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2019–2020 Season

Branding and PacificChorale.org website by

Saturday, November 9, 2019 at 3:00 p.m.

Concert preview with Brian Lauritzen at 2:00 p.m.Segerstrom Center for the ArtsRenée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall

Pacific ChoraleRobert Istad, Artistic Director

Pacific SymphonyCarl St.Clair, Music Director

Camille Zamora, soprano Alexander Dobson, baritone

Robert Istad, conductor

Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)Te Deum (1984-85, rev. 1992)

- INTERMISSION -

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem), Op. 45 (1865-68)

I. Selig sind, die da Leid tragen (Blessed are those who mourn)

II. Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras (All flesh is like grass)

III. Herr, lehre doch mich (Lord, let me know my end) MR. DOBSON

IV. Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen (How lovely is your dwelling place)

V. Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit (So you have pain now) MS. ZAMORA

VI. Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt (For here we have no lasting city) MR. DOBSON

VII. Selig sind die Toten (Blessed are the dead)

Platinum Season Sponsor Phillip N. and Mary A. Lyons

Silver Season SponsorCharles and Ling Zhang

This performance is given in loving memory of David A. Janes.

Community Partners

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About the ProgramBy Dr. John Koegel, California State University, Fullerton

PÄRT TE DEUM AND BRAHMS REQUIEM

Pärt, Te Deum

Estonian composer Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) studied composition with Heino Eller at the Tallinn Conservatory, where he graduated in 1963. He first established a career as a recording engineer and by writing film and theater music. His emergence as a composer began during the Soviet regime in Estonia, which placed restrictions on his work after he applied the serial technique to pieces such as Nekrolog (1960) and Perpetuum mobile (1963). After the composition of Credo (1968), Pärt went through a period of creative blockage, during which time he devoted himself to studying monodic (one-line) music and practicing two-part counterpoint exercises, inspired by his study of early music, especially Gregorian chant and early polyphony. He began composing regularly again in 1976, using a musical technique of his own creation, which he called “tintinnabuli.” (This term was suggested by the bell-like sound of notes in a triad; the onomatopoeic Latin word “tintinnabulum” refers to a “small tinkling bell.”) As Pärt scholar Paul Hillier explains, “A two-part homophonic texture forms the basis of tintinnabuli technique: a melodic voice moves mostly by step around a central pitch (often but not always the tonic), and the tintinnabuli voice sounds the notes of the tonic triad.”

Pärt has long been influenced by the mystical and contemplative traditions of the Orthodox church, which he joined in the 1970s. The avant-garde nature of his early compositions and the religious aspects of his work led to trouble with Soviet-era Estonian authorities and critics. As a result, Pärt and his family emigrated in 1980 to Vienna, and, a year later, to Berlin, where he

lived for many years. (In 2010, he returned in Estonia, where he resides today.) According to the composer, his musical training is Western, and his spiritual education is Eastern. His music, often labelled minimalist, uses repetition, but that technique is not its main factor. He has been compared to composers John Tavener and Henryk Górecki, as exponents of what some critics have called “spiritual minimalism” or the “new simplicity.” When interviewed by Jamie McCarthy in 1989, Pärt commented, “Am I really a minimalist? It’s not something that concerns me.” Pärt’s compositional output since 1976 is rich and varied, and includes works for orchestra and soloists, choral works, chamber music, works for chorus and orchestra, and symphonies. Many of his works set sacred texts, in Latin, German, Church Slavonic, and other languages. The hallmarks of his musical style are “directness of feeling, transparency of form, austerity of mood, economy of gesture” (Paul Hillier).

Pärt’s Te Deum (1984-1985, and later revisions), for chorus and orchestra, commissioned for the Berlin Radio Orchestra, sets the traditional fourth-century Latin hymn of praise attributed to both St. Ambrose and St. Augustine. In addition to being sung as an individual chant, the Te Deum has also served as the basis for a formal celebratory service. Besides its use in Roman Catholic services, the Te Deum is used in Lutheran and Anglican worship. Many composers have set the Te Deum text for chorus and orchestra, including Lully, Haydn, Mozart, Berlioz, Bruckner, Dvořák, Verdi, Britten, Walton, and others.

