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Groton Hill Regional Youth Ensembles – Spring Concert

Saturday, May 13, 2023 at 1:00pm

The Concert Hall at Groton Hill

Camerata Strings

Jennifer Perkins, Conductor

PROGRAM

Plink, Plank, Plunk!
Leroy Anderson (1908-1975)

Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair
Traditional (arr. Andy Masters)

At the Purchaser’s Option
Rhiannon Giddons (b. 1977)

This piece was commissioned for the Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire, a project of the Kronos Performing Arts Association. The score and parts are available online at Kronosquartet.org.

M to the Third Power
Carold Nunez (1929-2015)

Chamber Strings

Jennifer Perkins, Conductor

PROGRAM

“Winter” from The Four Seasons
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), arr. Wanda Sobieska

La Confession
Michel Corrette (1707-1795), arr. Ben Clinesmith (1942)

GPS
W.A. Mozart (1756- 1791), arr. Richard Meyer (1957) 

Sinfonia Concert Orchestra

Ken Culver, Conductor

PROGRAM

Brook Green Suite
Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
I. Prelude
II. Air
III. Dance

Concerto for Two Cellos in G Minor, RV 531
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
I. Allegro
II. Largo
III. Allegro

Cello Soloists: Chen-An Lin and Lianna Denney
Basso Continuo: Emma Green and Colin Miranda

Symphony No. 8 in B Minor “Unfinished”
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
I. Allegro moderato
II. Andante con moto

∼ INTERMISSION ∼

Groton Hill Wind Ensemble

Dr. Frederick Harris Jr., Conductor

PROGRAM

The Gallant Seventh 
John Philip Sousa (1854-1932)

Reminiscence
Kathryn Salfelder (b. 1987)

Kathryn Salfelder, guest composer

Variations on “Scarborough Fair”
Calvin Custer (1939-1998)

Variations on Hope (Two Ukrainian Folk Songs)*
Francesca Gaza (b. 1995)

World Premiere Performance with special guests:

The Blanchard Elementary School Chorus
Blanchard Memorial School, Boxborough, MA
Margie Callaghan, Choral Director

This piece was commissioned by Guillermo Klein and Dr. Frederick Harris Jr.

Incantation and Dance
John Barnes Chance (1932-1972)

Featuring a contemporary ballet piece choreographed by Nicole Flaherty, Artistic Director and Dance Educator, Gina’s Studio of Dance and Fitness, Boxborough, MA. 

Performed by Jiun Park, Emilie Tonucci, and Renee Laliberte of Gina’s Studio. 

Prelude to Shepherd’s Hey
John McLellan (b. 1956), after Grainger
For Groton Hill Wind Ensemble Chamber Winds

World Premiere Performance

Shepherd’s Hey
Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961)

*PROGRAM NOTE:

Variations on Hope (Two Ukrainian Folk Songs) was commissioned by Dr. Frederick Harris, Jr., for the Groton Hill Wind Ensemble, to express support for and solidarity with Ukraine by singing and playing songs from their amazingly rich musical and cultural heritage. Their folklore is a poetic expression of joys and sorrows—their history translated into poetry and a pool of passionate music.

Through composing the piece, I have been fortunate to gain insight into Ukraine’s vast musical landscape, which was a source of profound inspiration and emotion, prompting me to contribute a work that pays tribute to the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people.

The first piece is called ‘Oh, the dream walks by the window,’ a Ukrainian traditional lullaby. It’s a melancholic but also beautiful and nostalgic melody that has lulled children to sleep all over Ukraine for many years. The song is composed of three verses in a minor key. However, as a folk song, there are many different popular versions of both the lyrics and the melody. The tune seems to have inspired George Gershwin’s “Summertime” after he heard the Koshetz Ukrainian National Choir sing the lullaby at Carnegie Hall in 1929.

The second piece, ‘Divko Halochko,’ is an ancient Ukrainian folk carol, sung to an unmarried-girl and her brother. It was passed down orally for many years and comes from the Poltava region, Hadiach district, village of Bobryk, Ukraine.

The piece ends with a variation of the first song, which aims to leave the listener and the musicians with a sensation of hope despite tragedy, and urgency despite time, with a persistent glimmer of a dream and, of course, an offering of support.

I dedicate this piece to the people of Ukraine in their persistent struggle for freedom.

