Season Finale
Performed Sunday, May 18, 2014 - 7:30 p.m.
Lesher Center for the Arts
1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek CA
Lesher Center for the Arts
1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek CA
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![]() The CCWS was pleased to present an evening of music by Dutch composer and conductor Johan de Meij. We also were proud to host him as guest conductor.
To many, his music is regarded as some of the best new material and arrangements for wind symphony. To those unfamiliar with his music, this performance was sure to turn them into new fans! |
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![]() American mezzo-soprano Kristin Gornstein has brought her vibrant stage presence and supple voice to a diverse repertoire ranging from Handel to improvisational modern and electronic music. She was featured with the wind symphony in two of Johan de Meij's compositions. One sung in Swedish and one in German. |
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![]() Ensemble is the flagship performing group of the Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir. It represents the organization in international competitions and festivals, and holds a reputation as an exemplary children's choir.
It joined de Meij and Gornstein in the West Coast premiere of de Meij's Symphony No. 4, Symphony of Songs - a major work written for wind symphony, solo voice and children's choir. The performance was sung in German, with translating supertitles projected for the audience. |
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PROGRAM
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Spring - Overture for Wind Orchestra ................................................ Johan de Meij
Johan de Meij, Conductor Based on the Swedish folk song "When I Was Eighteen" In Swedish with English supertitles Kristin Gornstein, Mezzo Soprano Symphony No. 4 Sinfonie der Lieder (Symphony of Songs) ................ Johan de Meij Johan de Meij, Conductor In German with English supertitles Kristin Gornstein, Mezzo Soprano Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir – Ensemble I. Ein Jahr ist nun geschwunden II. Wenn zur Thür herein III. Wiedersehn IV. Zwei Brüder V. Vorfrühling VI. Liedchen des Harlekin *** INTERMISSION *** La Quintessenza ................................................................................ Johan de Meij Duane Carroll, Conductor I. Introduzione II. Capriccio III. Arioso IV. Alla Marcia V. Finale Highlights from Riverdance ....................................... Bill Whelan/Arr. Johan de Meij Johan de Meij, Conductor Cloudsong • Firedance • Lift the Wings Dance of the River Woman • Finale: Riverdance Songs from the Catskills ..................................................................... Johan de Meij Johan de Meij, Conductor The Foggy Dew • Last Winter Was a Hard One A Poor and Foreign Stranger • The Bluestone Quarries The Arkansas Traveler • The Old Tobacco Box |
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PROGRAM NOTES
by composer Johan de Meij
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Spring - Overture for Wind Orchestra
This piece begins with an overture that recounts the magical reawakening that comes with spring’s arrival in Sweden. After a long and dark winter, creatures great and small join Swedes desperately longing for the first rays of warming sunshine. A melancholic, haunting song, “När som jag var på mitt adertonde år” (“As I Was in My 18th Year”), is first heard from afar. Various instruments from different locations in the concert hall echo the solitary female voice. The aching, soulful melody gradually transforms into a polka-like variation that builds to the joyful, optimistic “Spring” main theme. Creatures venture out from a long hibernation; people emerge from their homes to celebrate; and the main theme converts again into an even more jubilant, fast, dance-like scene. At this point, another well-known Swedish folk song, “Ack Värmeland du sköna” (“Oh Värmland, You Beautiful One”), appears as a countermelody thematically supporting the giddy celebrants. It is first introduced by a brass quartet (two cornets, alto horn, and euphonium) and crescendos into the full, satisfying sounds of a complete brass choir. Symphony No. 4: Sinfonie der Lieder (Symphony of Songs) My Fourth Symphony, for solo voice, children’s choir, and wind orchestra, is inspired by a variety of nineteenth-century German poems. The first three movements use lyrics by Friedrich Rückert from the same source as Gustav Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder. 1. Ein Jahr ist nun geschwunden 2. Wenn zur Thür herein 3. Wiedersehn The second half of the symphony continues the death theme, using a poem by Heinrich Heine (“Two Brothers”). The last two songs, “Early Spring” and “Little Song of the Harlequin,” by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, are a metaphor for rebirth, new life, and hope. 4. Zwei Brüder (Heinrich Heine) 5. Vorfrühling (Hugo von Hofmannsthal) 6. Liedchen des Harlekin (Hugo von Hofmannsthal) La Quintessenza This piece is a musical approach to the quintessence, the heart of the matter. By focusing on a five-note motive in several variations, De Meij tries to get through to the essence of the musical matter. The core of the composition is a lyrical middle part (“Arioso”), preceded by an opening fanfare for brass (“Introduzione”) and a burlesque variation on the same motive (“Capriccio”). In the fourth part (“Alla Marcia”), this main motive is used only as an ambient signal, and in the “Finale,” the opening theme is repeated, so the musical walk-around is complete. Highlights From Riverdance To date, Riverdance has been played more than 10,000 times, has been seen live by more than 22 million people in more than 350 venues throughout 40 countries