PLAYING. SHARING. INSPIRING.

Yuri Ivan, Music Director Lawrence Weller, Guest Conductor

Noelle Noonan, Host

The Sixteenth Annual Masters Concerto and Aria Concert

Saturday, March 29, 2014 7:30 PM

Annunciation Catholic Church Minneapolis, Minnesota

~ Program ~

Bassoon Concerto in A minor, RV 497 Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)

I. Allegro molto II. Andante molto III. Allegro

Marta Troicki, Bassoon

Othello, Act IV Giuseppe Verdi Desdemona’s Willow Song: “Salce, salce” (1813 - 1901)

Leah Reichardt, Soprano Lawrence Weller, Guest Conductor

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886)

I. Allegro maestoso II. Quasi adagio III. Allegro vivace – Allegro animato IV. Allegro marziale animato

Jing Chang, Piano

~ Intermission – 10 Minutes ~

Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Opus 16 Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 – 1975) I. Allegro

Michael Ware, Piano

Violin Concerto No. 1 in D, Opus 19 Sergei Prokofiev (1891 – 1953)

I. Andantino Evan Shallcross, Violin

Cello Concerto in E Minor, Opus 85 Edward Elgar (1857 – 1934)

IV. Allegro; Moderato; Allegro, ma non-troppo; Poco piu lento; Adagio

Rosalind Leavell, Cello

~ Please join us for a reception on the lower level following the concert. ~

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~ Biographies ~ Marta Troicki studied bassoon in both the United States and Europe, earning a Bachelor of Science Music Education Degree from Hofstra University in New York State, a Masters of Music Degree from the Purchase Conservatory of Music in New York State, and an Artist Diploma Degree from the F. Chopin Conservatory of Music in Warsaw, Poland. During her years in New York, she enjoyed performing with New York Choral Society Orchestra, Queensborough Symphony Orchestra, The Westchester Symphony, Adelphi Symphony Orchestra, and Five: a Woodwind Quintet. Ms. Troicki has performed at numerous venues including the Carnegie Music Hall in New York City, and many chamber and orchestral settings. Following her move to Pittsburgh, she held a principal bassoon position with Pittsburgh Live Chamber Orchestra. Beyond the United States and Europe, Ms. Troicki also played with the United Arab Emirates Philharmonic Orchestra in Dubai. Presently, she enjoys playing with the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and Exultate. This season, in addition to performing the Vivaldi Concerto for Bassoon with the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Troicki will perform Francesco Mignone Concertino for Bassoon and Chamber Orchestra with the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Her principal teachers include Nancy Goeres, Donald MacCourt, and Boguslaw Gadawski. She has studied, most recently, with John Miller and Norbert Nielubowski. Ms. Troicki lives in Edina with her husband and three children.

Leah Reichardt, who has studied voice at MacPhail for the past five years, is a four-time winner of the Edith Norberg Scholarship and the 2013 recipient of the Jessica Schwartzbauer Memorial Scholarship. Ms. Reichardt has been soprano soloist and section leader at the Valley Community Presbyterian Church in Golden Valley, Minnesota since the fall of 2012. From 2010 to 2012, she was a singer with the music team of Crosspoint Church in Bloomington, Minnesota. She won the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra Masters Concerto and Aria Competition in 2009 and MacPhail’s Concerto and Aria Competition in 2010 and 2013. Ms. Reichardt performs in the Twin Cities and surrounding area for various events, including the Fridays in the Valley Chamber Music Series, the Hennepin County Bar Memorial, Northfield’s Vintage Band Festival, occasionally joins a choir for the opening of Twins games, and also sings at weddings. Ms. Reichardt began her vocal studies at a private studio in Texas, studying with Billie Royer. Since then, her studies have taken her to the Wausau Conservatory of Music in Wausau, Wisconsin, a summer opera program in Italy with Scuola Italia and a year in the Musikinstitut in Erlangen, Germany. At MacPhail, she studies voice with Manon Gimlett; she also studies with Manon and collaborative pianist Sue Ruby in the Interlude Music Theater Performance Lab. Ms. Reichardt works full time, but along with her studies and performances enjoys kayaking, hiking, snowshoeing and reading.

