March 10, 2012 Masterworks recording on Instant Encore

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Triple Doubles CD on Minnesota Public Radio

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Bring your non-perishable food items to the Flynn or the Paramount!

Again this year, the VSO will collect food items at its concert in Burlington as part of the national “Orchestras Feeding America” project. Audience members and the public may bring a non-perishable food item to the Flynn Theater lobby on March 10 or the Paramount Theater lobby on March 11. All food collected will be donated directly to the Vermont Foodbank and donors will receive “Beethoven Bucks,” good for discounts on future VSO ticket purchases. Suggested food items include boxed dry goods, canned goods and soups, cereal, pasta, rice, and peanut butter…please, no glass, perishables or clothing.

“Orchestras Feeding America” is a national food drive organized by the League of American Orchestras, representing America’s professional, volunteer, and youth orchestras. This is the fourth year of the program in which 250 orchestras in 50 states have so far collected over 350,000 pounds of food. The food drive demonstrates the collective power of America’s orchestras in undertaking a project designed to help feed the hungry in their local communities. Food collected by the VSO will be distributed to Vermont Foodbank partners around the state, to help ensure that all Vermonters have enough to eat. Keep reading!

Program notes: March 9-11

Second only to “Peter and the Wolf” in popularity, Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony is one part neo-classicism (harkening back to an 18th century idiom), and one part innovation, stirred by a belief that music should nourish with hope and beauty. The result is delicious! Our soloist for Richard Strauss’s first horn concerto is the amazing Jennifer Montone, principal horn with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Strauss’ abiding love for the heroic French horn, and his indebtedness to the style of Schumann and Mendelssohn, are evident in this remarkably mature early work. The concert concludes with Beethoven’s paean to heroism, his Third Symphony. Although the “Eroica” includes the most famous funeral march in the literature, death does not have the last word in this epic, immortal symphony. Keep reading for the complete concert schedule and program notes.



Friday, March 9, 7:30 p.m.
Bellows Falls Opera House, Bellows Falls

Saturday, March 10, 8 p.m.
Flynn Center, Burlington
Part of the Masterworks Series

Sunday, March 11, 4 p.m.
Paramount Theatre, Rutland
Part of the Sunday Matinee Series

Jaime Laredo, conductor
Jennifer Montone, horn

PROKOFIEV Classical Symphony
STRAUSS Horn Concerto No. 1
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, "Eroica"


Classical Symphony, Op. 25
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)

“It is the duty of the composer to serve his fellow men, to beautify human life and point the way to radiant future. Such is the immutable code of art as I see it.” –SP

Prokofiev’s first music teacher was his mother, and it is to her influence and the Beethoven sonatas he heard her play in his infancy that he attributed his penchant for neo-classicism, or the imitation of the classical style of the eighteenth century. Innovation was the other principal feature of his work in which he took pride, and it was a gibe at his “elementary harmony” from his teacher Taneieff which Prokofiev claimed was the foundation of his need for an individual idiom. This recipe of one part neo-classicism and one part innovation, stirred by a belief that music should endow mankind with a sense of hope and beauty, resulted in Prokofiev’s delicious Classical Symphony.

Growing up in a musical home, Prokofiev began composing early and was always at the piano. While a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, he composed well over a hundred works, which he considered student work, not suitable for publication. By 1914, he had established a style with elements of humor and lyricism, popularized by short piano pieces. After a couple of important works for orchestra, Prokofiev decided to push himself away from the piano as a compositional tool.

Until this time I had always composed at the piano, but I noticed that the thematic material composed away from the piano was often better. I had been toying with the idea of writing a whole symphony without the piano. I believed that the orchestra would sound more natural. That is how the project for a symphony in the Haydn style had come into being. Had Haydn lived in our day, he would have retained his own style while accepting something of the new at the same time.

The Classical Symphony is the most popular of Prokofiev’s works, and in it are his signature techniques of sudden shifts of tonality, deceptive cadences, and leaping melodic intervals, all in the service of mischief in classical dress. It’s a short dress, too, less than 15 minutes.

I. Allegro – This is an utterly polite and miniature version of a typical Haydn or Mozart first symphonic movement, with a second theme that has the violins flapping from high string to low to play a melody con eleganza: a bald-faced, inelegantly placed line of pitches, which, above all, are to be played in an unflappable manner!

II. Larghetto – A soothing melody in violins is heard over a gently rocking accompaniment in the other strings, the melody later heard in solo flute. After a contrasting section with pizzicato, the first melody returns.

III. Gavotta: non troppo allegro – Here a gavotte takes the place of the usual minuet. Originally a peasant dance, the gavotte was adopted by the French court, and by the eighteenth century was a dignified exercise involving large measures of pomp and posturing. Prokofiev features deft harmonic surprises in this movement.

