Thu. May 16, 2024 7p.m.
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Thu. May 16, 2024 7p.m.
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Sat. May 18, 2024 8p.m.
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Sun. May 19, 2024 3p.m.
Concert Hall
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Runtime
Approx. 105 Minutes, Including a 15-minute intermission
Program
Thomas Wilkins, conductor
Randall Goosby, violin*
- Anna Clyne
- (b. 1980)
- This Moment (6')**†
- Felix Mendelssohn
(1809-1847) - Concerto in E minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 64 (26')
- I. Allegro molto appassionato
- II. Andante
- III. Allegretto non troppo -
IV. Allegro molto vivace - Randall Goosby, violin
Intermission
- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
(1875-1912) - Danse nègre, Op. 35, No. 4 (26')
- Edward Elgar
(1857-1934) - Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36, Enigma Variations (29')
- Enigma: Andante
- I. "C.A.E." L'istesso tempo
- II. "H.D.S.- P." Allegro
- III. "R.B.T." Allegretto
- IV. "W.M.B." Allegro di molto
- V. "R.P.A." Moderato
- VI. "Ysobel" Andantino
- VII. "Troyte" Presto
- VIII. "W.N." Allegretto
- IX. "Nimrod" Moderato
- X. "Dorabella - Intermezzo" Allegretto
- XI. "G.R.S." Allegro di molto
- XII. "B.G.N." Andante
- XIII. "*** - Romanza" Moderato
- XIV. "E.D.U." - Finale
*NSO subscription debut
**First performance by the NSO
†This Moment was commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation
Patrons are requested to silence cell phones and other electronic devices during performances.
The taking of photographs and the use of recording equipment are not allowed in this venue.
Program order and artists are subject to change.
Season Sponsors
The NSO Music Director Chair is generously endowed by Roger Sant and Congresswoman Doris Matsui
Endowed Support for this week’s concerts:
The Mars Family and Mars Foundation Concerts
Flowers in loving memory of Bessie Huidekoper Fay
Terms and Conditions
All events and artists subject to change without prior notice.
Meet the Artists
Meet the National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda, Music Director, The Roger Sant and Congresswoman Doris Matsui Chair
Steven Reineke, Principal Pops Conductor
Ben Folds, Artistic Advisor
The National Symphony Orchestra uses a system of revolving strings. In each string section, untitled members are listed in order of length of service.
* Regularly Engaged Extra Musician
** Temporary Position
*** Leave of Absence
Program Notes
© 2024 Tim Smith
Anna Clyne: This Moment
This Moment is inspired by the calligraphy of Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Zen master, and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh, who passed away in January 2022 at the age of 95. It is a meditation on his words, “This moment is full of wonders.” This Moment is also a response to our collective grief and loss in recent years, and borrows two moments from Mozart’s Requiem, the work with which This Moment was premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin in July 2023.
Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto
George Bernard Shaw, galivanting around London in the late-1880s as a music critic under the tongue-in-cheek nom de plume Corno di Bassetto, boldly declared that Felix Mendelssohn was “not in the foremost rank of great composers.” Moments of “touching tenderness and refinement” weren’t enough, Shaw argued, to make you forget Mendelssohn’s “conventional sentimentality and his despicable oratorio mongering.” (Few things rankled Shaw more than the composer’s weighty choral works “Elijah” and “St. Paul.”) Such condescension persisted well into the 20th century. A particularly long-lasting notion held that Mendelssohn peaked early—he wrote the incomparable “Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at 17—then, to quote another notable critic, Harold C. Schonberg, “never lived up to his initial creative promise.”
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Danse nègre
On the long, lamentable list of overlooked and under-appreciated composers, the name Samuel Coleridge-Taylor jumps out. Had he not died in 1912 at only 37, he may well have become such a major 20th-century figure that he would turn up regularly, rather than rarely, on concert programs today. Despite his short life, he produced a considerable amount of music well worth attention, including stirring choral and orchestral works, charming chamber and solo piano pieces, a rapturous violin concerto, character-rich songs and more.
Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
The story goes that Elgar’s wife, Alice, heard the composer doodling at the piano and asked what he was playing. “Nothing,” the composer replied. “But something might be made of it.” That something turned out to be Variations on an Original Theme, better known as “Enigma Variations.” With this piece, premiered in London in 1899, the 42-year-old Elgar suddenly went from moderate success to international star.
The score, brilliant in form and content, is a kind of musical photo album holding snapshots of 13 people close to the composer, and, to close, a 14th item that serves as his selfie. Originally, Elgar intended to leave listeners guessing about the folks referenced in the piece, providing only initials or a nickname (in one case, just symbols) as a clue at the top of each variation. Eventually, he provided some details about the personalities, moods, or events he sought to depict. But he also urged people to consider the piece “absolute music,” adding that any “personal allusions only concerned [the composer’s] subjects and himself.” To be sure, if we knew nothing about the Elgar social circle immortalized here, the inventive music would still impress mightily. But all that intimate stuff behind the notes sure makes everything even more fascinating.
Staff
Staff for the National Symphony Orchestra
*Kennedy Center staff who support the NSO
Administration
Executive Director Jean Davidson
Executive Assistant Sabryn McDonald
Executive Team
Vice President, Artistic Planning Nigel Boon
Director of Orchestra Personnel Karyn Garvin
Vice President of Marketing Derek A. Johnson*
Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis Shuda Li*
Director of Finance & Administration Louise Niepoetter
Chief Development Officer Eric Stillman
Director of Music Education Warren G. Williams, III*
Artistic
Assistant Manager, Artistic Planning & Administration Emma Biggert
Senior Producing Director Justin Ellis
Artistic Assistant Administrator Lucia Lostumbo
Artistic Assistant Nampoina Randrianarivelo
Community Engagement
Manager of Community Engagement Xavier Joseph
Development
Major Gift Officer, NSO Rebin Ali
Senior Manager, Foundation & Government Giving Selena Anguiano*
Special Events Manager Barin Boudreaux*
Assistant Manager, NSO Board & Leadership Campaigns Kate Baker
Manager, Foundation & Government Giving Lauren Breen*
Director of Operations & Stewardship, NSO Jean Campo
Director, Development Systems & Strategies Jenny Flemingloss*
Assistant Manager, Foundation & Government Giving Emiko Fukuda*
Manager, Corporate Relations Nicole Galagan*
Director, Planned Giving Matthew Gardner*
Assistant, NSO Development Helena Hadlock
Assitant Manager, NSO Individual Giving Reema Kattan
Assistant, Stewardship Jordan Lapsley*
Director, Foundation & Government Giving Maryvonne Neptune*
Senior Manager, Corporate Relations Crystal Padley*
Vice President, Corporate Engagment Ellen Palmer*
Assistant Manager, NSO Individual Giving Laney Pleasanton
Manager, NSO Individual Giving Maria Servodidio
Director, Prospect Development, Intelligence, & Analytics Kellyn Smith*
Manager, Stewardship Nora St. Arnold*
Assistant Manager, Foundation & Government Giving Lauren Walker*
Education
Manager of Music Education, Programming and Productions Emily Heckel*
Manager, Career and Development Programs Stephanie Baker*
Human Resources
Director, Total Rewards Tony Amato*
Talent Acquisition Manager Chanel Kemp*
Senior Manager, HRIS & Benefits Aushja (Shay) Mitchell*
HRIS Coordinator Lisa Motti*
Benefits Coordinator Ericka Parham*
Senior Business Partner John Sanford*
Director, HR Operations Mafona Shea*
Marketing & Advertising
Marketing Manager, NSO, Fortas, and New Music Lindsay Sheridan*
Assistant Marketing Manager, NSO, Fortas, and New MusicAbby Berman*
Senior Director, Creative and Brand StrategyScott Bushnell*
Manager, Advertising DesignFreeman Robinson*
Senior Copywriter & Assistant Manager, Advertising CommunicationsLily Maroni