Jing Chang is currently studying for her Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Professor Paul Shaw at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. She has performed widely as a soloist in both the United States and China. Ms. Chang served as an assistant professor in the China Conservatory from 2008 to 2011, and then began her studies at the University of Minnesota in 2012. She was the winner of the 2013 University of Minnesota Concerto Competition and starting in 1996, she won multiple awards in major Chinese national young artist piano competitions. One notable performance she has attended was the “Steinway & Sons 150th Anniversary Celebration and Concert” in Beijing, Forbidden City in 2003. She has appeared in many contemporary music festivals in China as the new piece premiere performer since 2002, including piano solo pieces as well as chamber music. Michael Ware is an amateur musician whose love of music began at the age of seven when he started piano studies. He later became proficient at both flute and oboe and served as either principal flutist or oboist for numerous youth bands and orchestras. Most notably, these included principal flute with Pasadena All-School Honor Orchestra, and principal oboe with the San Gabriel Valley Junior Symphony. During his junior year, Mr. Ware was chosen as one of the nation’s top 100 high school band musicians and was invited to join the United States Collegiate Wind band for a month-long European tour. Mr. Ware attended the University of Redlands, in Redlands, California, majoring in psychology. While there, he continued his piano studies with Dr. Leslie Mackett and was selected one of five winners of the University of Redlands concerto competition; a win culminating in his performance on the President’s Honor Recital - the School of Music’s premier music event, hosted annually by the president of the university. Currently, Mr. Ware studies piano with Elise Middlefort at MacPhail School of Music where he is a winner of the school's concerto and aria competition. A native of Pasadena, Mr. Ware moved to the Twin Cities in 2008 to complete a Ph. D in psychology at the University of Minnesota. In that same year he was elected to the Phi Kappa Phi, and Phi Delta Gamma national honor societies. He currently teaches psychology and conducts research on interpersonal relationships, and social networks.

Evan Shallcross traces his musical beginnings to a song-filled home, his dad's record collection (Copland, Beethoven, Beatles), and generous mentors Taichi and Robin Chen, down the block. Opportunities to train in the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies and the Minnesota Youth Symphonies, as well as chamber music study with cellist Tom Rosenberg, set his sights on a career in music. During undergraduate study at Oberlin Conservatory, Mr. Shallcross collaborated with several composer peers in forming and premiering their new works. Under the guidance of his teacher, Milan Vitek, he served as concertmaster of the Oberlin Orchestra, performing the solos in Rimsky-Korsakov's "Sheherezade". He continued performance studies at the Yale School of Music with Syoko Aki, honing his instrumental skills while broadening his musical reach into conducting as well as composition. Mr. Shallcross has been invited to participate in international competitions, including the 2011 Mozart Competition and the 2012 Carl Nielsen Competition. Most recently, he has enjoyed teaching and freelancing in Minnesota and elsewhere, performing with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Macao Orchestra.

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Rosalind Leavell began studying cello at age six with former principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra William Stokking. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Minnesota, where she studies with Tanya Remenikova. Ms. Leavell was a fellowship recipient at the Aspen Music Festival and School, and has won first prizes at the Thursday Musical Young Artist Scholarship Competition, the Schubert Club Scholarship Competition, the Mary West Solo Competition, and the University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. She has been featured on Classical Minnesota Public Radio and has performed as soloist with the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, the University of Minnesota Campus Orchestra, and will perform with the University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra this year. Ms. Leavell is currently the principal cellist of the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra. Lawrence Weller, a Chicago native, received his formal music training at the University of Illinois and Indiana University. He has performed as singer or conductor in concerts and operas throughout North America, Europe, and South America. Mr. Weller has premiered more than 75 new works, performed 28 principal roles in opera and musical theater, and has been featured in recordings on seven labels. He has performed regularly with numerous musical organizations in Minnesota, the upper Midwest, and nationally, and is consistently active as a singer, conductor, teacher, clinician, and adjudicator. Mr. Weller holds the title of Professor Emeritus from the University of Minnesota School of Music. Yuri Ivan became the Music Director of the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra in 2007. He completed his formal music training in Ukraine where his main teachers were Jarema Skybinky amd Mykola Kolessa. Mr. Ivan also studied with Yuri Simonov, Adalberto Tonnini, Vjacheslav Blinov, and Yuri Lutsiv. After graduating from The State Conservatory of Music in Lviv, he was engaged, from 1996 to 2000, as an Associate Conductor at The State Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, where he conducted productions including The Marriage of Figaro, Rigoletto, La Traviata, Carmen, Pagliacci, Eugene Oneguine, Die Fledermaus, La Fille Mal Gardée, Giselle, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty. In 2001, Mr. Ivan was named Artistic Director of Trans-Carpathian Philharmonic, co-founded the Uzhgorod Youth Orchestra, and the Young Virtuosi music festival in Ukraine. He also appeared with LVMI Opera, the National Symphony-Pops Orchestra of Ukraine, the National Broadcasting Company Orchestra of Ukraine and the Northern Hungarian Symphony. Recently, Mr. Ivan completed his doctoral studies in conducting at the University of Minnesota where he studied with Akira Mori and Craig Kirchhoff. Currently, Mr. Ivan is the Music Director at St. Constantine Ukrainian Catholic Church and is active in the artistic life of the Twin Cities metro area, collaborating with a range of artistic and educational organizations. Mr. Ivan has served since 2006 as the Music Director of the Linden Hills Chamber Orchestra. The Kenwood Symphony Orchestra was founded as the Kenwood Chamber Orchestra in 1972 as an adult education class at the Kenwood Community Center. From those humble beginnings, the orchestra quickly grew in membership, ability, and reputation. Over the years, several gifted conductors have graced the podium, including Uri Barnea, Lee Humphries, Jim Riccardo, Jeannine Wager, William Intriligator, Myles Hernandez, Kenneth Freed, and Jeffrey Stirling. Since September 2007, KSO has been under the direction of Yuri Ivan. Based at Washburn High School, KSO is comprised of more than 50 highly accomplished volunteer musicians passionate about playing and sharing great music. KSO is a nonprofit organization financed primarily by members’ dues, financial gifts from friends and supporters, and our annual Masters Concerto and Aria event. Learn more at www.kenwoodsymphonyorchestra.org.

