CBA Ode to Joy

W PRESIDENT’S WELCOME LETTER Welcome to a very special evening for the Chicago Bar Association and the exceptionally talented members of our Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. We gather this evening at the iconic Symphony Center, where the rich history of outstanding music and spectacular architecture bids a warm Chicago welcome to all. While we are an organization of lawyers, the lifeblood of the Chicago Bar Association runs deeper, and tonight’s milestone performance by our Symphony Orchestra and Chorus is a true testament to the rich talents and passionate pursuits of our members. As President of the Chicago Bar Association, it gives me a wonderful sense of pride to bear witness to and have an understanding of the accomplishments of our talented musicians, who also happen to be talented lawyers.

It was 33 years ago when a handful of musicians thought it would be an interesting idea to form an orchestra within the structure of our Bar Association. Since then, the magic of the music and the collegiality of these performers has blossomed and grown over those three decades. The CBA Symphony Orchestra now regularly fields an orchestra of 75 musicians or more, with virtually all of the participants affiliated with some area of Chicago’s legal community. In 2006, shortly after the Symphony Orchestra’s 20 th anniversary gala, a group of talented CBA vocalists who had performed at the gala formed a permanent vocal ensemble which ultimately became the Chicago Bar Association Chorus that now includes dozens of CBA attorneys, family members, and friends. Our Symphony Orchestra and our Chorus have enjoyed many years of making beautiful music together at locations across our city and state, from right here at the Symphony Center, to the courtrooms of Cook County, the Daley Center Plaza and the eloquent St. James Episcopal Cathedral, among many venues. Unlike a closing argument, a symphony cannot be played alone. Tremendous teamwork is required, and tremendous teamwork requires remarkable leadership -- so we offer our best wishes and appreciation to our talented conductors and long-time musical leaders including David Katz, Stephen Blackwelder, Marek Rachelski, John Vishneski, Rebecca Patterson, Janet Eckhardt, and Mark Burkland. Special thanks to our members, families, friends and distinguished guests for your support. I hope you all enjoy the show as much as I know I will.

Bravo!

Steven M. Elrod Chicago Bar Association President

CBA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS 3

We salute the Chicago Bar Association for its support of the arts through the performances of the CBA Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Terry Kennedy is proud to have been a member of the CBA Chorus since 2006. Law Offices of Terrence Kennedy Jr.

Mary Ann Connelly

Dan Farley

Terrence Kennedy

Jennifer Kanik

Joe Huang

Marie Mactal

The firm handles real estate tax assessment complaints on behalf of commercial and residential property owners. Call us to see what we can do for you.

Law Offices of Terrence Kennedy Jr. Voice: 312-641-0100 Fax: 312-641-0014 180 N. LaSalle St., Suite 2650, Chicago, IL 60601 E-mail: info@kennedytaxappeals.com

M More than 33 years ago, two extraordinary women lawyers, Susan Chernoff Huvard and Julia Nowicki, both of whom also happened to be very talented musicians, had a vision to establish a CBA Chamber Music ensemble. They shared that vision with the CBA’s Board of Managers and courageously asked the board for several hundred dollars to pur- chase music for the member/musicians. How proud we are that their vision became a wonderful reality and today, more than 75 musicians, virtually all members, make up The Chicago Bar Association’s Symphony Orchestra. Maestro David Katz, one of America’s most versatile of performing artists, has conduct- ed the CBA’s Symphony Orchestra since its founding in 1986. In 2006, the CBA’s Chorus was formed and together the Association’s Orchestra and Chorus led by David Katz and Choral Director, Rebecca Patterson (ret.) performed Beethoven’s 9th Symphony to an audience of more than 1,000 people at Navy Pier. In 2011, the Association’s Symphony

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WELCOME LETTER

Orchestra and Chorus performed Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana at Chicago’s Historic Orchestra Hall/Symphony Center–a first for the CBASO and Chorus. More than 2,000 members and guests attended Carmina Burana. In 2015, the CBASO and Chorus returned to Orchestra Hall/Symphony Center performing the wonderful Music of Rodgers and Hammer- stein. Tonight’s performance marks the third appearance at Orchestra Hall/Symphony Center for the CBASO and Cho- rus. This evening’s performance “Ode to Joy” will include music from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with movements from Schumann, Mozart, and Saint-Saens. As you enjoy these extraordinary musical masterpieces performed by CBA’s Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the DePaul Community Chorus, and Niles Metropolitan Chorus here are a few words of wisdom from the great composers whose genius created these and many other timeless musical treasures.

“Give Mozart a fairy tale and he creates without effort an immortal masterpiece.” –Camille Saint-Saens “Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets.” –Ludwig van Beethoven

“If only the whole world could feel the power of harmony.” –Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart “We may be sure that a genius like Mozart, were he born today, would write concertos like Chopin and not like Mozart.” –Robert Schumann

Shakespeare said “If music be the food of love, play on.” Thank you all for attending and enjoy “Ode to Joy.”

Best wishes,

Terry Murphy Executive Director

CBA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS 5

The Chicago Bar Association presents “ODE to JOY!”

The Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra David Lazaar Katz, founding music director and principal conductor Marek Rachelski, resident conductor The Chicago Bar Association Chorus Stephen Blackwelder, director Janet Eckhardt, chorus accompanist GUEST ENSEMBLES & SOLOISTS DePaul Community Chorus Stephen Blackwelder, director Niles Metropolitan Chorus Marek Rachelski, director Winners of The American Prize Chicago Oratorio Award *** PROGRAM I. Celebrate The Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra Celebration Overture (“East & West”) Christopher Lowry Chicago premiere David Lazaar Katz, conducting

II. Welcome —The Chicago Bar Association III. Celebrate The CBASO and Member Soloists Piano Concerto in A minor Robert Schumann i. Allegro affettuoso Neil Posner, soloist Clarinet Concerto in A, K 622 W. A. Mozart ii. Adagio John S. Vishneski III, soloist Marek Rachelski, conducting Violin Concerto in B minor Camille Saint-Säens iii. Molto moderato e maestoso - Allegro non troppo Sara Su Jones, soloist Intermission

6 ODE TO JOY

IV. Celebrate The CBA Chorus and Guest Choirs “Ode to Joy!” Festival Chorus Stephen Blackwelder, conducting Janet Eckhardt and Jacob Adams, accompanists I Will Be Earth Gwyneth Walker poem by May Swenson A Jubilant Song Norman Dello Joio words by Walt Whitman African-American Spirituals Ev’ry time I feel the spirit arr. William Dawson Deep River arr. Roy Ringwald Soon I will be Done arr. William Dawson V. Celebrate The Chicago Bar Association and the Joy of Music Symphony No. 9 “Ode to Joy” Ludwig van Beethoven iv. Presto; Allegro molto assai (Alla marcia); Andante maestoso; Allegro energico ENCORE: Hallelujah Chorus from “Messiah” G. F. Handel, arr. Whitmarsh The Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra The CBA Chorus & Guest Choirs Winners of The American Prize Chicago Oratorio Award Amy Pfrimmer, soprano Ann Cravero, mezzo-soprano Patrick Muehleise, tenor

Leo Radosavljevic, bass-baritone David Lazaar Katz, conducting ***

Sunday, June 2, 2019 at 3pm—St. John Brebeuf, Niles, IL Saturday, June 22, 2019 at 8pm—Symphony Center / Orchestra Hall, Chicago, IL

CBA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS 7

Symphonic Splendor

Mayer Brown joyfully supports the CBA’s longstanding musical tradition and this year’s

performance of “Ode to Joy!” by its Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

mayerbrown.com

Americas | Asia | Europe | Middle East

Carmina Burana at Symphony Center, June 5, 2011

Open Communication , Closed Case XDD helps clients optimize their eDiscovery matters by orchestrating precision communication between people, processes, technology and data. XDD services span the entire EDRM, empowering you with the depth and breadth of expertise you need to get projects done on time and on budget.

· Forensics · Processing · Data Hosting · Managed Review · Litigation Management

Communication starts with listening. Give Jane Funk a call at 773.505.8201 or email at jfunk@xactdatadiscovery.com to learn more.

DAVID LAZAAR KATZ FOUNDING MUSIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR

H Hailed as “a musician’s musician” by Copland Award-winning composer, Judith Lang Zaimont, David Lazaar Katz is one of the most versatile performing artists currently working in the Chicago area. Professional con- ductor, award-winning composer, acclaimed playwright and actor, arts entrepreneur, arts advocate and educa- tor, Katz was recently honored by The Hartt School of the University of Hartford as its 2019 Alumnus of the Year for his many accomplishments. Now celebrating his 33rd season as the founding music director of The Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra, Katz has led Chicagoland’s unique all-lawyer ensemble nearly two hundred times during his long tenure, in repertoire ranging from Trial By Jury, (the first performances of Gilbert & Sullivan’s courtroom operetta ever presented in a working courtroom with a cast and orchestra made up entirely of legal profession- als) to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, as well as major orchestral and choral-orchestral works by Brahms, Britten, Bruckner, Dvorak, Haydn, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Poulenc, Respighi, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky and scores of others.

10 ODE TO JOY

In 2011, Katz and the CBASO, joined by the CBA Chorus and guest choirs, nearly three hundred musicians in all, presented Orff ’s Carmina Burana to a capacity audience at Orchestra Hall, Chicago, in celebration of the CBASO’s 25th season. The ensemble returned to Symphony Center for Something Wonderful!, an all-Rodgers & Hammerstein concert, in spring 2015, and will make a third appearance at Symphony Center in a program called “Ode to Joy,” in June 2019. David Katz has led more than sixty orchestras and opera companies throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as guest conductor, including concerts with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Mississippi Symphony, and the Corpus Christi Symphony. Former associate conductor of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra under Margaret Hillis, and for twelve years music director of the Adrian Symphony Orchestra and co-founder of OPERA!Lenawee in Michigan, Katz is currently chairman and artistic director of Hat City Music Theater, Inc., in Connecticut, where he is founder and chief judge of The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts. In 2016 Katz was honored by Musical America as one of their “Top Professionals of the Year” for his work creating and sustaining The American Prize. As the nation’s most comprehensive series of competitions in the performing arts, TAP has attracted thousands of contestants from all fifty states and award- ed more than $75,000 in prize money to performing artists nationwide. A professional playwright, actor, and arts advocate, Katz tours internationally in his acclaimed one-man play, MUSE of FIRE, about the secrets of conducting. He has presented the play scores of times throughout the Midwest, Northeast, and in Canada, including an extended engagement in Chicago. Two books by David Katz, Muse of Fire: A Symposium on the Art of Conducting, and Bruck Stories, a companion volume, will be published by Del Gatto Press next year. Katz is also at work on Wonderful Counsellor, a memoir about three decades of music-making with Chicago lawyers. David Katz holds baccalaureate and master’s degrees in composition and conducting from the Hartt School of Music of the University of Hartford. He was a student of the great Lithuanian maestro, Vytautas Marijosius, and was the first in the school’s history to be awarded an Artist’s Diploma in Conducting. Katz also studied for five years under Charles Bruck at the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors, in Maine, and later founded Opera Maine, the Monteux Opera Festival, and the Chamber Orchestra of Maine. He has partnered with such artists as Itzhak Perlman and Misha Dichter in concert and worked with some of the greatest twentieth century composers, including William Schuman, Hans Werner Henze, Milton Babbitt, and Elliott Carter. Katz’s own compositions are published by Carl Fischer and G. Schirmer, among others. www.museoffiretheplay.org / www.theamericanprize.org / triple portrait “Maestro Katz conducts Beethoven” by Diana Cutrone (2005)

