filled with contrasts, from a severe introduction to a breakneck scurry across the orchestra, back to calm, and then ever louder and crunchier with full forces until a timpani solo stops the orchestra dead in its tracks. Austere third movement themes return, but the symphony pushes ahead to a brass-fueled ending.

Program notes © 2026 Anna Reguero, PhD, a Rochester-based scholar and arts writer.

SUN MAR 1

3 PM

KODAK HALL AT EASTMAN THEATRE

Andreas Delfs, conductor

For Andreas Delfs’ biography, please see page 3.

Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, In Association with The Eastman Community Music School

MIKHAIL GLINKA Ruslan & Lyudmila Overture 6:00

PAUL DUKAS The Sorcerers Apprentice 11:00

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ARTISTS

ROCHESTER PHILHARMONIC YOUTH ORCHESTRA

In association with

The Eastman Community Music School

In Alphabetical Order by Instrument

1st VIOLIN

Weston Brown

Claire Chen

Lauren Henry

Jayliana Jenkins+

Xavier Joseph

Alyssa Millar

Olivia Ofori

TingTing Rui

Ryan Shaffer

Ben Song

Evan Yip

Emma Zhang

2nd VIOLIN

Matthew Belous

Wendy Brown*

Eva Chadwick

Charles Chang

Leixi Chen

Jimin Han

Jenna Liu

Helena Lu

Lily McGowan

Eden Shin

Elise Spurling

Evelyn Yang

Selina Zhuo

VIOLA

Sophie Gagnier

Myles Hammond*

Karthik Jaligama

John Luger

Isabella Mamo

Tianze Qiu

Jay Schrieber

Eva Yip

CELLO

Arianna Alfaro

Juliet Besch-Turner

Rebecca Camilleri*

Daniel Chadwick

Ben Doyley

Linah Flores

Henry Gagnier

Felicia Garnot

Jiahn Han

Haolin Jin

Adalyn Kelly

Hannah Shim

BASS

Ethan Olmstead*

FLUTE

Matteo Botelho

Lilianna Fietkiewicz*

Raeha Khazanchi

Rebecca Refermat

PICCOLO

Rebecca Refermat

OBOE

Anelise Mott

Mila Norter

Tristan Zhang*

ENGLISH HORN

Mila Norter

CLARINET

Mathew Atalla*

Daniella Miller

Michael Shi*

Jemma Wallis

BASS CLARINET

Jemma Wallis

BASSOON

Quinn Feldman*

Raylan Trapani

HORN

Lucas Childs

Zach Johnson

Liam Keeney

Ethan Stein

Benjamin Watson*

TRUMPET

Leah Cashin

Alexandra Foley

Nate France*

Nathaniel Ying*

TROMBONE

Carter Doody

Charles Stringham*

James Tolleson

TUBA

Evy Sibley*

PERCUSSION

Lydia Foley

Renee Groesbeck*

Will Harrington

Ben Roller

+ = concertmaster

* = principal

PROGRAM NOTES

MIKHAIL GLINKA

Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila

B. NOVOSPASSKOYE, RUSSIA June 1, 1804

D. BERLIN, GERMANY February 15, 1857

Regarded as the father of Russian music, Mikhail Glinka was the first of the nineteenth-century Russian composers to integrate Russian folk music into his concert works, setting a path for composers like Borodin, Tchaikovsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov, and for a whole new generation of nationalistic composers who would define the Russian sound. Glinka is best known for his two operas: A Life for the Tsar (1836) and Ruslan and Lyudmila (1842). The latter opera, which is now most popular in overture form (a compact orchestral opener), is based on a fantastical story of sorcerers who interfere with the marriage of the knight Ruslan and the maiden Lyudmila, who happens to be the Tsar’s daughter in Medieval Kiev. The evil sorcerer Chernomor abducts Lyudmila just before she is betrothed. The Tsar resolves to offer Lyudmila’s hand in marriage to the suitor who rescues and returns her. Three suitors—the obtuse Farlaf, the more generous Ratmir, and Lyudmila’s original fiancé Ruslan—embark on a mystical quest to find Lyudmila and bring her back to Kiev. Talking severed heads, seductive maidens, and magical rings (predating Wagner’s Ring Cycle) all play a part in getting Lyudmila back to Kiev. The good sorcerer Finn ultimately brings her back, almost claiming Lyudmila as his wife, but it is the knight Ruslan who wakes her from a magical slumber and restores order and peace in Kiev, winning back his bride. The opera premiered in Saint Petersburg in 1842, and despite an initial lackluster reception, it has been one of Glinka’s most enduring works. Glinka’s overture captures the heroic absurdities in the plot with racing melodies, dancing winds, and gallant brass.