IV. Finale: molto vivace – Once the finale starts, it never looks back. The listener is swept along on a breathtaking and brilliant drive to the symphony’s conclusion.

--Hilary Hatch


Horn Concerto No. 1 in Eb Major, Op. 11
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

Richard Strauss’s father Franz was a distinguished French horn player, principal in the Munich Opera House Orchestra. Although the first concerto was written for him (in 1882, at the very beginning of the young composer’s career), the elder Strauss found it too difficult to play! Schumann is the dominant influence here; it’s easy to hear the earlier composer’s Konzertstuck for four horns in some of the more declamatory sections, especially at the beginning of the piece.

After the virile opening bars, which provide the soloist a bravura hunting motif, there is a far more lyrical second subject. The horn takes the lead throughout the development section, while the orchestra merely underlines the solo part and provides a few short bridge passages, including one that gently leads straight into the second movement.

The middle movement, Andante, is a lyrical ballad for the horn, presented over a rudimentary orchestral accompaniment built from a simple, repetitive four-note figure. Partway through, the soloist takes up a more extroverted theme over twittering woodwinds. The inspiration now seems to be the French opera aria.

The finale is a fast rondo featuring a brilliant main melody for the horn. This gives way to more expansive but still urgent material. The scherzo-like final bars require fine control and an extremely light touch, as if Strauss were turning to Mendelssohn as his muse. The entire work is marked by exuberance, and its success stems from both a deep understanding of the French horn’s technical challenges and a devotion to its beauty.


Jennifer Montone, French horn

Jennifer joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as principal horn in 2006. She was the principal horn of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2006. Formerly associate principal of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, she was an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University and was a faculty performer at the Aspen Music Festival and School from 2005 to 2009.

She has played concertos with the Saint Louis, Dallas, and National symphony orchestras; the Philadelphia Orchestra; and the Polish National Radio Symphony, among others, and has performed chamber music with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, as well as at festivals in La Jolla, Santa Fe, Marlboro, Bay Chamber Concerts, and Spoleto, Italy.

Her numerous honors and awards include the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant (2006), Paxman Young Horn Player of the Year in London (1996), and Presidential Scholar for Musical Achievement (1995). A native of northern Virginia, she graduated from the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. Jennifer joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2007.


Symphony No. 3 in Eb Major, Op. 55, “Eroica”
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

The original manuscript of the “Eroica” lay ready in Beethoven’s apartment for the trip to Paris via the French Embassy in Vienna. There was nothing written on the title page save two names: “Bonaparte” at the top and “Luige van Beethoven” at the bottom. Beethoven’s Third Symphony was intended as a paean to one of his great heroes, Napoleon Bonaparte. To the composer, Napoleon was the very essence, the flower of democratic genius, with the message of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” for all mankind. On May 18, 1804, Napoleon did the last thing Beethoven expected him to do and assumed the title of “Emperor.” Upon hearing this news, the former admirer seized his “Eroica” manuscript, ripped off the title page, tore it in two and threw it to the floor. On his own personal conducting copy of the score he scratched out the word Bonaparte so violently that he tore a hole in the paper.

The symphony was renamed and published as “Sinfonia eroica per festiggiare il sovvenire d’ un gran uomo”-- “Heroic Symphony, Composed to Celebrate the Memory of a Great Man.”

Beethoven left no actual program to this symphony, though many have attempted to ascribe one to it, including Berlioz, Marx, and Wagner. Suffice it to say that the thought behind the work is obvious in the nature of the musical material. There is an enormous stylistic gap between Beethoven’s first two symphonies and the third: “Eroica” makes it hard to imagine Beethoven as a student of Haydn, as he was a mere ten years earlier. (At that time, Haydn saw his young student as a musical rebel whose creations held aspects of senseless license—to Beethoven, his teacher was an old fogy. They were never friends, and their influence on one another was negligible. Although Beethoven later came to appreciate his teacher’s genius, he said flatly: “I never learned anything from Haydn.”)

The first public performance of the Symphony took place at the Theater an Wien on April 7, 1805, at a concert sponsored by violinist Franz Clement. The work was dedicated to Prince Lobkowitz, obviously the most opportune hero of the moment. Its debut was not a total success—one gentleman in the gallery shouted down “I’d give another kreuzer if they would stop.” Other, more considered opinions were mixed: “…virtually a daring and wild fantasia…There is no lack of striking and beautiful passages in which the force and talent of the composer are obvious; but…the work seems to lose itself in utter confusion.”