—Francesca Gaza, Basel, Switzerland

Members of the Ensembles

Camerata Strings
Director: Jennifer Perkins

Violin I
Isaac Sun
Cooper Patterson
Emma Westlund

Violin II
Anna Allan
Emily Faken
Ines Rubio-Pacheco
Abigail Zhang

Viola
Elizabeth Allan
Harmony Auguste
Nora Wilson

Cello
Huan-Jung (Andy) Chang
Corbin Patterson

Bass
Jack McCreery

Faculty Coach: Tim Terranella

Chamber Strings
Director: Jennifer Perkins

Violin I
Bryce Brueggemann
Seneca Newman-Polk

Violin II
Harper Barthelemy
Georgeann Mugerwa

Viola
Finn Murray

Cello
Andrew Lu

Sinfonia Concert Orchestra
Director: Ken Culver

Violin I
Arshi Bansal
Nikhita Varma
Aarya Wachasunder
Calista Wong
Aaryan Zaman
Emma Hanzhi Zuo*

Violin II
Lilly Adams
Anirudh Ghanta
Sally Hu*
Olivia Krajewzka
Rutu Patil
Nora Culver+

Viola
Aritro Chatterjee*
Avatara Yadav
Trish Chane+
Bora Kosar+
Dorcas McCall+

Cello
Douglas Burk
Lianna Denney
Emma Green
Noah Lann
Chen-An Lin*
Suzannah (Suki) Reynolds
Keziah Salter
Claire Westlund
Emma Zhou

Double Bass
Jack McCreery*

Flute
Brienna Duteau*
Grace Chai+

Oboe
Anthony Umbro*

Clarinet
Vanessa Chen*
Colin Miranda
Samantha Li

Bassoon
Francesca Panuto+

Horn
Ella Von Kohorn*

Trumpet
Evan Labagnara*

Trombone
Lena Pierson*
Marie Machacek+

Harpsichord
Colin Miranda*

Faculty Coaches: Dorcas McCall and Tim Terranella

*section leader
+supporting musician

Groton Hill Wind Ensemble
Director: Dr. Frederick Harris Jr.

Piccolo
Brienna Duteau
Shreya Paranjape

Flute
Sophia Caputo
Brienna Duteau
Jonathan Lin
Shreya Paranjape
Corinne White

Oboe
Anthony Umbro
Michelle Kornberg (Northeastern University)

Clarinet
Graysen Chen
Claire Hathaway-Rubé
Alex Legrain
Samantha Li
Colin Miranda
Ryan Xia
Helen Yee
Brandon Chan*
Emily Thomas*
Alex Wang*

Bass Clarinet
Sofia Doucette

Alto Saxophone
Allison Earle
Maddie King
Izzy Skulte
Zoe Stinson*

Tenor Saxophone
Adam Manni

Baritone Saxophone
Brian Xiao (MIT)

Horn
Alex DeGrass
Ella Von Kohorn
Meghan Ferris*
Richard Cuoco*
Emily Riker (Stoughton PS)

Trumpet
Elena Almeida
Nate Stoupis
Patrick Marum*
Thomas Reynolds (UMass Amherst)
Zachary Wong*

Trombone
Lena Pierson
Galen Schad
Jake Sledziewski*
Tom O’Halloran**

Bass Trombone
Don Robinson+

Euphonium
Ryan Bailey
John McLellan**
Thomas O’Toole*

Tuba
Ryan Bailey
Don Robinson+
Jack Fletcher (MIT)

Percussion
Thaman Surya
Andrew Armstrong*
Cesar Garde*
Jonathan Schmidt*
Andrea Scott*

Piano
Aurora Wu

+Faculty Coach
*Music Educator
**Retired Music Educator

Blanchard Elementary School Chorus
Director: Margie Callaghan

Kiki Adaramola, Manuelle Azevedo, Austin Babinski, Riana Banerjee, Katie Barrett, Cindy Bell, Fin Campbell, Aquinna Caprara, Julia Davidson, Matilda Davies, Aislinn Davis, Sharvari Deore, Abhishek Despande, Elise Eriksen, Zoe Fisk, Aanya Garg, Tommy Garr, Adamya Gaur, Victoria Gomez-Castillo, Lucy Haff, Camelia Hankaoui, Sadie Harris, Avery Holzer, Rosie Jing, Jane Johanson, Charlotte Kirby, Yesim Kocer, Zeynep Kocer, Annabelle Leeds, Amelia Loeffler, Macy Long, Chloe Mao, Sofia Marquez-Reis, Alyssa Mazzone, Elena Mello, Elsa Meng, Lizzy Montigny, Annika Mucci, Akshitha Nair, Eila Nelson, Maddy Nelson, Tristan Nimz, Natalie O’Connell, Jolene O’Neil, Temi Oye, Aarnavi Palle, Vidushi Pandey, Molly Pietras, Sophia Price, Emma Rapgyal, Reilly Rodger, Luciana Rodrigues, Ella Roland, Kiki Roland, Anouk Schnitzler, Elizabeth Seifaee, Izzy Shailer, Isabella Simpson, Molly Spurling, Keertana Sreerarmaiah, Silvia Tejeiro, Madhu Umapathi, Michela Walsh, Medha Warriar, Felicia Wei, Annette Xie, Annabelle Xu, Sofia Zulqarnain 