PAUL DUKAS

The Sorcerers’ Apprentice

B. PARIS, FRANCE October 1, 1865

D. PARIS, FRANCE May 17, 1935

French composer Paul Dukas doesn’t have an extensive catalog of works, but it is a memorable one. That’s because his best-known work, L’apprenti sorcier (The Sorcerers’ Apprentice)—a vivid scherzo tone poem written in 1897 based on a Goethe poem—was adapted into a famous animated short for Disney’s Fantasia in 1940. In it, Mickey Mouse borrows the sorcerer’s wizardry hat, commands brooms to carry buckets of water and fill the cauldron, and then can’t control the spell when it all goes haywire. All is saved by the arrival of the perturbed sorcerer at the end. The music details the story so closely that the animation feels like a natural extension of the work, to the point that the animated version sometimes overshadows the music. But the tone poem is especially compelling due to its construction. Using four themes with intricate built-in symmetries and loads of character—a cascading water theme, a march-like broom theme (the work’s main theme), an anxious apprentice theme characterized by quippy grace notes, and a stern sorcerer’s theme—Dukas engineers an entire piece through the themes’ programmatic interactions. A master orchestrator who even taught orchestration at the Paris Conservatory, Dukas’s themes are all the more compelling for the ways he assigns them to specific instruments and groupings to achieve the most pictorial sounds. As a composer, Dukas found a sweet spot between traditional structures and evocative sounds, evident across his worthwhile oeuvre, from overtures and a symphony to piano works and a probing opera.

PROGRAM NOTES

IGOR STRAVINSKY

The Firebird from the Complete Ballet After the 1945 Suite sequence (1945 revision)

June 17, 1882

D. NEW YORK, NEW YORK April 6, 1971

When the Ballets Russes in Paris commissioned Russian composer Igor Stravinsky to write The Firebird, two composers had already declined. Time was short, and Sergei Diaghilev, founder of the Ballets Russes, needed someone eager to take on the commission. He sought out Stravinsky, then 27, emerging from his studies with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, a composer significant for helping craft a distinctly Russian sound using colorful orchestrations. The production was led by choreographer Michel Fokine and costume designer Léon Bakst, and the creative team drew inspiration from several Russian tales to craft a plot about a mythical firebird with magical, radiant feathers. A prince captures the beautiful firebird in the evil sorcerer Koschei’s enchanted castle. The bird exchanges its freedom for a magical feather that the prince can cash in for future assistance. That moment comes when the prince falls in love with one of the castle’s maidens. He confronts the sorcerer, who unleashes his terrible monsters upon the prince. But the firebird swoops in, provoking the monsters to dance violently, exhausting them into a deep slumber, and then directs the prince to a hidden egg concealing Koschei’s soul. The prince destroys the egg, freeing the kingdom. A celebration ensues. Debuting at the Opéra de Paris in June 1910, it was Stravinsky’s first major success and catapulted his reputation. He adapted it into an orchestral suite in 1911, revising it in 1919 and 1945; most orchestras perform the 1919 version.

In The Firebird, Stravinsky employs several distinctive musical techniques. Strange chromatics, the smallest pitch distance in Western music, express the supernatural, while diatonicism, found in major or minor scales, depicts humanistic characters. He also incorporated Russian folk tunes (though he publicly denied doing so). The mythical atmosphere is also enhanced through extended orchestral techniques, such as violins playing sul ponticello for a glassy sound and other instruments blending pitches in sweeping motions called glissandos

Stravinsky immerses us in Koschei’s castle with an ominous chromatic passage in the lower strings. The firebird’s arrival is marked by chromatic fluttering, a showcase for the winds. When the prince encounters the maidens, they are portrayed with Russian folk songs, led by a lyrical oboe. Syncopated thwacks from the orchestra break the whimsical scene as Koschei unleashes the monsters, with brass in full force. The firebird returns, fluttering with a yearning melody, to incite the monsters into a frenzied dance. Sufficiently tired, the monsters are coaxed asleep by the bassoon. The horn signals the kingdom’s awakening, now freed from the sorcerer’s spell, with one of the most majestic melodies in Western art music. The prince marries his maiden, a finale marked by trumpets and the whole orchestra in resolute glory.

Program notes by Anna Reguero, PhD © 2026, a Rochester-based scholar and arts writer.