~ Acknowledgements ~ Annunciation Church

for their enthusiastic support in hosting this concert.

Schmitt Music in Roseville for providing space for the competition auditions.

Please visit schmittmusic.com

Music rental made possible in part by a grant from the Cy and Paula DeCosse Fund

of The Minneapolis Foundation.

Leonard and Ellen Pratt and Pratt Homes for endowing our Concertmaster Chair.

Visit pratthomes.com to find your new dream home.

16th Annual MCAC Sponsors

Conductor ($250 to $749)

Concert Master ($50 to $249)

Section Leader (Up to $49)

3M Foundation Medtronic Foundation

Leonard and Ellen Pratt William and Sarah Swarts

Anne Cheney House of Note

Dan Kammeyer Ellen J. Maas Vern Maetzold

E Anne McKinsey Kay Miller

Jean L. Mitchell

Helen Ann Nelson Margaret and Lester Oestreich

Marla B. Ordway Wallace and Lorraine Pratt

Marilyn Pronovici Sharon Radman Samuel Sharp Anne Swarts

Rita Franchett Nancy Fuenffinger

Ann Markuson

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~ About the Competition ~

The Masters Concerto and Aria Competition (MCAC) was originally created by KSO to serve as a unique opportunity for adult amateur musicians over the age of 25 to compete with their peers for the chance to perform with an orchestra. Over the years, we found the competition attracting musicians in the midst of masters or doctoral studies and starting with the 2009 annual competition, we created a second category for the ‘Emerging Professional’. Tonight we are pleased to present the top two competitors from the Amateur category and the top four competitors from the Emerging Professional category. You can learn more about the competition rules and find an application form on our website at kenwoodsymphonyorchestra.org.

~ The Competition Judges ~

James Olcott, a native of Berkeley, California, was a member of the music faculty at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where he taught trumpet, conducted the internationally recognized trumpet ensemble, and headed the jazz program from 1978 until his retirement in 2013. He previously taught at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Fort Hays State University (Kansas). Mr. Olcott held the position of principal trumpet with the Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra for 25 years. He also held this position with the Middletown (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra, the Tidewater Music Festival (Maryland), the Peter Britt Music Festival (Oregon), and the International Festival at Round-Top, Texas, among others. His orchestral background includes performances with the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Companies, and the Metropolitan Opera Company. Mr. Olcott is an active free-lancer well versed in piccolo trumpet, the other small trumpets, and B-flat and flugelhorn concepts and styles. He performed professionally in jazz and classical idioms throughout the Cincinnati-Dayton, Ohio area and was the founder and music director of the Cincinnati Herald Trumpet Ensemble. Retirement brought him to Minneapolis where he performs with numerous classical and jazz groups, including KSO, the Canon Brass, the Wild Prairie Brass Ensemble, and large jazz ensembles led by Bill Simenson, Kevin Mills, and Jerry O'Hagen. Herbert Johnson has served as Professor of Piano and Director of Keyboard Activities at Bethel University since 2008. Previously, he taught applied piano and theory at North Central University for fourteen years. Before his arrival in the Twin Cities, he taught at King’s College in Briarcliff Manor, New York and Evangel College in Springfield, Missouri. Mr. Johnson received his doctorate in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He participates in numerous musical activities in the metropolitan area including chamber music recitals, worship services and sacred concerts. In the summers of 1997-98, he traveled to Ukraine with the Kairos Chamber Ensemble performing in churches and musical institutions in Kiev and Cherkassy. He has also performed with the Kruspe Horn Trio throughout Minnesota and is a member of the Minnesota Music Teachers Association and Music Teachers National Association. Mr. Johnson is in demand as an adjudicator for state competitions and festivals, has taught masterclasses, and conducts workshops for music teachers.