CBA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS 11

STEPHEN BLACKWELDER CBA CHORUS CONDUCTOR

Stephen Blackwelder is currently Director of the DePaul Community Chorus (since 2005) and Director of the Chicago Bar Association Chorus (since 2017). This past spring, he successfully completed an eighteen-season tenure as Music Director of the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra. Previous positions include Music Director of the Hinsdale Chamber Orchestra (1983-94) and numerous civic and educational orchestral, opera, and choral ensembles in the greater Chicago area. As a professional singer, he performed frequently under conductors James Levine, Robert Shaw, Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado and Margaret Hillis while a member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus and the Aspen Chamber Choir. He served on the conducting staff of theHarfordOperaTheater of Baltimore, Hinsdale Opera, Opera Illinois, Opera da Corneto and Chicago Opera Theater. Academic teaching positions include Northern Illinois University, East Carolina University, Lake Forest College and (currently) DePaul University’s Community Music Division. Blackwelder holds a BM from the University of North Carolina (1978) and an MM from Northwestern University (1979). Professional study included four seasons with the Aspen Music Festival and conducting master classes with Sir Georg Solti, Max Rudolf and Erich Leinsdorf.

CBA Chorus at Daley Center Plaza on Law Day, May 3, 2019

12 ODE TO JOY

MAREK RACHELSKI CBASO RESIDENT CONDUCTOR

Resident Conductor of the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra, Marek Rachelski enjoys a rich variety in his musical life as conductor, pianist/harpsichordist and as collaborative artist in recital. He has appeared with orchestras in the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Hungary, Canada, and the USA. He has served on the faculties of Loyola University and De Paul University. Rachelski is the Artistic Director of the Musica Lumina Orchestra and Conductor/Founder of the Niles Metropolitan Chorus (2013). In six seasons the NMC/ML has performed major works of the repertoire: Requiems of Cherubini, Mozart, Faure, Rutter; the Magnificats of Pärt, Bach, and Pergolesi; Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass and selections from Faust and Romeo and Juliet, Haydn’s Creation, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Lobgesang, Op.

52, a yearly Handel’s Messiah, the St. Matthew Passion and the St. John Passion of J. S. Bach. Previously, as Music Director of Opera Las Vegas he conducted complete staged performances of Puccini’s La Bohème, Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Mollicone’s The Face on the Barroom Floor, a Puccini 150th Retrospective and accompanied numerous aria recitals. While in Nevada he was also the founder and conductor of the Las Vegas Peoples Valley Chorus in Requiems by Faure, Rutter, and Brahms, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Vespers, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Vivaldi Juditha Triumphans, Handel’s Judas Maccabeus and Messiah and various Bach Cantatas. As Assistant Conductor at the Prague BalletTheater he prepared the world premiere choreographed version of Smetana’s Ma Vlast. As Assistant Conductor of the Elgin Symphony he conducted Young People’s and Holiday Concerts and performed with Victor Borge; he was alsoMusic Director of the Valley Civic Orchestra and conducted the Elgin Area Youth Orchestras. A composer of over 100 works, Rachelski is published with World Library and M Gerard Publications. He was commissioned for a setting of Psalm 145 for the 1989 Papal Mass in Detroit and for a Magnificat by the Lira Singers for their 25 th Anniversary. With RA Editions, he released a series of technical studies for double bass and cello and is completing editions for violin and viola. In addition to awards from the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, he was presented with the Pulaski Award for his contributions to Polish American Culture. As the first Director of Recordings for World Library Publications, he recorded with members of the Lyric Opera and Chicago Symphony Choruses. As Music Editor for J. S. Paluch Company, he was a featured presenter of new music and editor/contributor of three hymnals and a five-volume series of psalm settings for the liturgical year. Rachelski holds degrees fromNorthwestern University, Wayne State University, and the Academy of Music in Prague HAMU. He has studied conducting with Jiri Belohlavek, Frantisek Vajnar, Kenneth Keisler, Robert Harris, Dennis Tini, and Joseph Labuta, and in masterclass with Jo-Michael Scheibe, Mark Gibson, John Nelson, Gustave Meier, Jorge Mester, Daniel Lewis, Leonard Slatkin and Lorin Maazel.

CBA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS 13

NEIL POSNER PIANO

Neil B. Posner is a Partner and Chair of the Policyholder Insurance Coverage Practice Group at Much Shelist PC. Neil received his undergraduate degree fromNew York University, studied accounting and finance at UCLA, and received his law degree, magna cum laude, from Marquette University. Before law school, Neil was a full-time musician in both the classical and nonclassical arenas. His classical credits include accompanyingmany soloists, includingDavid Shostac (principal flute with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra) and Jean- Pierre Rampal. His nonclassical credits include playing on numerous film and television sound tracks and in the “pit” for the Los Angeles productions of many Broadway musicals, including A Chorus Line, and touring with Andy Williams and Peggy Lee.