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MAESTOSO ($50,000 AND ABOVE)

Anonymous&

Stephen and Janice Ashley&

Allen* and Joyce Boucher& Jim and Maria Boucher& Christine Colucci&

Karen Duguid and Wallace Johnson&

Mr. and Mrs.* James T. Englert&

Barbara and Patrick Fulford&

Nick and Kitty Jospe&S

Dr. Ralph F. Jozefowicz& Katherine Lindahl&

Deanne Molinari*

PRESTISSIMO ($25,000-$49,999)

Anonymous&

Mary Ellen Burris&

Dr. and Mrs. Elmar Frangenberg&^L

VIVACE ($10,000-$24,999)

Anonymous

Stuart and Betsy Bobry**

Patrick and Irene Burke&

Mr. and Mrs.* Harlan D. Calkins&

Alison and John Currie&

Sue and Thomas* Forsyth&

The Robert and Jean Freligh Memorial Fund&

ADAGIO ($2,500-$9,999)

Quincy and Sonya Allen

Anonymous

Gloria BaciewiczS

Anne and Steve* Bauer&

Brian and Nancy Bennett

William and Grace Boudway

Daniel Bresnan

Bruce Jacobs

Jack McGowan and Kathleen Muscato&

Shirley B. and Kevin Frick

Nancy and Peter Gaess&

David and Patricia Gardner

Deborah G. Goldman

Mrs. Laura J. Hameister&^S

David and Barrie Heiligman

Kathleen Holt and Stephen Lurie&

Joseph and Dale Klein

Peter W. Briggs

Tom Burns

Mr. and Mrs.* Harlan D. Calkins&

Keith and Joan Calkins&

Jane A. Capellupo

Bill and Julie Capossere&

Dr. Thomas and Ann Caprio

Larry and Betsy Rice&

Nathan J. and Susan S. Robfogel&

Nellie J. Rosenberg&

Ron and Sharon Salluzzo&

Mr. Wes Saucke*

Drs. Eva and Jude Sauer&

Deborah Ronnen and Sherman Levy*

Katherine T. and Jon L. Schumacher&

Mr. and Mrs. David K. Weber

Harold and Christine Kurland

Vincent and Zuzanna Kwon&

Ross P. Lanzafame, Esq.& Lenore* and Marshall Lesser&

Dan and Kiki Mahar

Michael and Frances Millard&

Susan Murphy and Ralph Black

William J. O’Connor, Jr.&

William T. Chandler

Mr. and Mrs. Russell D. Chapman

George Daddis, Jr., Ph.D.

Mrs. Joan Dalberth

Karen E. Dau

Nancy and Sreeram Dhurjaty

Barbara and George Segel^

Dr. and Mrs. Sidney H. Sobel& Louise Woerner and Don Kollmorgen

Robert A. Woodhouse&

Geff and Cindy Yancey&

Pace Family Fund& Mrs. Richard Palermo& Victor Poleshuck&

Kathy Purcell

Nathan J. and Susan S. Robfogel& Mimi and Sam Tilton& Krestie Utech&

Stephanie and Douglas Dickman& Michele Dryer& Frederick Dushay, M.D. in memory of Anita B. Dushay

Dr. Dianne Edgar and Terry Platt

Larry and Kas Eldridge

Carol and Tom* Elliott

Gerald G. Estes

Udo Fehn and Christine Long

Judith Fulmer&

Nancy Gadziala, M.D. and R. John

Looney, M.D.

Ellen Garfinkel

Janet and Roger Gram

Mr. Gary D. Haines

Jeffrey and Lynne Halik&^

David and MaryAnn Hamilton&

George and Mary Hamlin

John and Ruth Hazzard

Susan and Chris Holliday

Philip and Eleanor Hopke

H. Larry and Dorothy C. Humm&

Mr. and Mrs. Ernest J. Ierardi

Will and Lois Irwin&

Robert and Merilyn* Israel

Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence S. Iwan&

Richard and Karen Knowles&

Glenn and Nancy Koch

Elsbeth J. Kozel&

Karen and Gerald Kral&

Marcy and Ray Kraus in loving memory of Dr. Allan and Charlotte Kraus&

Lynn Krauss-Prince

Chari and Joel Krenis

Deanna and Charles Krunsenstjerna

Connie Leary and James O’Connell& Kathy J. Lindsley

Edith M. Lord

Dr. Diane Lu and Jeremy A. Cooney, Esq.

Swaminathan and Janice Madhu

Barbara E. Marshall&

Tom and Emily McCall

William and Erin McCune, in memory of Vera McCune

PHILHARMONIC FRIENDS

ADVOCATE ($1,000-$2,499)

David AckroydS

Marvin and Frederica Amstey

Anonymous

Mr. and Mrs. Mehdi N. Araghi

Jane Ellen Bailey

Maureen Baran

Kristine Bouyoucos

Eric and Wendy Bruestle

Josephine Buckley

Brian and Mary Jane Burke

Bruce and Shirley Burritt

Ms. Barbara J. Case

Rick and Sandra Crawshaw

Cathy Cushman and Jeff Sokol

Roy Czernikowski* and Karin Dunnigan

Mr. and Mrs. Steven DeSmitt

Gary Domenico and Barbara Buscaglia

Ed and Rosemary Eichenlaub

Mr. Craig Epperson and Dr. Beth Jelsma

Trevor and Elizabeth Ewell

James Farrar

Thomas and Janet Fink

Gail R. Flugel

Jonathan Foster

Davis Frame

Sandra and Neil Frankel

BENEFACTOR

($500-$999)

