Virtual Concert – Severance Hall 2007

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The Medina Community Band, under the baton of Marcus Neiman,  appeared in concert with the Case Western Reserve University Concert Winds and Symphony Winds, under the baton of Dr. Gary Ciepluch, on Sunday, October 14, 2007, in Severance Music Hall (Cleveland, OH). Medina Community Band is sponsored and supported by the Medina Community Band Association, at the time a standing committee of the Medina Breakfast Kiwanis Club.  Don Moore was president of the Medina Community Band Association. The concert appearance marked the second appearance of Medina Community Band, under Neiman’s baton at Severance, the first performance appearance being on October 12, 2002.

Featured soloists are Mary Ann Grof-Neiman, clarinet; David Adamson, guest conductor; Marcia Nelson-Kline and Paul Rocco, B-flat piccolo trumpet; Denise Milner Howell, mezzo-soprano; Daniel Doty, tenor; and Amy Thach-McArtor and Sue McLaughlin flute.

The Medina Community Band’s program consisted of Festive Overture, Op. 96 (Shostakovich/Hunsberger); Suite Algerienne, March Militaire Française, Op. 6 (Saint-Saens); Concertino for Clarinet (von Weber/Reed) with Mary Ann Grof-Neiman, soloist, David Adamson, guest conductor; Una Voca Poco Fa from The Barber of Seville (Rossini/Barrow) with Denise Milner Howell, soloist; Concerto in C Major for Two Trumpets (Vivaldi/Lang), with Marcia Nelson-Kline and Paul Rocco, soloists; Nessun Dorma from Turandot (Puccini/Stauffer), with Daniel Doty, soloist; Celtic Flutes (Gable), with Amy Muhl and Sue McLaughlin, soloists; Shoutin’ Liza Trombone (Fillmore); and, The Stars and Stripes Forever (Sousa).

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Medina Community Band Program

Severance Music Hall – Cleveland, Ohio

Sunday, October 14, 2007

The community band program opened with Daniel Doty’s narration to Shostakovich’s exciting Festive Overture, Op. 69.

The Festive Overture was composed in 1954, in the period between Symphony No. 10 and the Violin Concerto. Its American premiere was given by Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony Orchestra on November 16, 1955. In 1956, the New York Philharmonic under Dmitri Mitropoulos presented the overture in Carnegie Hall.  A Russian band version of the overture was released in 1958 and utilized the standard instrumentation of the Russian military band, i.e., a complete orchestral wind, brass and percussion section plus a full family of saxhorns, ranging from the Bb soprano down through the Bb contrabass saxhorn. This new edition has been scored for the instrumentation of the American symphonic band.  The Festive Overture is an excellent curtain raiser and contains one of Shostakovich’s greatest attributes — the ability write a long sustained melodic line combined with a pulsating rhythmic drive. In addition to the flowing melodic passages, there are also examples of staccato rhythmic sections which set off the flowing line and the variant fanfares. It is truly a “festive overture.” (Note from the score, by Donald Hunsberger)

The gestation of Shostakovich’s Festive Overture has been subject to several different theories. One author claims that it was originally written in 1947, but was suppressed by Shostakovich along with many of his compositions created during this repressive period of Soviet history. Others believe that the celebratory quality of the overture displays Shostakovich’s relief at the death of Josef Stalin (in 1953), whose regime had twice censored the composer and his music. Most probably, the work was commissioned for a gathering at the Bolshoi Theater in November of 1954, celebrating the 37th anniversary of the October Revolution. The conductor, Vasili Nebolsin, realized that he had no appropriate piece to open the high-profile concert. He approached Shostakovich, who was at the time a musical consultant at the Bolshoi. The composer set to work, and the overture was completed in three days, the individual pages of the score being taken by courier before the ink had dried to copyists waiting at the theater to create the orchestra parts. Although written in haste, the overture has proved to be one of Shostakovich’s most frequently performed works. (Program Note from University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Wind Ensemble concert program, 19 November 2015)

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Denise Milner-Howell offered the narration for Saint-Saëns’ march.