In Nussdorf, in the summer of 1817, when Beethoven had written all but his ultimate symphony, he sat with the poet Christian Kuffner at dinner in the tavern Zur Rose. Kuffner asked his friend which of his symphonies was his favorite. “Aha,” said Beethoven. “Why, the ‘Eroica.’” The poet remarked: “I should have guessed the c minor [5th].” “No,” Beethoven insisted, “the ‘Eroica.’”

I. Allegro con brio. There is no introduction, unlike Beethoven’s previous symphonies. The movement starts with two short major chords and a stark announcement of the “hero” theme. The inner mood of the whole movement is one of harmonic tension, ever seeking and failing to resolve itself fully. The second theme is less melody than a succession of chords, a harmonic rather than a melodic theme. This movement is much more plastic than anything in the previous symphonies, without the sharp demarcation of themes, and it features a boldness of dissonance and syncopation not heard before.

II. Marcia funèbre: Adagio assai. This is a funeral march on an epic scale. There is a central section in a major key, more sustained, but the climax is reached in fugal development followed by a “Judgment Day” proclamation of the trombones. The march ends brokenly, in disjointed fragments. After hearing of Napoleon’s death, Beethoven, who had not spoken of him for seventeen years, remarked: “I have already composed the proper music for the catastrophe.”

III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace. The Scherzo seems to say that death does not have the last word in Beethoven’s mind. It bears the promise of renewal and resurrection, and has been felt by program seekers to represent “merrymaking in the soldier’s camp,” “truce at the grave,” or “funeral games given in honor of the dead hero.”

IV. Finale: Allegro molto. The choice for the finale is a theme that appeared throughout the years in Beethoven’s works. Nicknamed the “Prometheus” theme after its youthful introduction in his “Prometheus” ballet, it then surfaced as the basis for fifteen piano variations, op. 35, and the melody of a contradance. The finale of the symphony is the ultimate treatment of the theme, eleven variations and a presto coda (actually a twelfth variation), so protean in nature that they suggest, as a last word, the power and infinite variety of existence beyond the confines of mortal concerns.

--Hilary Hatch

Keep reading!

Program notes: March 9-11

Second only to “Peter and the Wolf” in popularity, Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony is one part neo-classicism (harkening back to an 18th century idiom), and one part innovation, stirred by a belief that music should nourish with hope and beauty. The result is delicious! Our soloist for Richard Strauss’s first horn concerto is the amazing Jennifer Montone, principal horn with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Strauss’ abiding love for the heroic French horn, and his indebtedness to the style of Schumann and Mendelssohn, are evident in this remarkably mature early work. The concert concludes with Beethoven’s paean to heroism, his Third Symphony. Although the “Eroica” includes the most famous funeral march in the literature, death does not have the last word in this epic, immortal symphony. Keep reading for the complete concert schedule and program notes.


Friday, March 9, 7:30 p.m.
Bellows Falls Opera House, Bellows Falls

Saturday, March 10, 8 p.m.
Flynn Center, Burlington
Part of the Masterworks Series

Sunday, March 11, 4 p.m.
Paramount Theatre, Rutland
Part of the Sunday Matinee Series

Jaime Laredo, conductor
Jennifer Montone, horn

PROKOFIEV Classical Symphony
STRAUSS Horn Concerto No. 1
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, "Eroica"


Classical Symphony, Op. 25
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)

“It is the duty of the composer to serve his fellow men, to beautify human life and point the way to radiant future. Such is the immutable code of art as I see it.” –SP

Prokofiev’s first music teacher was his mother, and it is to her influence and the Beethoven sonatas he heard her play in his infancy that he attributed his penchant for neo-classicism, or the imitation of the classical style of the eighteenth century. Innovation was the other principal feature of his work in which he took pride, and it was a gibe at his “elementary harmony” from his teacher Taneieff which Prokofiev claimed was the foundation of his need for an individual idiom. This recipe of one part neo-classicism and one part innovation, stirred by a belief that music should endow mankind with a sense of hope and beauty, resulted in Prokofiev’s delicious Classical Symphony.

Growing up in a musical home, Prokofiev began composing early and was always at the piano. While a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, he composed well over a hundred works, which he considered student work, not suitable for publication. By 1914, he had established a style with elements of humor and lyricism, popularized by short piano pieces. After a couple of important works for orchestra, Prokofiev decided to push himself away from the piano as a compositional tool.

Until this time I had always composed at the piano, but I noticed that the thematic material composed away from the piano was often better. I had been toying with the idea of writing a whole symphony without the piano. I believed that the orchestra would sound more natural. That is how the project for a symphony in the Haydn style had come into being. Had Haydn lived in our day, he would have retained his own style while accepting something of the new at the same time.