Karen Abbas

Barbara Agor

Daisy AlgarinS Anonymous

Edwin Austin

Karen Bancroft

Jim and Linda Baroody

Markus and Myriam Bauer

Richard J. Beard

Kate M. Bennett

Teresa and Tim Biehler

James and Lynette Blake

Jay and Beth BlaufussS

Richard A. Bloom, M.D.

Mitchell J. Boucher

Jeff and Kathy Bowen

Henra S. Briskin

Hugh and Anne Brodie

Eileen Buholtz

Gretchen and Paul Burke

Lori Busch

Betsy and Jay* Friedman&

Kevin FrischS

Jerry J. Gambino, Jr.

Michael and Jane* Garrett

Warren and June Glaser

John and Roslyn Goldman

Patricia Goodwin

Jeanne and Bob Grace

Helen and George Greer**

Susan and James Haefner

Robert and Deborah HallS

Nancy and Henry Hamlin

Martin and Sherrie Handelman

Marilyn* and Dick Hare&

Bob and Kathy Heinig

Walter B.D. Hickey, Jr.

Drs. Ryan and Makiko Hoefen^

Mr. and Mrs.* Howard E. Holcomb, Jr.

Ronald and Martha Jodoin

Steve and Gretchen Judge

Dr. and Mrs. Harold Kanthor

Judy and Norm Karsten

Heidi Katz and Carl Chiarenza

Robert J. Kennedy

James H. Kirkwood

Barbara E. Kozel

Margaret Lindsey, M.D.

Eric and Martha Logigian

Russell and Mary Lou Madsen

Drs. David Bushinsky and Nancy Krieger

Dan and Amanda Butler

Steven Cannell

Riley and Karen Carhart

Brendan and Suzanne Casey

Victor Ciaraldi and Kathy Marchaesi

Elison and Donald Cramer

Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel Delvecchio

Katie and Rob Dermody&S

Kathleen DillS

Terrence R. Doherty

Janice and James* Durfee

Daniel DwyerS

Linda S. Eastman

Dr. Steven and Susan Eisinger

Mohsen Emami, M.D.

Sherman and Anne Farnham

Daniel M. Meyers&

John Muenter

Paul Marc and Pamela Miller Ness&

Pace Family Fund&

Suzanne and Richard Portland

Brock and Sandra* Powell

Bill Prest

Robert and Anne QuiveyS

Nancy and Vincent Reale&

Dick* and Bea Rosenbloom

Mr. Fritz Ruebeck and Dr. Cecilia MeagherS

Mr. and Mrs. James Ryan, Jr.