across 4 continents, has played to a worldwide television audience of more than 2 billion, and has sold more than 3 million copies of its Grammy Award–winning CD and more than 10 million videos, making it one of the best-selling entertainment shows in the world. This new arrangement for wind orchestra of Highlights from Riverdance is the second collaboration between Bill Whelan and Johan de Meij. In 2011 they worked closely together on the arrangement of The Seville Suite, which Whelan originally wrote for the 1992 World Expo in Seville, Spain. The first performance took place on June 25, 2013, at the Ginger Rodgers Theatre in Medford, Oregon, with the American Band College, conducted by Johan de Meij. Songs from the Catskills The Catskill Mountains are a beautifully preserved region in upstate New York, flanked to the east by the Hudson River. From the moment my wife and I settled in 2008 in Saugerties, a quaint Hudson Valley town 100 miles north of Manhattan, I started immersing myself in the area’s rich musical history. Discovering a fascinating mix of American, Irish, and Scottish folk music, I did not find it easy to choose from such abundance. I ended up using the following six songs: • “The Foggy Dew” is of Irish origin but was adopted with another text into the local folk song repertoire. • In “Last Winter was a Hard One,” two Irish immigrant women complain that their husbands cannot find work and that “those Italians” are stealing their jobs. • “A Poor and Foreign Stranger” is a gorgeous, heartbreaking ballad. • “The Bluestone Quarries” describes the hard work in the nineteenth-century stone quarries. This song is very similar to “When Johnny Comes Marching Home.” • “The Arkansas Traveler” was made famous by folksinger Pete Seeger. The music makes a side trip to “The Old Tobacco Box” before coming to a festive conclusion. Songs from the Catskills was commissioned by Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota) and Scott A. Jones, director of bands, for its 2011 Honor Band Weekend. In April 2011, I conducted the work at its premiere, during this event. |
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BIOGRAPHIES
JOHAN DE MEIJ
Johan de Meij (1953) studied trombone and conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Music at The Hague. He has earned international fame as a composer and arranger. De Meij’s Symphony No.1 The Lord of the Rings was his first substantial composition and received the prestigious Sudler Composition Award in 1989. Other major works such as Symphony No. 2 The Big Apple, Symphony no. 3 Planet Earth, T-Bone Concerto (trombone concerto) and Casanova (cello concerto) and shorter works such as Extreme Makeover and Extreme Beethoven have also gained worldwide recognition. Besides composing and arranging, Johan de Meij is active as a performer, conductor, adjudicator and lecturer. As a trombone and euphonium player he has performed with the major orchestras and ensembles in The Netherlands, such as the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, the Dutch Brass Sextet, the Radio Chamber Orchestra, the Amsterdam Wind Orchestra and Orkest ‘De Volharding’. He has conducted some of the leading wind orchestras of Europe, Asia, Australia, North and South America and has led master classes around the world. In 2010, he was appointed regular guest conductor of the renowned Simón Bolívar Youth Wind Orchestra from Caracas, Venezuela. www.johandemeij.com KRISTIN GORNSTEIN American mezzo-soprano Kristin Gornstein brings her vibrant stage presence and supple voice to a diverse repertoire ranging from Handel to improvisational modern and electronic music. Recent performances include the North American premiere of Johan de Meij’s Symphony No. 4, Sinfonie der Lieder (Symphony of Songs), with the New York Wind Symphony, performances in Stockholm, Sweden and Rotterdam, Holland with the Opera Mecatronica ensemble, and the role of Carmen in La Tragédie de Carmen with Indianapolis Opera. Last season Kristin was a semifinalist in the Joy in Singing Competition in New York’s Library of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, as well as an Apprentice Artist with Caramoor Bel Canto under the baton of maestro Wil Crutchfield. Her upcoming operatic performances include Dulcinée in Massenet’s Don Quichotte and Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Kristin resides in New York. PIEDMONT EAST BAY CHILDREN’S CHOIR The acclaimed Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir has been offering boys and girls an outstanding program of choral training and performance since 1982. Ensemble, the Choir's marquee group of older singers, age 12-16, has won many international competitions, records annually, and regularly collaborates with major Bay Area arts organizations such as the Oakland East Bay Symphony, the Mark Morris Dance Company, Berkeley West Edge Opera, and Volti. Ensemble members have often been in the various PEBCC kinder and training groups for more than a decade by the time they are senior members. http://www.piedmontchoirs.org/ SUE BOHLIN, ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR, PERFORMING DEPARTMENT Sue Bohlin joined the Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir faculty in 1984 as Accompanist and has since also served as Director of the Training Department, Girls Beginning Conductor, and Golden Gate Festival Administrator ('95 & '97). She is currently Associate Conductor for the Performing Department, accompanies Ensemble, trains solo singers for special projects, and supervises the performing department's theory program. As a composer, Sue has written most of her music with Piedmont Choirs in mind, and is published by Santa Barbara and Alliance. Sue is a recipient of the Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir's Founders Award. |
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