The Classical Symphony is the most popular of Prokofiev’s works, and in it are his signature techniques of sudden shifts of tonality, deceptive cadences, and leaping melodic intervals, all in the service of mischief in classical dress. It’s a short dress, too, less than 15 minutes.

I. Allegro – This is an utterly polite and miniature version of a typical Haydn or Mozart first symphonic movement, with a second theme that has the violins flapping from high string to low to play a melody con eleganza: a bald-faced, inelegantly placed line of pitches, which, above all, are to be played in an unflappable manner!

II. Larghetto – A soothing melody in violins is heard over a gently rocking accompaniment in the other strings, the melody later heard in solo flute. After a contrasting section with pizzicato, the first melody returns.

III. Gavotta: non troppo allegro – Here a gavotte takes the place of the usual minuet. Originally a peasant dance, the gavotte was adopted by the French court, and by the eighteenth century was a dignified exercise involving large measures of pomp and posturing. Prokofiev features deft harmonic surprises in this movement.

IV. Finale: molto vivace – Once the finale starts, it never looks back. The listener is swept along on a breathtaking and brilliant drive to the symphony’s conclusion.

--Hilary Hatch


Horn Concerto No. 1 in Eb Major, Op. 11
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

Richard Strauss’s father Franz was a distinguished French horn player, principal in the Munich Opera House Orchestra. Although the first concerto was written for him (in 1882, at the very beginning of the young composer’s career), the elder Strauss found it too difficult to play! Schumann is the dominant influence here; it’s easy to hear the earlier composer’s Konzertstuck for four horns in some of the more declamatory sections, especially at the beginning of the piece.

After the virile opening bars, which provide the soloist a bravura hunting motif, there is a far more lyrical second subject. The horn takes the lead throughout the development section, while the orchestra merely underlines the solo part and provides a few short bridge passages, including one that gently leads straight into the second movement.

The middle movement, Andante, is a lyrical ballad for the horn, presented over a rudimentary orchestral accompaniment built from a simple, repetitive four-note figure. Partway through, the soloist takes up a more extroverted theme over twittering woodwinds. The inspiration now seems to be the French opera aria.

The finale is a fast rondo featuring a brilliant main melody for the horn. This gives way to more expansive but still urgent material. The scherzo-like final bars require fine control and an extremely light touch, as if Strauss were turning to Mendelssohn as his muse. The entire work is marked by exuberance, and its success stems from both a deep understanding of the French horn’s technical challenges and a devotion to its beauty.


Jennifer Montone, French horn

Jennifer joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as principal horn in 2006. She was the principal horn of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2006. Formerly associate principal of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, she was an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University and was a faculty performer at the Aspen Music Festival and School from 2005 to 2009.

She has played concertos with the Saint Louis, Dallas, and National symphony orchestras; the Philadelphia Orchestra; and the Polish National Radio Symphony, among others, and has performed chamber music with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, as well as at festivals in La Jolla, Santa Fe, Marlboro, Bay Chamber Concerts, and Spoleto, Italy.

Her numerous honors and awards include the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant (2006), Paxman Young Horn Player of the Year in London (1996), and Presidential Scholar for Musical Achievement (1995). A native of northern Virginia, she graduated from the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. Jennifer joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2007.


Symphony No. 3 in Eb Major, Op. 55, “Eroica”
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

The original manuscript of the “Eroica” lay ready in Beethoven’s apartment for the trip to Paris via the French Embassy in Vienna. There was nothing written on the title page save two names: “Bonaparte” at the top and “Luige van Beethoven” at the bottom. Beethoven’s Third Symphony was intended as a paean to one of his great heroes, Napoleon Bonaparte. To the composer, Napoleon was the very essence, the flower of democratic genius, with the message of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” for all mankind. On May 18, 1804, Napoleon did the last thing Beethoven expected him to do and assumed the title of “Emperor.” Upon hearing this news, the former admirer seized his “Eroica” manuscript, ripped off the title page, tore it in two and threw it to the floor. On his own personal conducting copy of the score he scratched out the word Bonaparte so violently that he tore a hole in the paper.

The symphony was renamed and published as “Sinfonia eroica per festiggiare il sovvenire d’ un gran uomo”-- “Heroic Symphony, Composed to Celebrate the Memory of a Great Man.”

Beethoven left no actual program to this symphony, though many have attempted to ascribe one to it, including Berlioz, Marx, and Wagner. Suffice it to say that the thought behind the work is obvious in the nature of the musical material. There is an enormous stylistic gap between Beethoven’s first two symphonies and the third: “Eroica” makes it hard to imagine Beethoven as a student of Haydn, as he was a mere ten years earlier. (At that time, Haydn saw his young student as a musical rebel whose creations held aspects of senseless license—to Beethoven, his teacher was an old fogy. They were never friends, and their influence on one another was negligible. Although Beethoven later came to appreciate his teacher’s genius, he said flatly: “I never learned anything from Haydn.”)