Drs. Carl and O.J. Sahler&

Gary B. Schaefer

Joan M. Schumaker&

George J. Schwartz, M.D., and Paula Maier

Richard and Vicki* Schwartz

Libba and Wolf Seka

Joseph J. Mancini*

Saul and Susan Marsh

Richard and Kate Massie

Edward G. McClive

H. Winn McCray

Richard W. McGrath

Andrew and Kay Melnyk

Ralph and Martha Meyer

Mary E. Miskell and Terrance Clar

James* and Geraldine Moore

Pastor and Mrs. Donald Muller

Dr. and Mrs. Stephen Munson

Helene Newman

Mr. and Mrs. John Norris

Elizabeth Osta and George VanArsdale

Douglas and Rose Peet

David and Marjorie Perlman

Richard and Susan Reed

Rene Reixach

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas S. Richards

Nancy and Art Roberts

Dr. Gerald and Maxine Rosen

Hannah and Arnold Rosenblatt

Jamal and Pam Rossi

Carolyn and Charles RuffingS&

Tom and Ellen Rusling

Dr. Alvani D. and Carol M. Santos

Justin Schiess

Susan and Leslie Foor

Ruth Freeman

Carolyn and Roger Friedlander

Linda and David FriedmanS

Nita Genova

Mr. and Mrs. Julian Goldstein

Dr. John W. and Mrs. Heather Goodbody

Dr. and Mrs. William Grace

Gay Greene and Robert Goeckel

Ed and Terry* Grissing

Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Guerin

Stephen Gullace

Linda and John Haight

William and Cathy Haller

Barbara and A. Michael Hanna

John and Diane Hanna

William and Patricia Hayles

Mr. and Mrs. Eugene P. Seymour

Kate Hickey Spencer&

Ingrid Stanlis&

Georgine and James Stenger

Dr. David and Abby Stern

Richard Sterns and Suzanna Rubright

David and Grace* Strong

Aaron and Rachel Stuckey&S

Margaret and Charles Symington

Sally Turner

Gary and Marie VanGraafeiland

Patricia Ward-Baker&

Skip and Karen Warren

Stephen R. Webb

Carol Whitbeck&

Kitty J. Wise&L

John Yancey

Paul and Barbara Schmied

Peter Schott and Mary Jane Tasciotti

Mr. and Mrs. William Schultz

Heidi B. Schwarz, M.D.&

John and Jenny Servo

Leonard and Elaine Simon

Bruce and Laura Smoller

Phillip and Karen Sparkes

Mr. Richard R. Spellicy

Jim and Dora Stauffer

Ann H. Stevens and William J. Shattuck&

Henry* and Ellen Thiede

Adam and Catherine Towsley

Wayne and Anne Vander Byl

Timothy and Debbie Veazey

Harry and Ruth* Walker

James Watters

Jean and Sterling L.* Weaver

Pierce and Elizabeth Webb

Philip and Marilyn Wehrheim Fund

Mr. and Mrs. Fred Weingarten&^

Sherwin* and Linda Weinstein

Jeff Wright and Betty Wells

Dr. Charles Yates

Bill and Wende Young

Marsha Young

Dr. Florence M. Higgins and Mr. John Lebens

Sanjay and Ally Hiranandani

Art and Barb Hirst

Sheila Hollander

Wayne and Anne Hulbert

Agrp Ispentchian & Fulltec LLC

Dr. Dewey Jackson

Robert and Mary* Jackson

Lyle Jenks

Marilyn and James Jordan

Connie KaminskiS

Lori and Frank Karbel

Mr. and Mrs. James E. Keenan

Mary Kerr

Mr. Edward Klehr

Susan and James Knauer

Ann Knigge and Al Buckner

Merrill and Dianne Herrick

Ken Knight and Ann Curtin-Knight*

Almon Fisher

Sarah Fitts-Romig

K.L. Hersam and Paul Sawicki

Michael R. Herzog

Mark and Mona Friedman Kolko

Mrs. Ellen Konar

Kraig and Susan Kummer

Mr. Thomas G. Lathrop

Janet and James Leone

Ellen C. Lewis

Sarah F. Liebschutz, PhD

Rose and Roger Linscott

John and Jane Littwitz

Quentin Llop

Janet and Haines Lockhart

Curtis and Elizabeth Long&S

Edwin Lopez-Soto and Patricia Braus

Susan and Chris Luedde

John and Judy Lynd

Chen and John MageeS

James and Rosa Mance

Russell J. Mandrino

Janice D. Manning

Sheron and Bruce Marche

Phillip Marcille

Dick and Sandra McGavern

Maureen McGlynn

Marilyn Merrigan

Jonathan Mink and Janet Cranshaw

Charles Morgan

L. Janet Lawrence-Morse

CONTRIBUTOR

($250-$499)

Anonymous

Jason Antinoro

Jane and John August

Marcy and Kevin Austin

Lon Baratz and Joseph Arena

Kathleen C. Barbehenn

Jack and Kathleen BeadlingS

John and Ellen Beck

Suzanne Bell and Chris Brown

Brian Bixler

Donald and Mary BoydS

Stifel Dublin Office

Dr. and Mrs. Albert Brault

Cynthia and Lawrence Brown

Gary and Laura* Brown

Drs. Jim and Rae BurchfielS

Adrian Burke

Judith L. Byorick and Gary J. Schulze

Susan W. Call

Jose Casado

Mitchell Chait

Mr. and Mrs. Brook A. Chambery

Barry Childs and Kathy Cloonan

Robert Clark

Robert D. Clawson

E. A. Claypoole

Jane R. Colucci

Cathleen Combs

Patrick* and Linda Condry

Kathleen A. Dear

Richard and Michele Decker

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Deever

Danielle Dehm

Jacques and Monique Delettrez

Daniel and Susan DimpflS

Nancy and Chris DiPasquale

Jacqueline Distefano

Kevin Doell

Judy and Craig Donaldson

Jannett M. Dovan

Wendy L. Dworkin

Dr. and Mrs. Michael Eaton

Roger Eibl

Stephen and Marjorie Elder

Marcia L. Elwitt

Mr. and Mrs. James R. Esser

Cheryl and Robert Fehnel

David and Monika M. MullenS

Thomas C. Munger

Michael P.* and Wendy R. Murphy

Michael D. Nazar

Maureen and Steve Neumaier

Joan R. Nusbaum

Peggy and David Oakes

Jason Oaks

W. Smith* and Jean O’Brien

Debra and George Orosz

Marian Payson and Helen Wiley

Glen Pearson

Christian and Sarah Peyre

Douglas and Diana Phillips

Everett Porter

Beth and Lyle Prairie

Dr. and Mrs. Edwin Przybylowicz

Stan and Anne Refermat

Richard and Margery Rosen

Warren and Pamela Rosenbaum

Dr. and Mrs. G. Theodore Ruckert

Hon. Franklin T. and Cynthia Russell

Jean Ryon

Ed and Gabriel Saphar

David and Naomi Schrier

Mrs. Arthur W. Schuster, Jr.