JOHN S. VISHNESKI III CLARINET

John S. Vishneski III is a partner at Reed Smith LLP whose practice focuses on insurance coverage litigation. John graduated from the University of Virginia (College 1985, Law 1988). A 29-year member and Principal Clarinet of the CBASO, he is also the leader of the Barristers Big Band and a member of the Fair Use Quintet. As a fan of both classical and jazz music, John can go from Benny Goodman to Mozart in the blink of an eye. He lives by Duke Ellington’s saying that “I play good music” and to John, Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto is one of the best pieces of music ever composed.

14 ODE TO JOY

SARA SU JONES VIOLIN

Hailed as a “violinist of enviable gifts” by a Chicago Sun- Times music critic, Sara Su Jones is an award-winning violinist who has performed as a soloist throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. In recent seasons, she has given recitals in London, England; Lisbon, Portugal; Reykjavík, Iceland; Washington, DC; Massachusetts; California; Wisconsin; and Indiana. Her Icelandic concerts include a recital on the main stage at Harpa, the home of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, for an audience of over 500, as well as recitals for ambassadors and cultural leaders, including former Icelandic president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, at theResidences of the US and Canadian Ambassadors to Iceland.

Sara Su appears regularly in her native Chicago in such venues as Preston Bradley Hall (Chicago Cultural Center), Fourth Presbyterian Church (Artists in Recital Series), and PianoForte. Her solo recitals have been recommended by the Chicago Tribune’s John von Rhein. Together with pianist Tatyana Stepanova, she has performed on “Live from WFMT,” the station’s full-length recital series; Sara Su has also performed live on WBEZ, Chicago’s public radio station. At age 17, Sara Su received an A.R.C.M. certificate in violin performance from the Royal College of Music in London and was heard as a soloist on BBC Radio. A top prizewinner in various music competitions in both the UK and US, including that of the Harvard Musical Association, Sara Su served for three years as assistant concertmaster of the symphony orchestra at Harvard, and since 2006 has served as concertmaster of the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra (CBASO), with which she has performed as a concerto soloist. For most of her life, she studied with the late Mark Zinger, a former student and colleague of David Oistrakh; she currently studies with Gerardo Ribeiro. Sara Su performs on a violin made for her in 2017 by the Icelandic luthier Hans Johannsson. Sara Su holds an A.B. in Economics, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and a J.D., cum laude, both from Harvard. Formerly a diplomatic intern at the US State Department and US Embassy Moscow, she worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in New York and as a trusts and estates lawyer at Ropes & Gray LLP in Boston. In 2004, Sara Su founded Elite Educational Coaching; she now coaches students throughout the US and internationally in person and via Skype on test prep, writing skills, and college admissions. www.sarasujones.com

CBA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS 15

BEETHOVEN VOCAL SOLOISTS

The four soloists for these performances of the Beethoven “Ode to Joy” are all winners of The American Prize Chicago Oratorio Award. The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation’s most comprehensive series of annual contests in the arts. Founded by David Katz in 2010 and administered by Hat City Music Theater, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, The American Prize has attracted artists from all fifty states and awarded more than $75,000 in prizes in all categories since its inception. www.theamericanprize.org.

Amy Pfrimmer, soprano Amy Pfrimmer is Assistant Professor of Music and the Lillian Gerson Watsky Professor in Voice at Tulane University where she has been voice area coordinator and director of the vocal music concert series since 2007. Her repertoire and creative work encompasses a wide range of music, with particular focus on Romantic and 20th Century opera, oratorio, concert literature, and song. With MSR Classics label, Pfrimmer has released two recordings: Souvenance: Mélodies and Organ Works of César Franck and Eternal Life: Sacred Songs and Spirituals.

Specific projects in 2014-2018 have included Schönberg’s expressionist mono-drama Pierrot Lunaire (Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra), the tragic title characters in Verdi’s La Traviata and Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly (State Opera Stara Zagora Bulgaria), and Mozart’s heroine Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (Lawrence Opera Theatre Kansas). With New Orleans Opera she appeared as Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen, Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld as Juno, Kitty Hart in Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, and the title character in Friedl. She also gave concerts featuring the music of César Franck, St. Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio, Händel’s Messiah, and sang Menotti’s opera Amahl and the Night Visitors. National/international recitals include Absolutely American!, American Summer Dream, and From New Orleans to Bulgaria featuring the works of American composers Amy Beach, Leonard Bernstein, William Bolcom, Carlisle Floyd, Moses Hogan, Rudolf Friml, Cole Porter, and Richard Hundley and Bulgarian composer Parashkev Hadjiev. With pianist Dreux Montegut, Pfrimmer created and performed a solo program Cabaret Soirée! featuring the American songbook composers Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and Kurt Weill. She has been a regular soloist with the Marine Corps Band-New Orleans, and New Orleans Chamber Orchestra. Additionally, Pfrimmer has appeared in several French concert series: Vendredi Soirées at St. Pierre le Jeune and Les Estivales de St. Guillaume in Strasbourg, L’Abbaye de Royaumont, as well as The American Cathedral and St. Eustache in Paris. In 2018, she revived Tulane’s Opera Workshop, directing and musically preparing students for their roles in Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief. She has sustained interests in sacred and liturgical music, the music and style of J.S. Bach, G.F. Händel, Giacomo Puccini, César Franck, Cécile Chaminade and Luise Reichardt, and a particular affinity for the French mélodie.