The first public performance of the Symphony took place at the Theater an Wien on April 7, 1805, at a concert sponsored by violinist Franz Clement. The work was dedicated to Prince Lobkowitz, obviously the most opportune hero of the moment. Its debut was not a total success—one gentleman in the gallery shouted down “I’d give another kreuzer if they would stop.” Other, more considered opinions were mixed: “…virtually a daring and wild fantasia…There is no lack of striking and beautiful passages in which the force and talent of the composer are obvious; but…the work seems to lose itself in utter confusion.”

In Nussdorf, in the summer of 1817, when Beethoven had written all but his ultimate symphony, he sat with the poet Christian Kuffner at dinner in the tavern Zur Rose. Kuffner asked his friend which of his symphonies was his favorite. “Aha,” said Beethoven. “Why, the ‘Eroica.’” The poet remarked: “I should have guessed the c minor [5th].” “No,” Beethoven insisted, “the ‘Eroica.’”

I. Allegro con brio. There is no introduction, unlike Beethoven’s previous symphonies. The movement starts with two short major chords and a stark announcement of the “hero” theme. The inner mood of the whole movement is one of harmonic tension, ever seeking and failing to resolve itself fully. The second theme is less melody than a succession of chords, a harmonic rather than a melodic theme. This movement is much more plastic than anything in the previous symphonies, without the sharp demarcation of themes, and it features a boldness of dissonance and syncopation not heard before.

II. Marcia funèbre: Adagio assai. This is a funeral march on an epic scale. There is a central section in a major key, more sustained, but the climax is reached in fugal development followed by a “Judgment Day” proclamation of the trombones. The march ends brokenly, in disjointed fragments. After hearing of Napoleon’s death, Beethoven, who had not spoken of him for seventeen years, remarked: “I have already composed the proper music for the catastrophe.”

III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace. The Scherzo seems to say that death does not have the last word in Beethoven’s mind. It bears the promise of renewal and resurrection, and has been felt by program seekers to represent “merrymaking in the soldier’s camp,” “truce at the grave,” or “funeral games given in honor of the dead hero.”

IV. Finale: Allegro molto. The choice for the finale is a theme that appeared throughout the years in Beethoven’s works. Nicknamed the “Prometheus” theme after its youthful introduction in his “Prometheus” ballet, it then surfaced as the basis for fifteen piano variations, op. 35, and the melody of a contradance. The finale of the symphony is the ultimate treatment of the theme, eleven variations and a presto coda (actually a twelfth variation), so protean in nature that they suggest, as a last word, the power and infinite variety of existence beyond the confines of mortal concerns.

--Hilary Hatch
Keep reading!

Program notes: Mozart Requiem & Fauré Requiem

This monumental program is presented in celebration of Mozart’s 256th birthday and Robert De Cormier’s 90th birthday, both of which take place in January, 2012. Among all the famous requiems, Fauré’s Requiem stands out for its serenity and soothing gentleness. He composed it, he said, not for a specific occasion but “purely for the pleasure of it.” And pure pleasure it is. The story behind the creation of Mozart’s sublime Requiem has been sensationalized by the movie Amadeus. The reality is plenty dramatic enough: his family was desperate for the commission fee, and Mozart was struggling to finish the work when he died of renal failure. Though the Requiem was completed by a student, its heart-wrenching beauty is quintessential Mozart. The VSO will present this program on Saturday, January 28, at the Flynn Center in Burlington and Sunday, January 29, at the Paramount Theatre in Rutland. Keep reading for the program notes.


2011/2012 Masterworks Series III
Saturday, January 28, 2012, 8:00 p.m.
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington
Visit the event page

2011/2012 Sunday Matinee Series II
Sunday, January 29, 2012, 4:00 p.m.
Paramount Theatre, Rutland
Visit the event page

Robert De Cormier, conductor; Jonita Lattimore, soprano; Susan Platts, alto; Richard Clement, tenor; Kevin Deas, bass; VSO Chorus
MOZART Requiem
FAURE Requiem