Richard Figueras and Nancy Luchsinger

Mr. and Mrs. John T. Fitzgerald, Jr.

Joan H. Flint

Michael and Midge Foltzer

Elinor Freer and David Ying^

Mrs. Charles J. Gibson

Paulette GissendannerS

Jeremy and Hilda C. Grace

Marvin and Barbara Gray

Sherrill Gray

Joanna and Michael Grosodonia^

Mr. Robert C. Grossman

Catherine Gueli

Tony Gugino and Ernie Siebold

Hugh and Mary Clare Hamlin

Halbert and Judith Harris

Warren and Donna Hasman

Richard and Linda Hawks

Dr. and Mrs. Raul Herrera

Carol Herring

Jim and Alice Holihan

Victoria Hoover

Tala and Mark Hopkins

Nancy Howell

William and Nancy Hunt

John and Diane Hust

Mr. and Mrs. James Ison

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ives

Barbara Jablonski

Donald H. Jones

Laura Joy

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Kamp

Dr. and Mrs. Lester Katzel

Trudie Kirshner

Paulina and Laurence Kovalsky

Robert B. Kuehl

John and Penny Kunkel

Andy Kurtz

Jeffrey LaDue

Diana Lauria

Franklin R. Leavitt

Alex Levin

Theresa A. Seil and Debra Celestino

Rich Sensenbach

Joseph and Mary Kathryn

Shanahan

Mrs. Caroline Shipley

Eloise Shrag

Donna Broberg Shum

Harvey Simmons

Daniel and Sarah Singal

Heidi Smith

Janet H. Sorensen

Larry Sorrell

Ms. Maureen A. Stables

David Stacey

Eleanor Stauffer

Berl Stein

Jeffrey and Kristen Storey

Glen and Lynne Suckling

Steve and Cheryl Swartout

Yoshiko Tamura and Bruce M. Lee

David and Carol Teegarden

Jeffrey J. Thompson

John* and Janet Tyler

Eugene and Gloria Ulterino

Lorraine Van Meter-Cline and Doug Cline

Ben Lichtin and Grace Seiberling

Bob and Dodie Linder

Justin Lloyd

Linda Lowenstein

Dr. and Mrs. James Maxwell

Sabrina McLeod and Gretta

Schaefer

Diann and Tom Meek

Mayda Mihevc

J. Scott and Susan L. Miller

Carol Millet

Bill and Brenda Munch^

Rita Myers

Susan Nutt

Jane Oberwager

Marcia O’Brien

Mary O’Connor

Robert* and Betty Oppenheimer

Michael Orem

Robert Owens

Phil R. Palumbo

Samuel Payton

Mr. Robert E. Pearles

Peter Pero

Diane Peters

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Polidor

Janice Powalski and Joseph

Marchiony

Venkat and Shobha Purushotham

Linda and Michael Raff

Ann Rhody

Nancy K. Rice

Robert and Ann Reimer

Anne D. Riley

Jim and Marjorie Robfogel

Anne Rodgers

The Ruckert Family

Brenda and Steven Ruether

Dr. Frank and Elizabeth Salamone

Ms. Yvonne J. SanerS

Dr. and Mrs. Mark Scatterday

Robert and Cynthia Schlauch

Mr. and Mrs. John C. Schmeelk

Jared and Beverly Voos

Robert Vosteen

Stephen H. and Jody Waite

Brian and Jean Waldmiller

John and Anne Walker

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wallace

Marsha Walton

Kathleen Weber

Warren Welch

Stephen Wershing

Kathleen Whelehan

Charles and Carolyn Whitfield

Bob* and Mary Ann Whitmore

Jeff and Sarah Wight

Susan and Paul Wilkens

Nancy J. Williams

Les and Wanda Wood

Eileen M. Wurzer

Patty and Rich Yarmel

Susan Yee

Lawrence and Susan Yovanoff

Susan and Maurice Zauderer

Eric Zeise and Ellen Henry

Robert and Carol Zimmerman

Nancy and David Schraver

Drs. David and Carolyn Schuler

John H. Schultz

Paul W Schultz

Barbara Lee Scott

Patricia Wright Seeberg

Nadia E. Sefein

Edward and Marjorie Shelly

Hezekiah and Ann Marie Simmons

J. Michael and Alice K. Smith

James Smith

Ms. Maxine M. Smith

Malcolm and Elaine Spaull

Richard and Nancy Sprenkle

Dr. and Mrs. David M. Sturmer

Kareem Tannous

Doris Teamerson

Karen S. Templeton

Alexandra Terziev and Allan Greenleaf

J. Russell and Kathleen Thomas

Rob Thompson

Jean E. Ticen

James T. Townsend

Mr. John S. Tritten

Donald and Nancy Trott

J. True and S. Schattschneider

John Urlaub

Eugene Ver

Timothy M. Verna

Ms. Mary Wade

Ellen Wagner and Jim Cavagnaro

Miss Delores Welkley

Jen and Craig West

Sue A. WhanS

Jan and Stephen White