Te Deum calls for three choirs, string orchestra, prepared piano (sounding between an amplified clavichord and harpsichord), and wind harp (electronic) drone. The traditional Gregorian chant melody associated with the Te Deum is not used in Pärt’s setting. Rather, he writes a series of chant-like melodies using the tintinnabuli technique. These chant sections alternate with the choral and string orchestra sections, which are supported by a drone on the pitches A and D, which also serve to mark off the main sections of the work. Choir I (female voices) and Choir II (male voices) sing chant-like parts, and Choir III (mixed voices) sings in a more syllabic, rhythmic, and harmonic fashion. The string orchestra responds to the text just sung.

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Brahms, Ein deutsches Requiem

Johannes Brahms’s (1833-1897) Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem), Opus 45, is one of the great choral-orchestral masterpieces, the composer’s longest and most substantial score, and one of his most personal musical statements. It is also the most powerful German sacred musical composition composed after Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (1819-1823). Brahms’s Requiem established him as a major composer of international significance and reputation. The work was composed between 1857 and 1868 (intensively between 1865-1867), and was motivated in part by the recent death of his mother, and the earlier death of his friend and mentor Robert Schumann, who in 1853 had proclaimed that Brahms was the one destined to “give expression to his age in an ideal fashion” and that he would be seen as the successor to Beethoven. Schumann seemed to foretell the composition of Ein deutsches Requiem, when he exhorted Brahms to “direct his magic wand where the massed forces of chorus and orchestra may lend him their power.”

The work was premiered in stages as it took final shape. The first three movements out of seven were premiered in Vienna in December 1867, to mixed success. Six movements (without the fifth movement for solo soprano and chorus) were performed in Bremen in April 1868 to great acclaim, with Brahms’s beloved friend and confidant Clara Schumann, and violinist Joseph Joaquim in attendance. The first complete performance was given in Leipzig in February 1869, and the Requiem was soon embraced in various parts of Europe. The Oratorio Society of New York gave the United States premiere in 1877.

Ein deutsches Requiem is the culmination of many years of compositional work and study. Brahms prefaced writing his large-scale Requiem by composing smaller-scale choral works, and mastering contrapuntal practice, which he employed extensively in the Requiem. In this work, he balanced the use of counterpoint with an expert approach to blending vocal and instrumental colors. His study of large-scale choral forms such as the cantata and oratorio, especially those by Johann Sebastian Bach, influenced Ein deutsches Requiem.

The work is not a liturgical setting of the traditional Requiem Mass for the Dead, with its emphasis on prayers for the salvation of the dead and anticipation of the dread at the Day of Judgement, but rather a meditation on death and a consolation for the living. Brahms’s

Requiem helps us understand human mortality and gives us a sense of renewal. He set selected Old and New Testament verses from Martin Luther’s German translation, thus the title Ein deutsches Requiem/A German Requiem, none of which mention Christ. When questioned about this lack of references to Christ, Brahms responded: “As far as the text is concerned, I will confess that I would very gladly omit the ‘German’ as well, and simply put ‘of Mankind,’ also quite deliberately and consciously do without passages such as John 3:1.” (“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”).

The main message of consolation appears at the beginning of the Requiem: “Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4), which is a principal theme throughout the work. It is reinforced in the seventh and last movement, which ends with “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord …” (Revelation 14: 13). The idea of consolation that is so important in Brahms’s Requiem is especially emphasized in the fifth movement, with the soprano soloist suggesting the comforting maternal voice: “And ye now therefore have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice” (John 16: 22); “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you” (Isaiah 66: 13). The soprano voice seems to represent Brahms’s own mother, and the baritone soloist the paternal voice, with its call to action rather than providing consolation.

A German Requiem represents Brahms’s synthesis of consolatory texts, diverse compositional methods, and his extensive historical knowledge. He uses techniques taken from his study of Renaissance and Baroque polyphony, viewed through a Romantic sensibility. He employs extensive homophonic (block chordal) choral writing (in the second movement), Baroque-influenced extended dramatic fugues ending the third and sixth movements, and strongly declamatory writing in sections of the sixth movement. Brahms restates thematic material heard at the beginning of the first movement (“Blessed are they that mourn …”) at the end of the last movement (“Blessed are the dead …”), providing a sense of rounded form. A three-note germinal motive (main musical idea) connects the entire work. The central movement, the fourth, for chorus without soloists, is the centerpiece of his consolatory Requiem: “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O, Lord of Hosts! … Blessed are they that dwell in thy house.”