16 ODE TO JOY

Ann Cravero, mezzo-soprano Ann Belluso Cravero, acclaimed mezzo-soprano recitalist and soloist, has been heard on stages in Italy, China, and throughout the United States including repeat performances at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall. Cravero’s vocal engagements include The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, The Heartland Festival Orchestra, The International Lyric Academy Orchestra Italy, The Rome Festival Orchestra, The Alexander and Buono Festival Italy, Festivale Cantus Angeli Italy, The Lyric Symphony Orchestra CA, The Bach Festival IL, The Hancher Center for the Performing Arts, The Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, the Des Moines Civic Center, IA, and The Overture Center.

Ann Cravero has performed lead opera roles including the staged adaption of The Diary of Virginia Woolf under the direction of Håkan Hagegård honoring Dominick Argento who was in attendance (Source Song Festival), The Martha-Ellen Tye Opera Theatre at the University of Iowa, the Northland Opera Theatre, and the Rome Festival Opera in Rome, Italy. Ann also participated as an apprentice artist for the Des Moines Metro Opera. Cravero has served on the faculty of Milnes’ Savannah Voice Festival, and the International Lyric Academy Italy with Stefano Vignati and Claudio Ferri. Highly sought after for her interpretation of New Music, Dr. Cravero has performed with the Center for New Music in Iowa City, IA, including performances of works by Scott Dunn, Geoffrey Gordon, Bernard Rands, and Raffaele Grimaldi. Cravero also coached with Stephen Paulus and soloed two performances of his work, To Be Certain of the Dawn. In the fall of 2009 she was commissioned by the Iowa Composers’ Forum to tour IA with pianist Miko Kominami, and also premiered works for ICF in 2015. Ann has been featured on RAI TV in Italy and frequently broadcast on Iowa Public Radio. Ann is the district winner of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award competition, and the recipient of honorable mention for the Metropolitan Opera National Council District Audition. She is the recipient of the Donald Walker Vocal Scholarship for outstanding vocal achievement at the University of Iowa, and receiver of outstanding academic achievement in the field of Music Education from Bradley University, and winner of the Bradley University Piano Concerto Competition. She has performed in master classes with Frederica von Stade and Michèle Crider, and coached with Cheryl Studer and Richard Boldrey. Cravero recently presented Mahler’s 2nd Symphony with soprano, Michèle Crider for the re-dedication of Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City at the University of Iowa under the direction of William L. Jones. Dr. Cravero is Associate Professor of Voice at Drake University, and an active participant of The National Association of Teachers of Singing. Ann released an albumof duets with soprano Camelia Voin and pianist Nicholas Roth (‘Endless Noise’ Studio) in Santa Monica, CA Dr. Cravero holds the Doctor of Musical Arts and Masters of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Iowa where she studied with Stephen Swanson and Katherine Eberle, and a Bachelor of Music Education with emphasis on Piano and Voice from Bradley University. For further information on the artist please visit a nncravero.com or at https:// www.facebook.com/anncraveromezzosoprano/

CBA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS 17

Patrick Muehleise, tenor Praised for his “real musicality and finely executed coloratura,” Patrick Muehleise is an acclaimed American tenor specializing in a wide variety of concert soloist repertoire and known for his “beautiful, evenly produced lyric tenor” and “pure tone.” Recent engagements include Mozart’s Requiem with Xian Zhang at the Aspen Music Festival, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 under the baton of Jane Glover, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with both Elmhurst Symphony and Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Bach’s B Minor Mass with Bach Akademie Charlotte, Reich’s The Desert Music with New World Symphony, the role of Pan in the fully-staged period performance of Cavalli’s La Calisto with Haymarket Opera Company of Chicago; and continues this season performing Handel’s Messiah with Winston-Salem Symphony, Mozart’s Requiemwith True Concord of Tucson, Bach’s B Minor Mass with Back Bay Chorale of Boston and Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. In addition to his

work as a concert soloist, Patrick is a regular member of Grammy-nominated and award winning ensembles such as Seraphic Fire, True Concord, Chicago Symphony Chorus, as well as Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Grant Park Symphony Chorus, and has taken the stage with Aspen Chamber Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Santa Fe Opera, and The Cleveland Orchestra. This season Patrick continues his residency at the University of California-Los Angeles for the second academic year and will return to the world-renowned Aspen Music Festival for his second year as Artist- Faculty in partnership with the Grammy-nominated Seraphic Fire Professional Choral Institute. In 2016, Mr. Muehleise was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Choral Performance category for his collaboration on True Concord’s album “Far In The Heavens: Choral Music of Stephen Paulus” which won the award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. An active member of the American Guild of Musical Artists and National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Patrick can be heard on six nationally released recordings with Grammy-nominated ensembles.