Monica Wihlen

David and Donna Willome

Elizabeth D. Woodard

Robert and Deborah Zeman

Mr. and Mrs. Ted Zornow

Daan Zwick* and Janis Dowd*

& Denotes donor(s) has/have contributed to the RPO& Comprehensive Capital Campaign. S Denotes donor(s) has/have a recurring Sustaining Circle contribution to the RPO. * Denotes donor(s) is/are deceased. L Denotes donor(s) has/have contributed to the Rochester Philharmonic League (RPL). ^ Denotes donor(s) has/have contributed to the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (RPYO).

Scan to view the full listing from July 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025

IN MEMORY OF…

R. Carlos Carballada

Sam and Mimi Tilton

Ann Christiansen

Leslie C. Rowe

Douglas Cline

Patte Bishop

BRAVO TRIBUTES

The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the following individuals and organizations for their generous support by honoring or remembering in memory of the individuals listed below. Listings are in recognition of tribute gifts received from July 1 through December 31, 2025.

Tribute gifts are a special way to remember loved ones or commemorate special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, births or graduations. If you would like to make a memorial or honorarium gift, please visit www.rpo.org/donate or contact the Development office at 585/454-7311 ext. 249 or email development@rpo.org.

Lew D. Jones

Itai Bronshtein

Elaine L. Kraus

James Kraus

Barbara Law

Stanley and Anne Refermat

Timothy and Marilyn Downs

Ellen Fenger

Charles Fujita and Dulcy Lecour

Mary Anne Gillespie

Faye Shea

Josephine Trubek

Margaret Vanas

Sheila Dermody

Catherine and Elmar Frangenberg, M.D.

Ellen Englert

Renee Brownstein

Robert and Frances Clawson

Judith Cruppe

Richard DeMallie

Catherine and Elmar

Frangenberg, M.D.

Robert and Christine Guistina

Gregory and Judith Graham

Antony Gugino and Earlene

Siebold

High Falls Advisors

Bruce and Ann Leonard

John W. Littwitz

Ray and Patrizia Macera

Russell J. Mandrino

Mary Ann Mrva

Tracy A. Romano

Bonnie B. Sale

Joann Smith

David Strasenburgh

Anthony and Raechel Taddei

Timothy M. Verna

Suzanne Verstraten

Cynthia Whitehouse

Jane L. Garrett

Michael Garrett

Dr. Warren Glaser

June Glaser

Terry B. Grissing

Edward Grissing

Frances R. Howell, Jr.

Jennifer McRae Fitzsimmons

Nancy Howell

Dr. and Mrs. Harry C. Law

Edward H. Law

Paul Littrell

Laura Joy

Jane Oberwager

David and Lois Zebelman

Gregory Lombardo

Steven and Betsy Lombardo

Vera McCune

William and Erin McCune

Mildred Ness

Lana Rottenberg

Betty Schlemitz

Carl and Pamela Angeloff

Stifel Dublin Branch Office

Sam Vogel

Albert Serenati

Nancy Snyder and Family

Leonard Simon

Elaine Simon

Anne W. Sullivan

Philip and Eleanor Hopke

R. Alan and Deborah Lattime

Robert W. Sweeney

Gerald Estes

Leon Williams

Jerry Maus

Sheri Unglaub Williams

Heather Fuller

Douglas and Sarah Hughes

Andrew and Elizabeth Swanson

IN HONOR OF…

Maura McCune and Patrick Corvington

John and Lisa Lacci

Joseph Darweesh

Debbie Brand

Fred Dole

Carol M. Wolff

James Englert

Joann Smith

Linda Iacelli

Stephen House

Dr. Harold Kanthor’s Birthday

Joseph Rapoport & Family

Neil Miller

Dr. Etta Eskridge

Deborah Onslow

Dr. Miriam R. Iker

Margaret Perticone

Deborah Dollinger

Grant Rieke

Marc Rieke

Nathan and Susan Robfogel’s 60th Wedding Anniversary

Charles and Kathleen Salitan

Valerie Salitan

Hannah and Arnold Rosenblatt

Alice Messinger

Robert and Harriet Seigel

Katherine Smith

James and Georgine Stenger

P. Robert and Mary Anne Fox

Jeff Tyzik

G. Theodore and Sherry Ruckert

Catharine “Kitty” Wise

J. Michael and Alice Smith

Don and Anna Womack

Daniel and Edith Rice

Scan to view the full listing from July 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025