About the Program, continued

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Robert Istad is Artistic Director of Pacific Chorale and Director of Choral Studies at California State University, Fullerton. Dr. Istad regularly conducts and collaborates with Pacific Chorale, Pacific Symphony, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, Sony Classical Records, Yarlung Records, Berkshire Choral International, and Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. He is also Dean of Chorus America’s national Academy for Conductors.

Istad has prepared choruses for a number of America’s finest conductors and orchestras, including: Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Carl St.Clair and the Pacific Symphony, as well as conductors Esa–Pekka Salonen, Keith Lockhart, Nicholas McGegan, Vasilly Sinaisky, Sir Andrew Davis, Bramwell Tovey, John Williams, Eugene Kohn, Eric Whitacre, Giancarlo Guerrero, Marin Alsop, George Fenton, and Robert Moody.

Istad is also Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at California State University, Fullerton. He was recognized as CSU Fullerton’s 2016 Outstanding Professor of the Year. At CSU Fullerton, Istad conducts the University Singers and Women’s Choir in addition to teaching courses in conducting, performance practice and literature. Recently, he and the University Singers performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Andrea Bocelli, Kathleen Battle, recorded albums with Yarlung Records and with composer John Williams and Sony Classical.

He and his singers performed a concert of Tarik O’Regan’s music for Distinguished Concerts International New York at Carnegie Hall in November 2015. They have performed at numerous regional and national ACDA conferences including the 2018 ACDA Western Division Conference and 2013 ACDA National Conference in Dallas, Texas. They also performed for the 2013 National Collegiate Choral Organization National Conference in Charleston, SC. Istad and the CSUF University Singers have performed all over the world, including a 2017 performance in Russia’s famous Glinka Cappella, a 2015 residency and performances in Paris, France, engagements at the 2012 Ottobeuren Festival of Music in Germany, the 2012 Eingen Festival of music in Germany, a 2010 performance for UNESCO in Pisa, Italy, and in 2008 at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary.

Istad is former Artistic Director of Long Beach Camerata Singers and Long Beach Bach Festival. Under his leadership, Long Beach Camerata Singers became recognized as one of the leading arts organizations of the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, created a performing partnership with Long Beach Symphony Orchestra and Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, as well as performed with Pacific Symphony, and Long Beach Opera.

Istad received his Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, his Master of Music degree in choral conducting from California State University, Fullerton and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral music at the University of Southern California. He studied conducting with Dr. William Dehning, John Alexander and Dr. Jon Hurty.

Istad is President of the California Choral Director’s Association, and is in demand as an adjudicator, guest conductor, speaker and clinician throughout the nation.

About the Artistic DirectorRobert Istad Phillip N. and Mary A. Lyons Artistic Director Chair

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About Pacific Chorale

Founded in 1968 by Dr. Maurice Allard, Pacific Chorale is internationally recognized for exceptional artistic expression, stimulating American-focused programming, and influential education programs. Under the artistic leadership of Robert Istad, the Chorale presents a substantial performance season of its own at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County, California, and is sought regularly to perform with the nation’s leading symphonies. Pacific Chorale has infused an Old World art form with California’s hallmark innovation and cultural independence, expanding the traditional concepts of choral repertoire and performance.

Pacific Chorale is comprised of 200 staff and volunteer singers. In addition to its long-standing partnership with Pacific Symphony, the Chorale has performed with such renowned American ensembles as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the National Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and Musica Angelica. Other noted collaborations within the Southern California community include the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Long Beach Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, and Riverside Symphony.

During the remarkable 45-year tenure (1972-2017) of Artistic Director Emeritus John Alexander, the Chorale toured extensively in Europe, South America and Asia, performing in London, Paris, Vienna, Budapest, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Russia, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing and Hong Kong, and collaborating with the London Symphony, the Munich Symphony, L’Orchestre Lamoureux and L’Orchestre de St-Louis-en-l’Île of Paris, the National Orchestra of Belgium, the China National Symphony, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Estonian National Symphony, and the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Argentina. In 2018, Pacific Chorale joined Pacific Symphony in making their Carnegie Hall debut, performing The Passion of Ramakrishna as part of composer Philip Glass’s 80th birthday celebration.