Assistant Manager, Social MediaKyle Russo
Advertising Production & Special Projects Assistant ManagerElizabeth Stoltz*
Director, Sales & Ticketing ServiceDerek Younger*
Orchestra Operations & Concert Production
Assistant Manager, Orchestra Operations Brooke Bartolome
Media & OPAS Support Coordinator Joseph Benitez
Assistant Stage Manager N. Christian Bottorff
Senior Manager, Production & Operations Krysta Cihi
Production Manager Daryl Donley
Production Coordinator Abby Johnson
Stage Manager David Langrell
Public Relations
Senior Press Representative David Hsieh*
Public Relations Coordinator, Classical Kate Wyman*
Kennedy Center Executive Leadership
President, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing ArtsDeborah F. Rutter
Vice President, Public RelationsEileen Andrews
Chief Information Officer Ralph Bellandi
Interim Vice President of Human Resources LaTa'sha M. Bowens
Senior Vice President, MarketingKimberly J. Cooper
Executive Director, National Symphony OrchestraJean Davidson
Senior Vice President, Artistic PlanningMonica Holt
Chief Financial OfficerStacey Johnson
Vice President, EducationJordan LaSalle
Vice President, Government Relations and ProtocolLaurie McKay
Senior Vice President, DevelopmentLeslie Miller
General Director, Washington National OperaTimothy O’Leary
Vice President, FacilitiesMatt Floca
Executive Vice President & General CounselAsh Zachariah
Staff for the Concert Hall
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Theater Manager*Allen V. McCallum Jr.
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Box Office TreasurerDeborah Glover
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Head UsherCathy Crocker
-
Stage CrewZach Boutilier, Michael Buchman, Paul Johannes,
April King, John Ottaviano, and Arielle Qorb
*Represented by ATPAM, the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers.
Steinway Piano Gallery is the exclusive area representative of Steinway & Sons and Boston pianos, the official pianos of the Kennedy Center.
The box office at the Kennedy Center is represented by I.A.T.S.E, Local #868.
The technicians at the Kennedy Center are represented by Local #22, Local #772, and Local #798 I.A.T.S.E., AFL-CIO-CLC, the professional union of theatrical technicians.
National Symphony Orchestra musicians are represented by the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Federation of Musicians, AFM Local 161-710.
Thank You to Kennedy Center Supporters
The National Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors
Washington National Opera Board of Trustees
èßäAVInternational Committee on the Arts
President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts
National Committee for the Performing Arts
National Symphony Orchestra National Trustees
èßäAVCommunity Advisory Board
èßäAV50th Anniversary Committee
Individual and Foundation Donors
Program
Thomas Wilkins, conductor
Randall Goosby, violin*
- Anna Clyne
- (b. 1980)
- This Moment (6')**†
- Felix Mendelssohn
(1809-1847) - Concerto in E minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 64 (26')
- I. Allegro molto appassionato
- II. Andante
- III. Allegretto non troppo -
IV. Allegro molto vivace - Randall Goosby, violin
Intermission
- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
(1875-1912) - Danse nègre, Op. 35, No. 4 (26')
- Edward Elgar
(1857-1934) - Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36, Enigma Variations (29')
- Enigma: Andante
- I. "C.A.E." L'istesso tempo
- II. "H.D.S.- P." Allegro
- III. "R.B.T." Allegretto
- IV. "W.M.B." Allegro di molto
- V. "R.P.A." Moderato
- VI. "Ysobel" Andantino
- VII. "Troyte" Presto
- VIII. "W.N." Allegretto
- IX. "Nimrod" Moderato
- X. "Dorabella - Intermezzo" Allegretto
- XI. "G.R.S." Allegro di molto
- XII. "B.G.N." Andante
- XIII. "*** - Romanza" Moderato
- XIV. "E.D.U." - Finale
*NSO subscription debut
**First performance by the NSO
†This Moment was commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation
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