18 ODE TO JOY

Leo Radosavljevic, bass-baritone RecentThird-PrizeWinner of the International Klaudia Taev Competition in Estonia and winner of The American Prize Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award in Voice in 2014, Bass-Baritone Leo Radosavljevic is making a name for himself as a unique performer in the world of opera. Born in Chicago Illinois, Leo spent his childhood playing piano and singing in the children’s chorus at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where his love for opera first began. He attended Juilliard from 2007-2013, receiving both BM and MM degrees in voice under Dr. Robert C. White. While at Juilliard, he sang several operatic roles including Bottom in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Simone in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, and Tobia Mill in Rossini’s La Cambiale di Matrimonio. In addition to his operatic roles, Leo received composition lessons from Dr. Phillip Lasser for much of his time at Juilliard, and received Scholastic Distinction in 2010

for his thesis, The Lieder of Ludwig van Beethoven: Introductory Studies in an Infrequently Performed Opus. In 2011, he gave the U.S. premiere of the role ofWilli Graf in Sir PeterMaxwell Davies’ Kommilitonen!, where he played piano and sang simultaneously from the stage, winning him critical acclaim fromThe New York Times. Since his time at Juilliard, Leo has performed around Europe and the United States, most recently as Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte with DuPage Opera, as Bonze in Madama Butterfly with Opera Colorado, in recital at the Ravinia Festival, as soloist with Juilliard 415, in their west coast tour and Canadian Broadcasting Company recording of Telemann’s rarely heard Die Tageszeiten. This summer he will join the roster of the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, performing in Regina and La Traviata. He will then participate in the inaugural season of Teatro Nuovo, formally Bel Canto at Caramoor, as Orbazzano in Rossini’s Tancredi, conducted by Will Crutchfield. Leo currently resides in Chicago, Illinois, and is continuing his vocal studies with Julia Faulkner.

Janet Eckhardt, CBA Chorus Accompanist Accompanist Janet Eckhardt has served as accompanist for numerous professional and community choral groups and church and synagogue choirs. Currently an adjunct faculty member at North Park University, Janet also serves as staff accompanist at Moody Bible Institute. Prior to her appointment at North Park, she taught piano at Seattle Pacific University. Janet is a graduate of North Park University and the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford.

CBA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS 19

Jacob Adams, Pianist Born and raised in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, Jacob Adams found his musical interests sparked upon listening to his parents’ Beatles LPs when he was five years old, with Ringo Starr being his favorite. Percussion lessons followed shortly thereafter, and piano lessons commenced when he was ten. Throughout high school he was active in school and throughout the Twin Cities area as a church and theater accompanist and recitalist. In 2003 he began undergraduate and eventually graduate studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music under the tutelage of Van Cliburn silver medalist Antonio Pompa-Baldi, earning Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees

in piano performance. During this time, he was privileged to solo with several orchestras in the Midwest and East Coast and also remained active as an accompanist, recitalist, and tutor. In 2009 he commenced studies at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, earning both a DMA in piano performance and literature and an MM in piano pedagogy. While there he also taught piano to undergraduate non-music majors. In 2012 he moved back to his nativeMinneapolis where for the next four years he taught private and group piano lessons, was an accompanist at various churches, and performed as both accompanist and piano soloist. In 2016 he began a six month stint playing piano for Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas, and since the spring of 2017, has been living and working in Chicago, where he teaches, accompanies, and is the Director of Music and Liturgy at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. He has been immensely enjoying working as the accompanist for the DePaul Community Chorus since September 2018. Adams has been an avid ragtime musician since 1996, when, at his father’s behest, he learned Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag. Immediately he began collecting ragtime sheet music and recordings; with the advent of the internet, those pursuits became much easier. In 1999 he began composing his own ragtime pieces, and has since written over 50 works, although in recent years he has branched out and written in other styles as well. In 2009 he began performing at the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, Missouri, and has performed at a number of other ragtime festivals throughout the Midwest and East Coast. He has twice placed within the top five performers at the Old-Time Piano Playing Championship (2011 and 2013) and his original rags have won the New Rag Contest three times (in 2010, 2017, and 2018).

Don Mead, Niles Metropolitan Chorus Accompanist Accompanist and rehearsal assistant for the Niles Metropolitan Chorus, Don Mead has been with the NMC since 2016. He began playing the organ at Saint Luke, Chicago on Christmas Eve 2012. He provides musical leadership in the worship services and also teaches music classes for Saint Luke Academy. Don began playing the organ as a child, but formal lessons began as a college freshman with his father, Gil Mead. Gil Mead was a well-known radio musician from WMBI of Moody Bible Institute. Don later studied with David Schrader.

Don enjoys a very wide range of musical activities. He is a professional cellist and a founding member of the Chicago Sinfonietta. Notable performances include an organ recital at Holy Name Cathedral and an appearance as solo cellist with the Joffrey Ballet in a choreographic performance titled “Reflections” in which he played Tchaikovsky’s “Rococo Variations” with company pianist Paul Lewis. Don enjoys work as a studio teacher to piano and cello students of all ages.

20 ODE TO JOY

VERITEXT PROUDLY SUPPORTS THE CHICAGO BAR ASSOCIATION SYMPHONY

ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS

ORCHESTRATED EXCELLENCE COMPOSED OF THE TOP DEPOSITION SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS!