About Our Ensemble Directors

Jennifer Perkins (Camerata Strings) has been an educator and musician for more than twenty years, teaching chorus, general music, and directing musicals. She serves as the strings/orchestra teacher in Wilmington and also teaches private violin, viola, cello, ukulele, and piano. A member of the cello section with the New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra and the Firebird Pops Orchestra, Jennifer has performed with the Vancouver (WA) Symphony Orchestra, Columbia (OR) Orchestra, Woodstock (NY) Chamber Orchestra, and the Greater Newburgh (NY) Symphony Orchestra. She holds a B.M. in Music Education, State University of New York (SUNY) College at Fredonia and a M.M. in Music Education, Kent State University.

Ken Culver (Sinfonia Concert Orchestra) has been a conductor and high school orchestra director in the Westford Public Schools for 23 years. For his work at Westford Academy, Ken was recognized by the Massachusetts American String Teachers Association as the Orchestra Director of the Year in 2014. In 2015, he conducted the Westford Academy pit orchestra for “In the Heights,” which won the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild award for Best Student Orchestra. An active performer, Ken is currently concertmaster of the Rivers Symphony Orchestra and has performed with various regional orchestras, including the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, the Arlington (VA) Symphony Orchestra, and the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra. He earned a B.A. in Music: Violin Performance, Connecticut College and his M.M. in Music: Violin Performance and Teaching Certificate, University of Connecticut.

Dr. Frederick Harris Jr. (Groton Hill Wind Ensemble) has been highly active with public school students and music educators throughout his career, leading seminars, guest conducting, and coordinating enrichment events. He is the author of Conducting with Feeling, and Seeking the Infinite: The Musical Life of Stanisław Skrowaczewski. He currently serves as Music Director of the MIT Wind Ensemble and MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble, and as MIT’s Jazz Performance Studies Coordinator. He and the MIT Wind Ensemble have been featured on NPR, PBS, and in two New England Emmy-winning documentaries. Fred has commissioned and premiered over 120 works by composers such as Don Byron, Chick Corea, John Harbison, Jamshied Sharifi, and Miguel Zenón. His ensembles have collaborated with leading artists such as Terri Lyne Carrington, Anat Cohen, Jacob Collier, Sean Jones, Guillermo Klein, and Luciana Souza. He has also performed as a jazz drummer with Joe Lovano, Kenny Werner, and the Boston Pops.

Margie Callaghan (Blanchard Elementary School Chorus) teaches classroom music (grades K-6) and directs the choral program at the Blanchard Memorial Elementary School in Boxborough. The 2022-2023 school year marks her twenty-fifth year as a music educator. Margie holds a B. Mus. Ed. with a minor in Vocal Performance from Central Michigan University, a M. Ed. with Kodály music emphasis from Anna Maria College, and Kodály certification from the Kodály Music Institute at the New England Conservatory. She is a Past President of the Boston Area Kodály Educators, the local chapter affiliated with OAKE. From 2005-2016, Margie was a member of the faculty of the Kodály Music Institute, serving as a Children’s Solfege teacher, Level I Pedagogy Instructor, and later as Co-Director of the Institute. She has presented several professional development sessions at state MMEA conferences, and in 2005 she presented a choir demonstration session at the OAKE national conference.

Camerata Strings

Chamber Strings

Sinfonia Youth Orchestra

Youth Wind Ensemble

Special Thanks To:

All of our wonderful ensemble students and parents/guardians. Groton Hill staff and faculty members: Dorcas McCall, Tim Terranella, Lauren Panfili, Pete Robbins, Don Robinson, Jackson Hudgins, Rob DiMartino, and Matt Malikowski; students of MIT; and music educators John and Lisa McLellan, Tom O’Halloran, Cesar Garde, Tom Reynolds, and Jon Schmidt.

Learn more about our Regional Ensemble Program.

Saturday, May 20: Open Rehearsals & Auditions
Youth Ensemble Open Rehearsals (Orchestra from 10am to 12pm, Wind Ensemble from 1:15 to 2:30pm).
Spring Auditions for the 2023-2024 season!
Click here for details.

With gratitude to our Community Sponsors

Saturday Ensemble Experience:
Youth Orchestra:
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