Requiem, K. 626
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Much ink has been spent on the circumstances surrounding the composition of Mozart's Requiem. All the romantic embellishments including the poisoning of Mozart by rival Salieri and Mozart's conviction that he was writing a requiem for himself at the behest of some messenger of death have been rounded up and deliciously portrayed on stage and screen in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, (which, not incidentally, precipitated a renewed interest in the performance of the Requiem). These scenarios, as well as the one that has Mozart rehearsing the Requiem on the last day of his life with family friends and bursting into tears during the first few bars of the Lacrymosa, are as specious as they are irresistible. Death was a far more commonplace and less romanticized occurrence in 1791 than today. Mozart and his beloved sister "Nannerl" were the only two of Leopold's seven children who survived to adulthood. Mozart and Constanze had six children, of whom only two lived longer than six months. Any manner of malaise could result in death, and the attitude of the time toward this constant possibility had to be more accepting in order to go on with daily life. As Mozart said in a letter to his ailing father in 1787, "Since death, when you come to think of it, is actually the ultimate purpose of our life, I have got to know this true, best friend of man so well that his image not only no longer frightens me, but calms and comforts me! And I thank God that He has given me the boon of providing an opportunity to get to know Him as the key to our true happiness. I never go to bed without considering that, young as I am, perhaps I shall not see the next day."

In life, Mozart's impoverishment made him only too familiar with the physical and psychological stressors of exhaustion, poor nutrition, and the exigencies of supporting his recently expanded family. With the reversal of his fortune in his last years, no work offered could he refuse. Three commissions came his way in 1791. The first was from actor friend and fellow Freemason Emanuel Schikaneder for an opera in German, The Magic Flute. Work on this had started when the summer brought another commission, this one an "intrigue opera" (La clemenza di Tito) for a celebration in Prague of the coronation of the Austrian emperor Leopold II as King of Bohemia. The third commission came by way of an emissary shortly before the coronation. He offered Mozart an unsigned letter full of flatteries and an inquiry as to whether the composer would consider writing a requiem, and for how much and how soon. With half of the requested amount placed immediately in hand and the balance to be paid on delivery, Mozart felt no need to ask questions about the source.

The mysterious intermediary was Franz Anton Leutgeb, steward of Count Franz Walsegg Stuppach. The Count had lost his wife the previous February, and the requiem was to be in her honor. A music lover, Walsegg had concerts in his home twice a week, and delighted in copying over original scores of other composers and having his guests guess their origin. "Usually we guessed the Count himself, because he did in fact occasionally compose a few trifles; he would smile at that and be pleased that he had (or so he believed) succeeded in mystifying us,” wrote one of his guests.

Mozart worked on the Requiem that summer, interrupted by the need to finish both operas. Falling ill in October at the height of The Magic Flute's popularity, he took to his bed and died of renal failure on December 5, 1791. That he foresaw his own death is given the lie by the fact that the title page of the Requiem autograph bears the date 1792 in his own hand: clearly he had planned to finish the work. In the end, he completed only the Requiem and Kyrie, and sketched the Dies Irae through the Hostias. The widowed Constanze, desperate for income, engaged one of Mozart's pupils to finish the work. Franz Xaver Süssmayer completed the orchestration and wrote the final movements (probably making use of sketches left by his teacher). The work was given to Walsegg, who gave it its first performance in 1793.

-- Hilary Hatch


Requiem, Op. 48
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)

Fauré composed his best-known work, Requiem, in 1887, purely, as he said, for the pleasure of it. The first performance took place at the fashionable church of The Madeleine in Paris where he was choirmaster, on January 16, 1888. The work at that time consisted of five movements, the Introit and Kyrie, Sanctus, Pie Jesu, Agnus Dei, and In Paradisum. It was scored for chamber chorus and an orchestra consisting of solo violin, divided violas, divided cellos, basses, harp, timpani, and organ.

An expanded version which included the Offertory, written in 1889, and the Libera Me, composed as an independent composition as early as 1877, had its first performance in January of 1893. Bassoons, horns, and optional trumpets were added for that performance. A third and final version of the Requiem was published in 1900. This symphonic version for large choir and full orchestra was probably created at the request of the publisher, Julien Hamelle, who felt the piece would be more popular with large forces.

Of all the requiems, from Mozart’s to Britten’s, Fauré’s stands out for its serenity and soothing gentleness. As a choirmaster and organist, Fauré constantly sought to create a new kind of church music. He wanted something other than the operatic bel canto style which was popular in Paris at the time, and apart from the outsized, large-scale Germanic Romantic style which dominated the rest of Europe. The most dramatic moment in the piece is the Dies Irae, Dies Illa (“that day, day of wrath”). Remember the setting by Berlioz with its four brass bands or Verdi with two sets of off-stage trumpets? Fauré limits himself to sixteen bars and just two horns to announce “that day,” not as a separate movement but only as it appears in the Libera Me. Drawing inspiration from the tunes and rhythms of Gregorian chant, he uses subtle gradations in dynamic, color, and harmony to achieve the effects he wants.