Education programs are central to the Chorale’s vision of inspiring love of choral music and lifelong learning. Pacific Chorale’s innovative educational initiatives have opened the door to the art of choral music and the magic of the creative process for thousands of students and adults annually, including: a Choral Academy for elementary school students

modeled on the El Sistema movement; a Choral Camp presented in association with California State University, Fullerton providing high school students with training in music theory and vocal production; a Choral Festival uniting 400 singers each summer in a free community pe,rformance; Intro to the Arts and Passage to the Arts, partnerships with local social service organizations and high school choral directors that allow students, at-risk youth, and low-income families to attend Pacific Chorale performances free of charge; competitions and master classes to nurture the talent of young composers; and Concert Previews that provide deeper insight into the Chorale’s performance repertoire.

Pacific Chorale has received numerous awards from Chorus America, the service organization for North American choral groups, including the prestigious “Margaret Hillis Achievement Award for Choral Excellence,” the first national “Educational Outreach Award,” the 2005 ASCAP Chorus America Alice Parker Award for adventurous programming, and the 2015 “Education and Community Engagement Award.”

Pacific Chorale can be heard on numerous recordings, including American Voices, a collection of American choral works; Songs of Eternity by James F. Hopkins and Voices by Stephen Paulus, featuring Pacific Symphony; a holiday recording, Christmas Time Is Here, on the Gothic Records label; a live concert recording of Sergei Rachmaninov’s Vespers; the world premiere recording of Frank Ticheli’s The Shore for chorus and orchestra; and the world premiere recording of Jake Heggie’s choral opera The Radio Hour, all conducted by John Alexander. Pacific Chorale also appears on six recordings released by Pacific Symphony and conducted by Carl St.Clair: Elliot Goldenthal’s Fire, Water, Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio; Richard Danielpour’s An American Requiem; Philip Glass’s The Passion of Ramakrishna; Michael Daugherty’s Mount Rushmore; Richard Danielpour’s Toward a Season of Peace; and William Bolcom’s Prometheus with pianist Jeffrey Biegel. In spring 2019, Pacific Chorale recorded Mahler’s Symphony No. 8—performed live with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel—for Deutsche Grammophon, and music by Composer-in-Residence Tarik O’Regan conducted by Robert Istad for Yarlung Records.

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Pacific ChoraleRobert Istad, Phillip N. and Mary A. Lyons Artistic Director Chair

John Alexander, Artistic Director EmeritusNate Widelitz, Assistant Conductor

David Clemensen, Accompanist

SopranoRebecca Hasquet, Section LeaderBarbara Kingsbury, Rita Major Memorial ChairCristen AntalHeather Athan-PechousAmmy BeltránRachel BlairHannah Jeanette BriggsChelsea ChavesAnastasia GlasheenElizabeth GrossErika JacksonHannah KimShawna KleinSusan Hsia LewKathryn LillichSusan M. LindleyCorinne LinzaSarah LonsertKatie MartiniTami L. McTaggartLenora MeisterKimberly NasonMaria Cristina NavarroKris OcaDeborah PasarowSarah Schaffner-PepeJacqueline TaylorAmelia H. ThompsonSarah ThompsonAlie WestphalVictoria Wu

AltoJane Hyunjung Shim, Section LeaderShinaie AhnRebecca BishopKathryn Cobb-WollJillian DenhamDenean R. DysonHarriet EdwardsJacline EveredMarilyn ForsstromMary GallowayKathryn Gibson

Sandy GrimAnne HenleyGenie HossainEleen Hsu-WentlandtJeremiah KruegerNancy LanpherKaii LeeLamia MazegueLaura MillerMichele M. MulidorPat NewtonKyrstin OhtaRachel OneKathleen PrestonBonnie PridonoffSuzanne RahnLaurel SandersTiffani SantiagoMegan ShipleyMarijke van NiekerkEmily Weinberg

TenorNicholas A. Preston, Section Leader Roger W. Johnson Memorial ChairCarl W. Porter, Singers Memorial ChairDaniel AlvarezMike AndrewsMichael Ben-YehudaNate BrownChristopher BrushDavid BunkerChris ButtarsJames CahillCraig DavisMatthew DavisMarius EvangelistaDavid EveredAlan GarciaJohnny G. GonzalesVincent HansSteven M. HoffmanCraig S. KistlerChristopher LindleyDavid López AlemánGerald D. McMillanMichael Morales

Jeff MorrisJesse NewbyGabriel RatinoffSammy SalvadorEmilio SandovalJoshua Tan TesslerKenneth TomW. Faulkner WhiteNate WidelitzPatrick Zubiate