Anonymous

Marie Aklin*

Betty Jane Altier*

Alva Angle*

Catherine N. Asmuth*

Jean Boynton Baker*

John B. and Margaret Barnell*

RPO GEORGE EASTMAN LEGACY SOCIETY

Members of the RPO George Eastman Legacy Society are true believers in the power of music. The RPO George Eastman Legacy Society honors those individuals who remember the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra through a planned gift. The RPO’s team of development professionals are available to work with you and your advisors to create a plan that will help you meet your financial and philanthropic goals. For more information, please contact the Development Office at 585.454.7311.

Barbara Jean Gray-Gottorff*

George Greer*

Jean Groff*

Sue C. Habbersett*

William B. Hale*

Martha and Fred Hamaker

Mrs. Laura J. Hameister

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*

Marilyn* and Dick Hare

Karen G. Hart*

Monica R. Hayden*

Warren* and Joyce Heilbronner

David W. Hinz*

Jean Hitchcock

Norman L. Horton*

Mrs. Samter Horwitz*

H. Larry and Dorothy C. Humm

Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Hursh*

Carol A. Jones

Nick and Kitty Jospe

Dr. Ralph F. Jozefowicz

Nancie R. Kennedy*

Robert T. Kimbrough*

Marcella Klein and Richard Schaeffer

Glenn and Nancy Koch

Ross P. Lanzafame, Esq.

Jeanne Lareau*

Marshall and Lenore* Lesser

Drs. Jacques* and Dawn Lipson

Sue and Michael Lococo

William C.* and Elfriede K. Lotz

Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Mahar

Linda Malinich*

Joseph J. Mancini*

Gerard Mayer*

John T. McAdam*

Pete* and Sally Merrill

Donald R. Messina*

Robert J. and Marcia Wishengrad Metzger

Dan Meyers

Mrs. Elizabeth O. Miller*

Jane E. Miller*

Mary L. Mitchell*

Deanne Molinari*

Eleanor Morris*

Mrs. Marjorie Morris*

Patricia McCurdy Morse*

John S. Muenter

Diane F. Nelson*

Paul Marc and Pamela Miller Ness

Carolyn Noble*

Deborah Onslow

Margaret Paaschen*

Mary Anne Palermo

Ms. Lydia Susan Palmer

Eleanor T. Patterson*

Suzanne F. Powell

Robert and Ann Quivey

Ernest Rashiatore*

Eileen D. Ramos*

Marjorie Cohen Relin*

Doris Repenter*

Dr. Ramon L. and Judith S. Ricker

Dr. Suzanne H. Rodgers*

Nellie J. Rosenberg

Dick* and Bea Rosenbloom

Elise and Stephen* Rosenfeld

Pearl W. Rubin*

Wallace R. Rust

Ron and Sharon Salluzzo

Wesley Saucke

Peggy W. Savlov*

James G. Scanzaroli*

David G. and Antonia T. Schantz

William and Susan Schoff

Peter Schott and Mary Jane Tasciotti

Jon L. and Katherine T. Schumacher

Vicki* and Richard Schwartz

Laura M. Seifferd*

Libba and Wolf Seka

Gretchen Shafer*

Virginia Durand Shelden*

Elbis A. Shoales, M.D.

Carol Shulman

Anna Rita Staffieri*

Ingrid Stanlis

Abby and David Stern

Patricia E. Stott

Betty Strasenburgh*

Martha Ann* and Daniel Tack

Amanda Tierson

Ivan Town*

Carol Van Hoesen*

Elizabeth Van Horn*

Harry and Ruth Walker

Patricia Ward-Baker

Margaret Webster*

Robin and Michael* Weintraub

Jean B. Wetzel*

Mildred Wischmeyer*

Kitty J. Wise

John and Laurie Witmeyer

Helen W. Witt*

Mary Alice and Robert Wolf*

Susan and Lawrence Yovanoff

Nancy and Mark Zawacki

Alan Ziegler and Emily Neece

Mr. and Mrs. Ted Zornow

* Denotes donor(s) is/are deceased. ^Denotes donor(s) has/have contributed to the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (RPYO).

ABOUT US

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

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