Saint Saëns wrote The Suite Algérienne, Op. 60, in 1880.  The Marche militaire française is the fourth and final movement of the suite. The Suite “Algérienne” has for its title on the score “Picturesque Impressions of a Voyage to Algeria.” In the last movement a French military march is worked up in elaborate style. A note to the score indicates that the composer not only emphasizes his joy in viewing the French garrison, but also the security felt under its protection. Judged by the pomposity of the march rhythm, the composer’s joy and sense of security knew no bounds in expression.

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Son of a social climbing soldier of fortune (the “von” is not a title but an affectation); Carl Maria von Weber was born lame but musically gifted. Although the boy’s early essays in music were unsuccessful – leading to the elder Weber’s anger that his son was not a great prodigy – he rose to fame some years later as the composer of the revolutionary operas Der Freischutz and Euryanthe. His Concertino, Op. 26 for Clarinet is one of the great and most popular works of the clarinetist’s repertoire. Its first performance was on April 5, 1811 and was such a success that Weber was commissioned to write two more selections for the clarinet. These fine works established the clarinet as a leading instrument for the expression of Romantic music.

Mary Ann Grof-Neiman, clarinet, received her bachelor of science in music education degree from the Bowling Green State University. Ms. Grof-Neiman has served as principal clarinetist with the Sounds of Sousa Band and as clarinetist for the Blossom Festival Band, the Cleveland Winds, Lakeland Civic Band, Lakeside Symphony Orchestra, Youngstown Symphony, Chagrin Falls Studio Orchestra and Erie Philharmonic. She currently performs with the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra, Lakewood Home Town Band, Akron Symphonic Winds and Medina Community Band, where she serves as band librarian. She maintains private studios at Baldwin Wallace University Community Music School as well as her home in Medina. She has served the Ohio Music Education Association as a Woodwind Adjudicator for over 30 years and is a member of AFM Local 4. She resides in Medina with her husband Marcus and their cat Dmitri.

David N. Adamson, clarinet, saxophone, conductor: Received his B.M.E. degree from the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music.  His M.M. degree in Woodwind Performance was earned from the University of Michigan.   A public-school instrumental music teacher for 16 years, his bands consistently earned the highest ratings.  He adjudicated students throughout the state for the Ohio Music Education Association and works for the Ohio Foundation for Music Education, organizations for which he previously served in the capacity of Business Manager and Development Director. He worked in music retail for 17 years and was the Woodwind Department Chair at the Cleveland Music School Settlement. Mr. Adamson performed in the northeast Ohio area on clarinet and saxophone and is a member of the Sounds of Sousa Band, the Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Festival Band, and the Lakewood Hometown Band. He enjoyed guest conducting the Medina Community Band. He is the music director emeritus of the All Generations Band of Cleveland Heights.

 

 

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The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution, is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais’s French comedy Le Barbier de Séville (1775). The première of Rossini’s opera (under the title Almaviva, o sia L’inutile precauzione) took place on 20 February 1816 at the Teatro Argentina, Rome. Rossini’s Barber has proven to be one of the greatest masterpieces of comedy within music, and has been described as the opera buffa of all “opere buffe”. Even after two hundred years, its popularity on the modern opera stage attests to that greatness.

The aria Una Voce Poco Fa is a cavatina from Act I, Scene 2. A cavatina is a musical term, originally meaning a short song of simple character, without a second strain or any repetition of the air. It is now frequently applied to any simple, melodious air, as distinguished from brilliant arias or recitatives, many of which are part of a larger movement or scene in oratorio or opera. (Program Note from Wikipedia)

Denise Milner Howell, mezzo-soprano, is a versatile performer of opera, concerts, and recitals, whose singing has been called “superb” (Cleveland Classical).  Ms. Howell’s solo engagements include performances with Cleveland Opera Theater, Opera Cleveland, Chautauqua Opera,  Kent/Blossom Festival, Nightingale Opera Theatre, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Akron Lyric Opera Theatre, Akron Baroque, Tanglewood Festival, Carousel Dinner Theatre, and Buffalo Philharmonic. Recent performances include leading roles in Little Women (Meg), Amahl and the Night Visitors (Mother), Carmen (Mercédès), La cambiale di matrimonio (Clara), Robert Ward’s The Crucible (Rebecca Nurse), and Iolanthe (Celia). A frequent concert soloist, Ms. Howell has performed the alto solos in Handel’s Messiah, Mozart Requiem, Bach Magnificat, Haydn Lord Nelson Mass, Verdi Requiem, Vivaldi Gloria and Duruflé Requiem. Additionally, Ms. Howell is committed to the performance of new works by living composers, and has been heard at Cleveland Ingenuity Festival and New to New York Concert Series. In addition to performing, Ms. Howell is an active voice teacher.  She currently teaches at Cleveland Institute of Music/Case Western Reserve University, and Kent State University Hugh A. Glauser School of Music. She lives in Sharon Township, Ohio with her husband, Gregg, and their three children.