BassAram Barsamian, Section LeaderKarl Forsstrom, Singers Memorial ChairRyan Thomas AntalMac BrightJames BrownJohn F. CarpenterLouis FerlandLarry GatesPeter HahnMark HamiltonTom HenleyMichael G. JacobsJared Daniel JonesMatthew KellawayJonathan KraussNathan LandmonTom MenaMartin J. MinnichEmmanuel MirandaKenneth M. MooreJason PanoSeth PeelleCarl PikeRaphael Meng Kian PoonJohn ProtheroRyan RatcliffGeorge ReissRobert RifeThomas B. RinglandWilliam ShellyEric R. SoholtJim SpiveyJoshua StevensTanner Wilson

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About Pacific Symphony

Pacific Symphony, led by Music Director Carl St.Clair for the last 30 years, has been the resident orchestra of the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall for over a decade. Currently in its 41st season, the Symphony is the largest orchestra formed in the U.S. in the last 50 years and is recognized as an outstanding ensemble making strides on both the national and international scene, as well as in its own community of Orange County. In April 2018, Pacific Symphony made its debut at Carnegie Hall as one of two orchestras invited to perform during a yearlong celebration of composer Philip Glass’ 80th birthday, and the following month the orchestra toured China. The orchestra made its national PBS debut in June 2018 on Great Performances with Peter Boyer’s “Ellis Island: The Dream of America,” conducted by St.Clair. Presenting more than 100 concerts and events a year and a rich array of education and community engagement programs, the Symphony reaches more than 300,000 residents—from school children to senior citizens.

The Symphony offers repertoire ranging from the great orchestral masterworks to music from today’s most prominent composers. Nine seasons ago, the Symphony launched the highly successful opera initiative, “Symphonic Voices,” which continues in April 2020 with Verdi’s Otello. It also offers a popular Pops season, enhanced by state-of-the-art video and sound, led by Principal Pops Conductor Richard Kaufman. Each Symphony season also includes Café Ludwig, a chamber music series; an educational Family Musical Mornings series; and Sunday Matinées, an orchestral matinée series offering rich explorations of selected works led by St.Clair.

Founded in 1978 as a collaboration between California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), and North Orange County community leaders led by Marcy Mulville, the Symphony performed its first concerts at Fullerton’s Plummer Auditorium as the Pacific Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of then-CSUF orchestra conductor Keith Clark. Two seasons later, the Symphony expanded its size and changed its name to Pacific Symphony Orchestra. Then in 1981-82, the orchestra moved to Knott’s Berry Farm for one year. The subsequent four seasons, led by Clark, took place at Santa Ana High School auditorium where the Symphony also made its first six acclaimed recordings. In September 1986, the Symphony moved to the new Orange County Performing Arts Center, and from 1987-2016, the orchestra additionally presented a Summer Festival at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. In 2006, the Symphony

moved into the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, with striking architecture by Cesar Pelli and acoustics by Russell Johnson—and in 2008, inaugurated the Hall’s critically acclaimed 4,322-pipe William J. Gillespie Concert Organ. The orchestra embarked on its first European tour in 2006, performing in nine cities in three countries.

The 2016-17 season continued St.Clair’s commitment to new music with commissions by pianist/composer Conrad Tao and former composer-in-residence Narong Prangcharoen. Recordings commissioned and performed by the Symphony include the release of William Bolcom’s Songs of Lorca and Prometheus in 2015-16, Richard Danielpour’s Toward a Season of Peace and Philip Glass’ The Passion of Ramakrishna in 2013-14; and Michael Daugherty’s Mount Rushmore and The Gospel According to Sister Aimee in 2012-13. In 2014-15, Elliot Goldenthal released a recording of his Symphony in G-sharp Minor, written for and performed by the Symphony. The Symphony has also commissioned and recorded An American Requiem by Danielpour and Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio by Goldenthal featuring Yo-Yo Ma. Other recordings have included collaborations with such composers as Lukas Foss and Toru Takemitsu. Other leading composers commissioned by the Symphony include Paul Chihara, Daniel Catán, James Newton Howard, William Kraft, Ana Lara, Tobias Picker, Christopher Theofanidis, Frank Ticheli and Chen Yi.