In an interview in 1902, Fauré commented: “It has been said that my Requiem does not express the fear of death, and someone has called it a lullaby of death. But it is thus that I see death: a happy deliverance, an aspiration towards happiness above, rather than as a painful experience. The music of Gounod has been criticized for its overinclination towards human tenderness. But his nature predisposed him to feel this way. Is it not necessary to accept the artist’s nature? As to my Requiem, perhaps I have also instinctively sought to escape from what is thought right and proper, after all the years of accompanying burial services on the organ! I know it all by heart. I wanted to write something different.”

I. INTROIT AND KYRIE
Eternal rest grant them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. A hymn, O God, becometh Thee in Sion, and a vow shall be paid to Thee in Jerusalem. O Lord, hear my prayer, all flesh shall come to Thee. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

II. OFFERTORY
O Lord Jesus Christ, King of Glory, deliver the souls of the departed from the pains of Hell and from the deep pit; save them from the mouth of the lion, nor allow the dark lake to swallow them up, nor darkness to enshroud them. With our prayers, O Lord, we offer a sacrifice of praise; do Thou receive it on behalf of those souls whom we this day commemorate. Grant, O Lord, that they may pass from death to life, which Thou didst promise to Abraham and to his seed. Amen.

III. SANCTUS
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Glory be to Thee, O Lord, Hosanna in the highest.

IV. PIE JESU
Blessed Jesus, O Lord, grant them rest; grant them eternal rest.

V. AGNUS DEI
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, give them rest. Let perpetual light shine upon them together with Thy saints for Thou art good. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

VI. LIBERA ME
Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death in that awful day when heaven and earth shall be moved, when Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. Trembling, I stand before Thee, and I fear the trial that shall be at hand and the wrath to come. That day, a day of wrath, of calamity and misery, a great day and exceeding bitter. Eternal rest grant them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Deliver me, O Lord.

VII. IN PARADISUM
May the angels receive thee in paradise; at thy coming may the martyrs receive thee, and bring thee into the Holy City Jerusalem. There may the choir of angels receive thee and with Lazarus, once a beggar, may thou have eternal rest.


Jonita Lattimore, soprano

Jonita Lattimore, a lyric soprano of immense vocal range and expressive musicality, has garnered plaudits for her vivid portrayals of roles ranging from Micaela to Jackie O as well as oratorio performances with major orchestras across the United States and abroad. John von Rhein from the Chicago Tribune calls Lattimore’s soprano a “richly upholstered voice with secure line and coloratura.” She “is surely destined for great things.” Her performance in Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with Concertante di Chicago was praised by the same paper for her “dusky low notes and effortless clarion upper range.” Her latest CD, Only Heaven, a collaboration of five singers, (PS Classics) was called “the most distinctive music heard all season” (USA Today), producing “spine chills and teary eyes” (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram).

Lattimore made her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in Kurt Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, and was also seen on Lyric’s stage as Micaela in Bizet’s Carmen. She recently performed the role of Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with Tulsa Opera, and debuted in the title role in the world premiere and recording of James Niblock’s Ruth at Blue Lake Fine Arts Festival. With Houston Grand Opera she appeared as Marguerite in Faust, First Lady in Die Zauberflöte, and presented the world premieres of Harvey Milk, The Book of the Tibetan Dead, and Jackie O, which was recorded on Decca. She made her Paris debut at the Bastille Opera as Serena in Porgy and Bess.

2011/12 offers returns to the Orequesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and the Mozart Requiem with both Vermont Symphony and Louisiana Philharmonic. Among the 2010/11 highlights figured Haydn’s Paukenmesse with the Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico and concerts with the Charlotte Symphony. The 2009/10 season included a debut with Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico and returns to the Houston Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Grant Park Music Festival and Chicago Sinfonietta. During the 2008-09 season, Lattimore sang Serena in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of Porgy and Bess, the Fauré Requiem with Eugene Symphony and Verdi’s Requiem with the Virginia and Colorado symphonies. During the summer, she returned once again to the Grant Park Music Festival, this time in Torke’s Plans.

An artist profile of Jonita Lattimore was aired on Artbeat Chicago, an arts television program on WTTW-Chicago’s Public Broadcast System entitled Home Grown Diva; and she is featured on WTTW’s Opera Philes, a program of favorite opera arias and ensembles. She is the soprano soloist in Robert Avalon’s Sextet de Julia de Burgos, recorded on Centaur.


Susan Platts, alto

British-born Canadian mezzo-soprano Susan Platts brings a uniquely rich and wide-ranging voice to concert and recital repertoire for alto and mezzo-soprano. She is particularly esteemed for her interpretations of the Mahler symphonies and song cycles.