 

 

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Antonio Vivaldi was trained for the priesthood and ordained in 1703 but soon after his ordination ceased to say Mass. he claimed this was because of his unsure health (he is

known to have suffered from chest complaints, possibly asthma or angina). In 1703 he was appointed maestro di violino at the Ospedale della Pietà, one of the Venetian girls’ orphanages; he remained there until 1709, and held the post again, 1711-16; he then became maestro de’ concerti. Later, when he was away from Venice, he retained his connection with the Pietà (at one period he sent two concertos by post each month). He became maestro di cappella, 1735-8; even after then he supplied concertos and directed performances on special occasions. His Concerto for two trumpets was originally written in the key of C.  Please welcome Marcia Nelson-Kline and Paul Rocco in the first movement of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Trumpets in B-flat, first movement.

Marcia Nelson Kline, Copley resident Marcia Nelson Kline began her trumpet studies with parents Milton and Sarah Nelson, Lloyd Haines, and further advanced her studies with Harry Herforth and James Darling.  She is a member of Medina Community Band (since 1984) and Brass Band of the Western Reserve (since 1997) and has performed with Marcus Neiman’s Sound of Sousa Band, Mill Street Brass Quintet, and Cleveland Women’s Orchestra.  She is featured as a cornet soloist on Medina Community Band’s CD “Sounds of Summer”.  Marcia has an associate degree in medical assisting from The University of Akron and is retired from the Cleveland Clinic where she was an ophthalmic technician.

 

 

Paul V. Rocco, originally from Brooklyn, New York, studied trumpet at SUNY at Fredonia, later completing a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts Music at the University of Akron. While at The University of Akron, he studied with Tucker Jolly and Scott Johnston, continuing with Geoff Hardcastle after graduation. Rocco moved to Ohio to take the position of police officer for the City of Medina, retiring in 2009 after 20 years of service.  He became a member of Medina Community Band in 1989. He also performs with the Brass Band of the Western Reserve. Rocco is presently teaching private trumpet lessons for Barberton Middle and High Schools, and Green Middle School. He resides in Medina with wife Gayle, son Gary, three rescue dogs and a cat.

 

 

 

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Denise Milner Howell introduces tenor Dan Doty.

Giacomo Puccini has been called the greatest composer of Italian opera after Verdi. While his early work was rooted in traditional late-19th-century romantic Italian opera, he successfully developed his work in the ‘realistic’ verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents. From Turandot “Nessun dorma” Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924). In his sixties, Giacomo Puccini decided to “strike out on new paths.” The result was Turandot, a fantastic tale from the eighteenth century set in a mythical China. But Puccini never felt at ease with the plot: “My life is a torture because I fail to see in this opera all the throbbing life and power which are necessary in a work for the theater if it is to endure,” he wrote in desperation. He agonized over the opera for four years, finally dying of throat cancer before he finished the last scene.

To avenge the rape and death of a distant ancestress, the Chinese princess Turandot challenges her suitors with three riddles and, if they fail to answer them correctly, has them beheaded. Prince Calaf has just seen Turandot on the ramparts of the palace and is instantly bewitched by her beauty. He beats Turandot at her own game. For many of the arias and ensembles, Puccini used authentic Chinese melodies. Calaf has now challenged her to discover his true name, agreeing to sacrifice his life if she fails.  Turandot orders the citizens of Peking to uncover Calaf’s disguise, while he muses about the sleepless citizens, anticipating his ultimate victory over Turandot, but not before Liu, his slave who adores him, sacrifices her life in the face of torture

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Kurt Gäble was born on January 5, 1953. In Augsburg he studied music, fine arts and pedagogic sciences. He developed his talents as composer and arranger as an autodidact and as an expert in matters of the wind band.  The flute is an instrument of historic bearing, as it is known in almost all cultures on earth. Some rulers considered the sound to be too erotic and immoral, and therefore prohibited to play it. Today, the flute has become one of the most popular instruments. The ancient Celts originally settled in southern Germany. They used this instrument to accompany their religious rites and in many of their ceremonies. Dances of Celtic-Irish nature presently undergo a true revival. “Celtic Flutes” was composed as solo for two flutes and symphonic wind band. Keeping with the style, the piece uses authentic material of the composer in the dramaturgy of human life, as love and suffering, joy and hope constitute the thematic elements of this work.  