• 3900+ SKILLED REPORTERS & VIDEOGRAPHERS • COMPLEX CASE EXPERIENCE INCLUDING: - IN RE: GENERAL MOTORS LLC IGNITION SWITCH - WORLD TRADE CENTER DISASTER SITE - WAYMO LLC V. UBER TECHNOLOGIES, INC. - ACCUTANE

• TRUSTED BY 40,000+ ATTORNEYS • #1 INDUSTRY BEST NPS CLIENT SATISFACTION SCORE • 80 BRICK & MORTAR LOCATIONS IN AMERICA • 21 YEARS OF ESTABLISHED REPORTING COVERAGE • HIPAA & PII COMPLIANT DATA SECURITY • PREFERRED PROVIDER OF 98% OF AMLAW 1OO FIRMS

VERITEXT IS A SCALE ABOVE THE REST

SCHEDULE A COURT REPORTER: (800) 248-3290 | CALENDAR-CHI@VERITEXT.COM WWW.VERITEXT.COM/CHICAGO

Program Notes

Celebration Overture–East & West Written while still in high school, Celebration Overture–”East &West” is my first finished serious composi- tion. Originally intending it to be the first movement of my Symphony, I began work on the piece when I was 15 and finished it when I was 18. The premiere performance took place in December 2006 by the Curb Youth Symphony, conducted by Carol Nies. After this successful premiere, as well as nine other perfor- mances (including one by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra), I decided to transcribe the piece for wind ensemble; now that piece exists in both forms. The piece starts with a heroic theme played by the horns over fast running notes in the strings and winds; this is followed by a lively xylophone solo. A restatement of the theme in full instrumentation leads to a triumphant rallentando, resounding with the powerful clangor of the tubular bells. The next section intro- duces a slightly more melancholy theme, played by a solo trombone. This theme is repeated by the trumpets, clarinets and violas over a plodding rhythmic ostinato, using percussive textures that suggest some form of ethnic influence. After a brief reflection of earlier themes, a flurry of wind trills, horn rips, and cymbal swells leads into a cataclysmic final statement of the second theme, played by the full brass section over thunderous percussion. After this subsides, the violas and bassoons play a variation on the original theme, which is influences much by the harmonic language of Rimsky-Korsakov. Finally, the full orchestra plays a restatement of the original theme, which builds in intensity until the end of the piece. This piece is dedicated to Carol Nies and the Curb Youth Symphony. –Program Note by Christopher Lowry

Christopher Lowry Nashville native Christopher Lowry is emerging as one of the leading violists and most performed composers of his generation. His music has been performed by the Nashville Symphony, Nashville Philharmonic, Imperial Symphony, Austin Peay State University Symphony, Middle TN State University Symphony, Vanderbilt Wind Symphony, Blair Chamber Choir, “The President’s Own” US Marine Band, members of the Taipei Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic, New York All-State String Orchestra, Plainview Old-Bethpage JFK High School String Orchestra, and many youth orchestras from around the country. Lowry has won awards from The American Prize, the Alabama Symphony Call for Scores, BandWidth Music Festival Call for Scores, Missouri Composers Orchestra Project Competition, World Projects Composition Competition,

NAfME Composition Competition, Frank Van Der Stucken Award, Nashville Philharmonic Composition Competition, Anton Stadler International Basset Clarinet Composition Competition, among others. Lowry holds a BM degree from Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music and a MM degree from LSU, where he is currently working towards his DMA.

22 ODE TO JOY

Coming from DelGatto Press Wonderful Counsellor My more than thirty years making music with Chicago lawyers by David (Volosin) Katz

From Trial By Jury to Ode to Joy and from the Rodney King verdict to the age of Trump, with The Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra and CBA Chorus.

Sign up for news & pre-publication discounts*

DelGattoPress.org * a portion of each pre-sale order benefits The Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra and CBA Chorus

Series

Program Notes

Robert Schumann–Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54

Born June 8, 1810, Zwickau, Saxony, Germany. Died July 29, 1856, Endernich, near Bonn, Germany Instrumentation: solo piano, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings. As a child, Robert Schumann developed a great love of music and literature, thanks to the influence of his father, August, a bookseller, publisher and novelist. By the time Robert was 14, he was writing and publishing essays on the aesthetics of music, reading quite a lot of poetry and philosophy, and attending performances of some of the great musicians of the day. August, who strongly encouraged Robert’s musical aspirations, died when Robert was 16. Neither Robert’s mother nor his guardian, however, encouraged these aspirations. Instead, they sent him off to Leipzig to study law! He was not a brilliant law student. At the age of 20, Robert commenced piano lessons with the greatest piano

teacher of the day, Friedrich Wieck, who was so impressed with the young man that not only did he assure Robert that he would be a great concert pianist in only a matter of a few years, he had Robert move into the Wieck home. Two major events occurred in that home that would change the course of musical history. First, Robert permanently injured the fourth finger of his right hand, probably due to the use of a mechanical device designed to strengthen the weakest fingers. That caused Robert to abandon any hope of becoming a concert pianist. Fortunately for us, he turned to composing as the primary outlet of his musical expression. The second event was Robert falling in love with Herr Wieck’s brilliantly talented daughter, Clara, who was nine years younger than Robert. When PapaWieck found out about this budding romance, he went to extraordinary lengths to put a stop to it, including sending Clara to a distant city, and forbidding any correspondence between her and Robert. When those efforts failed to work, Herr Wieck spread rumors to each of them about the other’s loss of interest. That failed, too. Their ardor undiminished, Robert and Clara petitioned the court to grant them the permission to marry that Clara’s father had withheld. Papa Wieck strongly objected, and the ensuing litigation went on for years, culminating in the court ruling in the young couple’s favor. They married on the eve of Clara’s 21st birthday in 1840. Had they waited one more day, they would not have required anyone’s consent. Robert’s marriage to Clara unleashed a torrent of creative output. Before 1840, Robert wrote almost exclusively for the piano. In the first year of their marriage, however, Robert composed 168 songs for piano and voice! Most of these were dedicated to Clara, inspired by her, or both. In 1841, he began to write for orchestra, completing two of his four symphonies. Also in 1841, he finally tackled what, for him, was one of the most difficult tasks of all: a work for solo piano and orchestra, a work that would take his expression of love for Clara to a new level. The result was a Fantasy in A minor, a work in one movement. He wrote it in a week. Clara played it with the orchestra at the Leipzig Gewandhaus in August of that year. Two weeks later, Clara gave birth to their first of eight children.