Paul Shaw is hailed by The New York Times as "both a virtuoso with herculean technical command and a sensitive introspective artist." Originally from Jamaica, he has appeared on three continents, inspiring appreciative audiences and music critics alike in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. A top prize-winner in the William Kapell International Piano Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Mr. Shaw has performed to high critical acclaim at prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York; the Kennedy Center and the Hall of the Americas in Washington, D.C.; and Beethovenhalle in Bonn. He has appeared as soloist with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic, Dayton Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, Shreveport Symphony, Cape Cod Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra and collaborated with conductors Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, William Eddins, George Manahan, Jorge Mester, Lukas Foss, and others. He has completed two successful recital tours of Taiwan and made his second visit to Central America in August 2003, appearing in a series of recitals at the Thirteenth Costa Rica Festival Internacional de Música. In December 2004 and 2007, he was featured in Teatru Unplugged, an annual event held at the historic Manoel Theatre in Valletta, Malta showcasing international artists performing in a variety of musical genres. Mr. Shaw’s performances led the Times of Malta to describe him as "a concert pianist of towering talent." In September 2010, he became the first artist from the Caribbean to appear in recital at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China. Mr. Shaw was educated at The Juilliard School where, as recipient of the William Petschek, Maro Ajemian, and Isabel Mason Scholarships, he earned the B.M., M.M. and D.M.A degrees, respectively. Jim Bartsch is a music educator and performer in the Twin Cities. Formerly Education Director with the Minnesota Orchestra, be is currently Orchestra and Guitar teacher at Highview Middle School in the Mounds View School District. He is also a conductor with the Minnesota Youth Symphonies and a member of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra. Active as a guest conductor and adjudicator, Mr. Bartsch recently conducted the Suburban East Conference High School Festival Orchestra, the Tri Metro High School Festival Orchestra, and the UW-Madison Music Clinic Orchestra.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota

through grants from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and

cultural heritage fund.

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~ Translation of “Salce, salce” ~

He seemed so to me. He told me to undress, get into bed and wait for him.

Emilia, please Lay out my pure white wedding garments upon my bed. Listen! If I happen to die before you Bury me in one of those veils. I am sad always, always.

My mother had a poor maid, She was in love and beautiful. Her name was Barbara; She loved a man that then abandoned her, And she sang a song; The song of the willow. Undo my hair. This evening I have haunted memories of this lullaby.

"She wept singing in the lonely land, the sad girl wept. O Willow, Willow, Willow! She sat with her head inclining upon her breast, O Willow, Willow, Willow! Let's sing! Let's sing! The willow will be my funeral garland."

Hurry; Otello will be coming in a little while.

"The brook flowed between the flowering banks, She moaned in grief,

And her eyes flowed with bitter tears In which her heart sought solace. Willow! Willow! Willow! Let's sing! Let's sing! The willow will be my funeral garland.”

“The birds flew down from branches towards this sweet singing And her eyes wept so much that the rocks pitied her."

Here take this ring. Poor Barbara! She used to end her song with this simple saying:

"He was born for glory, I for love."

Listen! I heard a moan. Who knocks at the door?

"I to love him and to die. Let's sing! Let's sing! Willow! Willow! Willow!”

Emilia, farewell, How my eyes do itch this evening! Is it the presence of weeping? Good night. Ah! Emilia, Emilia, farewell! Emilia, farewell!

~ KSO Personnel ~

Violin I Flute Trumpet Dih-Dih Huang Marc Brudewold t Howard Brahmstedt t Te- Chiang Liu t Anne Cheney Jim Olcott Leonard Pratt Chair Leslie Pietila Bob Zobal Aja Majkrzak Julie Pronovici Piccolo French Horn Steve Rolin Leslie Pietila v Nicole Danielson David Wiebelhaus v Erika Hammerschmidt Oboe Robert Meier Violin II t Julie Brusen vt Jeff Ohlmann t Erin Clark v Rebecca Kimpton v Brian Rule Clair Ganzel Tammy Riste Wahlin David Otero Trombone Megan Peterson English Horn v Hans Arlton (Bass) Laura Simonson v Rebecca Kimpton tv John Maddox Tammy Riste Wahlin v Patrick Stauffer Viola t Ann Bur Clarinet Tuba Patrick McCarthy v Dave Clark Sam Sharp Erika Neely Shelagh MacLeod Derick Rehurek t Brian Zumwalde Percussion Sandy Sample t John Litch Liz Zogby Bass Clarinet Corey Sevett Shelagh MacLeod Cello Harp Todd Grill Bassoon v Jim Buxton Hayley Nelson Brian Hadley Katherine Nyseth v Alex Legeros t Lindsay Schlemmer t Ellen Maas Pratt Anne Swarts Bass t Stacy Aldrich t - Section Leader Neill Merck v - Guest Musician

The KSO mission is to play, share, and inspire great music by: - Offering performance opportunities - Programming appealing repertoire

- Performing free concerts - Including under-served communities - Bringing learning to life through music

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