 

Sue McLaughlin (photo on right) has been a member of the Medina Community Band since 1994 and is a former flute student of Deidre McGuire.  While in school, she was a member of the band, orchestra, and jazz band, playing clarinet and saxophone.  In addition to playing flute and piccolo in the Medina Community Band, Sue has also performed with Marcus Neiman and The Sounds of Sousa Band, Symphony West Orchestra, Medina Show Biz, St. Paul Lutheran Church orchestra, St. Paul Lutheran Celebration Worship Team, the Western Star Flute Choir and several other area churches.  She is retired from 24 years with Southwest General Health Center.  Sue lives in Medina with her two cats, Truffles and Kokopelli. She has a married daughter and two wonderful grandsons!  She is section leader for the flute section, media/public relations contact for the band and secretary of the Medina Community Band Association.

Amy Muhl (photo on left) has been a member of Medina Community Band since 1998.  Originally from Lyme, Connecticut, moved to Ohio to study music education at Oberlin Conservatory in 1991.  She graduated in 1995 and taught orchestra for two years in the Willard City Schools.  Amy received her masters of music education from Kent State University on a scholarship, in 1998.  She then taught instrumental music at Buckeye High School, in Medina (OH) and in the fall of 1999, became the elementary band teacher for Buckeye Local Schools.  In the fall of 2001, she began teaching elementary instrumental music at Central Intermediate School in the Wadsworth City Schools.  Amy also plays flute/piccolo and piano and teaches private lessons, in addition to being a member of Medina Community Band and Sounds of Sousa Band.  She is also treasurer of the Medina Community Band Association.  Amy resides in Wadsworth with her husband Frank, and three children Kenneth, Eva and Simon.

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Henry Fillmore gained fame as the Father of the Trombone Smear wrote a series of 15 novelty characteristic tunes featuring trombone smears called “The Trombone Family.  Written in strong ragtime or Vaudeville style, the smear features the trombone section. Shoutin’ Liza Trombone was the eighth characteristic smear composed by Fillmore, and carried the subtitle “Mose Trombone’s Ah-finity.”  Recalling Henry’s early conflicts with his father about his music, it is interesting to note that this was originally titled “Hallelujah Trombone” in reference to the opening motif which is taken from Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.” Knowing that his hymnal-publishing father would never approve of such blasphemy, Henry recalled the first printing which did go out with the title “Hallelujah Trombone” and retitled it Shoutin’ Liza Trombone.  When performing the work as a guest conductor, Henry would bring the trombone section to the front of the stage, play the introduction and, before the pick-ups to the first strain, would say to the audience.  “Let us have a moment of prayer for the trombone section.”  He would they yell “Shoot em!” and tear into the first glissando, that section marked “with pep.”

 

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The Stars and Stripes Forever (March) is considered the finest march ever written, and at the same time one of the most patriotic ever conceived.  As reported in the Philadelphia Public Ledger (May 15, 1897) “ … It is stirring enough to rouse the American eagle from his crag, and set him to shriek exultantly while he hurls his arrows at the aurora borealis.”  The most probable inspiration for the march, came from Mr. Sousa’s own homesickness.  He had been away from his homeland for some time on tour, and told an interviewer:

“In a kind of dreamy way, I used to think over old days at Washington when I was leader of the Marine Band … when we played at all public functions, and I could see the Stars and Stripes flying from the flagstaff in the grounds of the White House just as plainly as if I were back there again.” “Then I began to think of all the countries I had visited, of the foreign people I had met, of the vast differences between America and American people and other countries and other peoples, and that flag our ours became glorified … and to my imagination it seemed to be the biggest, grandest, flag in the world, and I could not get back under it quick enough.” “It was in this impatient, fretful state of mind that the inspiration to compose ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever’ came to me.”