24 ODE TO JOY

Program Notes The Fantasy was not performed again, nor could Robert find a publisher for it. So on the shelf it sat until the summer of 1845, when, after much urging from Clara, Robert composed what would become the second and third movements of the Piano Concerto in A Minor, his only work in that form. Clara was at the piano for the premiere in December of 1845 in Dresden, or Leipzig on New Year’s Day 1846, depending on the source. The Concerto is a nearly complete departure from the concertos that went before it. As Robert wrote to Clara in 1839, “Concerning concertos, I’ve already said to you that I can’t write a concerto for virtuosi and have to think of something else.” And in an essay he published in his groundbreaking journal, Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, he expanded on the challenge: “[The] separation of the piano from the orchestra is something we have seen coming for some time… [W]e must await the genius who will show us in a newer and more brilliant way how orchestra and piano may be combined, how the soloist, dominant at the keyboard, may unfold the wealth of his instrument and his art, while the orchestra, no longer a mere spectator, may interweave its manifold facets onto the scene.” As it turned out, the long-awaited genius was Schumann himself. The Concerto gives full expression to the duality of Schumann’s imaginary two alter egos: the impetuous and fiery Florestan and the dreamy and ethereal Eusebius. We hear from Florestan right away in the opening measures of the first movement, which begins with a unison orchestral strike, followed by a fiery, descending series of chords from the piano. Florestan’s opening outburst is over in less than ten seconds, at which point Eusebius takes over with a beautiful and mysterious melody, first in the woodwinds, then in the piano. The second theme follows moments later, carried primarily by the strings, with the piano murmuring below. Florestan returns, of course, until the piece can no longer sustain his energy, and Eusebius restores us to a dream state for the development section, which features the piano and first clarinet trading solos, accompanied by murmuring strings. Florestan sits still as long as he can, and brings back the opening piano flourishes and a recapitulation of the opening themes, which take us to a wonderful cadenza, written by Schumann himself. At the end of the cadenza, the principal theme returns, only now in a very fast march tempo, leading to a thrilling finish. On the whole, the Concerto both looks backward and forward. The first movement certainly pays great respect to Beethoven’s 4th and 5th Piano Concertos. But one only has to listen toGrieg’s sole piano concerto (also in A Minor), Tchaikovsky’s first Piano Concerto, and Rachmaninoff’s concertos, to understand the enormous influence Schumann had on those who followed him. Schumann’s Piano Concerto has endured as one of his most beloved for good reason. –Program Note by Neil B. Posner

CBA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS 25

Program Notes

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A, K622

Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A, K622, completed in 1791, seven weeks before Mozart’s death, is the first concerto written for the clarinet by a major composer. This is no surprise because the clarinet was invented in 1710 by C.H. Denner in Germany. In fact, as originally conceived, the Concerto was written for a different instrument, the basset horn. A manuscript exists of the first 199 bars of a concerto written for basset horn in G in 1787, which matches identically the same portion of the Clarinet Concerto. It is undisputed that Mozart wrote the Concerto for the talented Anton Stadler, who played both basset horn and clarinet. Ultimately, scholars agree that the final Concerto was written for yet another Stadler instrument, the basset clarinet, which could play several notes lower than a standard clarinet pitched in A. Of Stadler, Mozart wrote: “Never would I have thought that a clarinet could be capable of imitating the human voice as deceptively as it is imitated by you. Truly, your instrument has so soft and lovely a tone that nobody with a heart could resist it.” Mozart loved the clarinet as played by Stadler and wrote what many maintain is the definitive work for the instrument. As Mozart loved the clarinet and a particular soloist, tonight’s clarinet soloist loves Mozart’s great work for the clarinet. In high school, John’s clarinet teacher employed the Concerto to teach him to play many notes evenly to a strict tempo beat out relentlessly by a metronome. The 6/8 Rondo third movement must be played evenly and in time. The Adagio second movement, popularized in the movie “Out of Africa,” provided an exercise in restraint, playing very slowly and deliberately without pushing the tempo. Having fallen in love with the Concerto as a student, John selected the flourish at the end of the third movement as his prepared audition piece for Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. It worked, and John had a summer job playing in the German Festhaus, Italian, and Bozo bands all through college. In the summer of 1984, while studying at Exeter College inOxford, England, John and several other students organized a chamber concert in the Chapel, where John played the first movement with piano accompaniment. In the summer of 1985, John played the first movement again with piano accompaniment for Virginia Governor Charles Robb at the Governor’s Mansion as part of a celebratory party for his Governor’s Fellow colleagues. In 1998, John finally had the chance to realize every clarinetist’s dream: to play the entire Clarinet Concerto with a full orchestra. That performance was in the CBA Building in Corboy Hall withMaestro David Katz and the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra. An admirer of Mozart’s other works for clarinet as well, John has since performed the Mozart Clarinet Quintet and the Mozart Kegelstatt Trio in CBA chamber concerts. In Spring 2018 he reprised his performance of the entire concerto. Tonight, he returns to the second movement of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto with Maestro Katz and the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra.

–Program Note by John S. Vishneski III

26 ODE TO JOY