In both 2005 and 2010, the Symphony received the prestigious ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. Also in 2010, a study by the League of American Orchestras, “Fearless Journeys,” included the Symphony as one of the country’s five most innovative orchestras. The Symphony’s award-winning education and community engagement programs benefit from the vision of St.Clair and are designed to integrate the orchestra and its music into the community in ways that stimulate all ages. The Symphony’s Class Act program has been honored as one of nine exemplary orchestra education programs by the National Endowment for the Arts and the League of American Orchestras. The list of instrumental training initiatives includes Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra, Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble and Pacific Symphony Santiago Strings. The Symphony also spreads the joy of music through arts-X-press, Class Act, Heartstrings, OC Can You Play With Us?, Santa Ana Strings, Strings for Generations and Symphony in the Cities.

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Pacific SymphonyCarl St.Clair, Music Director

FIRST VIOLINDennis Kim, ConcertmasterPaul Manaster, Associate ConcertmasterJeanne Skrocki, Assistant ConcertmasterNancy Coade EldridgeChristine FrankKimiyo Takeya Ayako SugayaAnn Shiau TenneyJoanna LeeRobert SchumitzkyAgnes GottschewskiDana FreemanAngel LiuJulie Ahn

SECOND VIOLINBridget Dolkas*Jennise Hwang**Yen Ping LaiYu-Tong SharpAko KojianOvsep KetendjianLinda OwenSooah KimMarlaJoy WeisshaarAlice Miller-WrateShelly ShiHanbyul Jang

VIOLAMeredith Crawford* Joshua Newburger**Carolyn RileyJohn AcevedoAdam NeeleyJulia StaudhammerJoseph Wen-Xiang ZhangCheryl GatesMargaret Henken

CELLOWarren Hagerty*Kevin Plunkett**John AcostaRobert VosLázló Mezö

Ian McKinnellM. Andrew HoneaJennifer GossRudolph Stein

BASSDouglas Basye**Christian KollgaardDavid Parmeter+Paul ZibitsDavid BlackAndrew BumatayConstance Deeter

FLUTEBenjamin Smolen* Sharon O’ConnorCynthia Ellis

PICCOLOCynthia Ellis

OBOEJessica Pearlman Fields* Ted Sugata

ENGLISH HORNLelie Resnick

CLARINETJoseph Morris,* David Chang

BASS CLARINETJoshua Ranz

BASSOONRose Corrigan*Elliott MoreauAndrew KleinAllen Savedoff

CONTRABASSOONAllen Savedoff

FRENCH HORNKeith Popejoy*Adedeji Ogunfolu Kaylet Torrez**Elyse Lauzon

TRUMPETBarry Perkins*Tony EllisDavid Wailes

TROMBONEMichael Hoffman*David Stetson

BASS TROMBONEKyle Mendiguchia

TUBAJames Self*

TIMPANITodd Miller*

PERCUSSIONRobert A. Slack*

HARPMindy Ball*Michelle Temple

LIBRARIANBrent Anderson

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTIONWill Hunter

DIRECTOR OF MULTIMEDIA OPERATIONSWilliam Pruett

* Principal** Assistant Principal+ On Leave

The musicians of Pacific Symphony are members of the American Federation of Musicians, Local 7.

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Camille Zamora

In collaboration with artists ranging from Plácido Domingo to Sting, Camille Zamora has garnered acclaimed for her “dramatic and nuanced” (The New York Times) interpretations of repertoire ranging from Mozart to tango. Equally at

home in concert, recital, and on the operatic stage, Camille is known for her “dignity and glowing sound” (The New York Times) in “luminous, transcendently lyrical” performances (Opera News) that “combine gentility and emotional fire” (Houston Chronicle).

The past season featured her Kennedy Center debut, performances at the US Capitol with Yo-Yo Ma, concerts of classic tango with Fort Worth Symphony and Florida Orchestra, and five new operatic roles, including the tour de force double-bill of La Voix Humaine and I Pagliacci with Opera Columbus. She also re-created the principal soprano role of Lucia in Hindemith’s The Long Christmas Dinner with American Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center, the live recording of which topped The New York Times’ Classical Playlist and was chosen one of Opera News’ Best Recordings of the Year for 2016.

