Vista Philharmonic Orchestra: Season Finale

Bruce Hangen, Artistic Director & Conductor
Stone Family Endowed Music Director’s Chair

Violin I
*Alice Hallstrom, Concertmaster
Anabelle Hangen, Associate Concertmaster
Cindy Cummings
Shuang Yang
Tony Morales
Rebecca Hawkins
Mona Rashad
Stuart Schulman
Jane Dimitry
Lauren Cless
Jorge Soto
Sue Faux
Joanne Sadler

Violin II
*Stanley Silverman
Lynn Basila
Caterina Yetto
John Guarino
Laura Papandrea
Todd Hamelin
Susan Turcotte-Gavriel
Angel Hernandez
Job Salazar
Kyra Davies

Viola
*Peter Sulski
Darcy Montaldi
Oleg Soloviev
Lauren Nelson
Robert Kennedy
Steven Sergi
Jennifer Tanzer
Jing-Huey Wei
Dorcas McCall

Cello
*Young Sook Lee
Ben Swartz
Shay Rudolph
George Hughen
Nathan Kimball
Priscilla Chew
Susan Randazzo
Miguel Vasquez

Bass
*Kevin Green
Michael Simon
John Wall
Kate Foss
Mark Henry
Carion Chu

Flute
*Melissa Mielens
Jessica Lizak
Caitlyn Schmidt
Grace Helmke
Brendan Ryan

Oboe
*Andrew Price
Mary Cicconetti
Anna Bradford
Alessandro Cirafici
Daniel Meza

Clarinet
*Kelli O’Connor
Sandra Halberstadt
Rane Moore
Hunter Bennett
Jan Halloran

Bassoon
*Hazel Malcolmson
Andy Flurer
Susannah Telsey
Isaac Erb
Rachel Juszczak

Horn
*Michael Bellofatto
Nancy Hudgins
Nick Auer
Laura Crook Brisson
Neil Godwin
Jenn Robbins
Kevin Owen
Graham Lovely

Trumpet
*Mark Emery
Spencer Aston
Jesse Levine
Eric Rizzo
Sam Thurston

Trombone
*Peter Cirelli
John Niro
Chuck Morris
Brian Diehl

Tuba
*Michael Stephan
Taka Hagiwara

Timpani
*Greg Simonds
Tom Schmidt

Percussion
*Michael Ambroszewski
Aaron Trant
Piero Guimaraes
Rich Kelley

*Principal

Librarian: Kate Weiss

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”) was composed in 1804, and represents the beginning of the so-called middle, creative period in Beethoven’s progress. Often labeled the ‘romantic’ period, many of Beethoven’s truly imaginative, ground-breaking and still successful compositions date from these years. Filled with passion, burgeoning structures, exaggerated dynamics and extended technical difficulties for the performers themselves, these works—this symphony—have everlasting musical qualities that still resonate with audiences and musicians today.

Originally dedicated to Napoleon, Beethoven scratched out the dedication on the manuscript upon hearing Napoleon was to declare himself Emperor. To this day, the only dedication remaining is “to the memory of a great man.” Until this work, symphonies by anyone lasted perhaps 20-30 minutes. The “Eroica” has a duration twice as long. Also, Beethoven experimented by adding sections to the accustomed formula: by adding a third horn to the normal two, by transforming the standard Minuet-Trio third movement into a Scherzo, and by creating a theme-and-variations structure to the final movement.

Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (1913), famously created a riot at its first performance in Paris. Preceded by a balletic arrangement of Chopin’s piano music, the Stravinsky had to have come as a real shock to the everyone, including the grossly unrehearsed performers. The orchestra had never performed such barbaric, non-melodic rhythms, and the dancers were so untrained the ballet master was calling out the dance numbers from the wings. The audience booed and threw things, and many walked out in protest.

The ballet, and the music itself depict pagan Russian primitive rituals surrounding spring’s coming, during which a young girl is chosen as a sacrificial victim and dances herself to death. In two parts, the ballet begins with the Adoration of the Earth, and part two is the Sacrifice rituals. Tonight’s performance will include projected supertitles of the various sections to help your understanding of the very basic storyline. The music itself ranges from the incredibly intimate to the blaringly outsized orchestra blasting to its fullest. All in all, the music remains a challenge for the performers, but remains one of those compositions that professional musicians get inspired to perform which, if they’re lucky, will happen even once in their lifetime.