Other highlights include music of Granados with Yo-Yo Ma and Cristina Pato in The Music of Strangers, the 2016 documentary film by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville about Yo-Yo Ma and his musical collaborators; American Songbook classics with Late Show bandleader Jon Batiste for the Spring 2016 opening concert of New York City’s new Steinway Hall; Twin Spirits: Robert and Clara Schumann with Sting and Joshua Bell at Lincoln Center and Los Angeles Music Center; Mozart heroines with Boston Lyric Opera, Anchorage Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, and Virginia Opera; performances with Orchestra of St. Luke’s, London Symphony Orchestra, and Guadalajara Symphony; live recital broadcasts on NPR, BBC Radio, Deutsche Radio, and Sirius XM; and the title role in Anna Bolena, of which the Houston Chronicle wrote, “Camille Zamora digs deep into Anna Bolena with the

richness of her colorful and unwaveringly powerful soprano instrument... a consummate actress whose ability to get inside her character is phenomenal.”

A champion of zarzuela, Camille has been cited by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and NBC Latino as a leading interpreter of classical Spanish vocal repertoire. A Kennedy Center Citizen Artist, Camille is a graduate of The Juilliard School, the Co-Founder of the arts non-profit Sing for Hope, and one of CNN’s Most Intriguing People.

Alexander Dobson

British-Canadian baritone Alexander Dobson has been praised for his musical and dramatic artistry on both opera and concert stages. He was lauded for his “gripping embodiment of Wozzeck” (Journal

Voir) in a production of the Berg opera with Théâtre du Nouveau Monde and Orchestre Métropolitain, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. This season Dobson makes his fourth appearance in four seasons with Florentine Opera, performing the role of “The Count” in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Concert highlights in the United States include Mozart’s Requiem with San Antonio Symphony, Messiah with Kansas City Symphony, and Bach’s St. John Passion with Bach Society of St. Louis. Among his many Canadian appearances this season, Dobson will perform Bruckner’s Te Deum and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Hamilton Philharmonic. Abroad, he performs in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Warsaw Philharmonic.

Operatic roles include his acclaimed debut with Florentine Opera in the title role of Don Giovanni, “Maximilian” in Bernstein’s Candide with Calgary Opera, “Guillaume” in the French version of Così fan tutte with Opera Lafayette, “The Count” in The Marriage of Figaro with Against the Grain, and “Marcello” in La Bohème with Pacific Opera Victoria. Dobson also sang the role of “Polyphemus” in Handel’s

About the Guest Artists

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Acis and Galatea with conductor Nicholas McGegan and the Mark Morris Dance Group.

On the concert stage, Dobson has shown versatility with both classical and contemporary repertoire. He has performed Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfayer with Orchestre Métropolitain, Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast with Toronto Symphony, Faure’s Requiem with the Windsor Symphony, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting the combined National Arts Centre Orchestra and Orchestre Metropolitain. He has sung Handel’s Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestra London, National Arts Centre Orchestra, and many others. Recent performances of contemporary works include the role

of “The Master” in Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie’s production of Against Nature with director James Kudelka and “The Pilot” in Soundstreams’ production of Airline Icarus, a new opera by Brian Current. A recording of Airline Icarus (winner of the JUNO for Classical Composition of the Year) featuring Mr. Dobson was released on Naxos Records in 2015.

As a dedicated recital artist, his recent performances of Schubert’s Winterreise and Schumann’s Dichterliebe were highly acclaimed in New York, Montréal, Toronto, Victoria, England, and Paris.

Visit Alexander on the web at schwalbeandpartners.com/alexander-dobson-baritone

Continuing its long tradition of supporting new and emerging composers, this year Pacific Chorale and Composer-In-Residence Tarik O’Regan hosted Choral Sketches, a unique mentoring opportunity for composers. First developed by O’Regan with Chamber Choir Ireland, this first U.S. iteration of Choral Sketches took place at Cal State Fullerton on October 26th.

The most unusual aspect of this program is that composers were asked to submit fragments only, not complete works. This way, composers could submit ideas they wanted to experiment with in order to complete pieces in progress.

Three composers were selected in a competitive screening process to participate in Choral Sketches. Joseph Rubenstein, Ursula Kwong-Brown, and Saunder

Choi (who is also a Pacific Chorale member) worked remotely with O’Regan over several weeks, receiving coaching as they refined their compositional ideas and techniques. Then in October, the three composers and Tarik joined Rob Istad and 16 members of Pacific Chorale’s professional core in a live, public workshop to hear their sketches sung for the first time. Rob, Tarik and the singers provided feedback and input on topics including vocal techniques, acoustic principles, and notation. The participating composers came away with a better understanding of how their musical ideas can be realized. All three have been invited to submit their works for further feedback and performance consideration once they are complete.

In the Community