In May of 2004, as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, world-renowned soprano Jessye Norman chose Ms Platts as her protégée from 26 international candidates, and has continued to mentor her ever since. With the generous support of Rolex, Ms. Platts recently commissioned a work for mezzo-soprano and orchestra from celebrated Canadian composer Marjan Mozetich: Under the Watchful Sky, comprised of three songs using ancient Chinese texts from Shi Jing (“The Book of Songs”) that explore the universal passions and tribulations of humankind, was premiered by the Québec Symphony under Yoav Talmi in November 2010.

Ms. Platts has performed at Teatro alla Scala, Teatro di San Carlo, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center as well as with the Philadelphia, CBC Radio, Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras, Orchestre de Paris, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Montreal, Toronto, American, Detroit, Milwaukee and Houston Symphonies, Les Violons du Roy, Los Angeles and St. Paul Chamber Orchestras. She has collaborated with many conductors including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Roberto Abbado, Leon Botstein, Sir Andrew Davis, Andreas Delfs, Christoph Eschenbach, Jane Glover, Eliahu Inbal, Jeffrey Kahane, Bernard Labadie, Kent Nagano, Peter Oundjian, Itzhak Perlman, Bramwell Tovey, Osmo Vänska and Pinchas Zuckerman. Ms Platts has appeared on many distinguished art-song series including twice for both the Vocal Arts Society at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and Ladies Morning Musical Club in Montreal, and both the Frick Collection on Lincoln Center “Art of the Song” series in New York City.

Ms. Platts has recorded Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde for Fontec Records with Gary Bertini conducting the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, a CD of dramatic sacred art songs with pianist Dalton Baldwin, Gustav Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Smithsonian Chamber Players and Santa Fe Pro Musica for Dorian Records and Brahms Zwei Gesänge with Steven Dann and Lambert Orkis on the ATMA label. Her first solo disc of songs by Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms on the ATMA label enjoyed considerable critical acclaim.


Richard Clement, tenor

Grammy-winning American tenor Richard Clement has performed with most of America’s major orchestras and music directors, bringing tonal beauty and superb musicality to repertoire from the baroque to the contemporary. He recently earned particular acclaim for the title role of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius with the North Carolina Symphony and Sacramento Choral Arts Society and Orchestra. In addition he premiered--and recorded--Theofanides' The Here and Now with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony, including performances in Atlanta and at New York’s Carnegie Hall (he has also sung Messiah and concert performances of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic with them). Among the most in-demand tenors for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, invitations include the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; New Jersey, Milwaukee, San Antonio, Oregon, Memphis, San Diego, Baltimore, Nashville, Phoenix, Colorado and Toledo Symphonies. He sang Elijah with the Memphis and Charlotte Symphonies; the Verdi Requiem with the Santa Rosa and New Jersey Symphonies and Chautauqua Music Festival Orchestra; Beethoven's Missa solemnis with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and National Arts Centre Orchestra; and Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with the Colorado and Puerto Rico Symphonies. In addition Mr. Clement has performed Belmonte in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Leonard Slatkin and the National Symphony; Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with Jeffrey Kahane and the Colorado Symphony; Orff’s Carmina Burana with Neeme Järvi and the Detroit Symphony, and two Mozart programs with Boston’s Händel & Haydn Society under Grant Llewellyn. He also sang Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht and Second Symphony with Kurt Masur and the Israel Philharmonic; Toch’s Cantata of the Bitter Herbs with the Czech Philharmonic; the Mozart Requiem with the Saint Louis and Delaware Symphonies; Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex with Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony; Kernis’ Millenium Symphony with the Minnesota Orchestra; Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with Jeffrey Kahane and the Santa Rosa Symphony; The Bells with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall; Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has been guest soloist with the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras; Houston, Toronto, San Francisco and Cincinnati Symphonies, and collaborated with such conductors as Wolfgang Sawallisch, Jesús López-Cobos, Bobby McFerrin, Daniel Harding, Christopher Hogwood, Carlo Rizzi, John Mauceri, Marin Alsop, Hugh Wolff and James Conlon.

Festival engagements include Tanglewood (concert performance of Act III of Verdi’s Falstaff), Beethoven #9 at both Grant Park and the Hollywood Bowl, and the Bach B Minor Mass with Seiji Ozawa at Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival.

Mr. Clement’s considerable operatic credentials include Pedrillo in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Sir Colin Davis and the New York Philharmonic; Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at Belgium’s De Vlaamse Opera and with the Colorado Symphony. At the Vancouver Opera his roles include Nanki-Poo (The Mikado), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Little Bat (Susannah) and Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni); Ernesto (Don Pasquale) at Glimmerglass Opera; Vanya (Katya Kabanova) and To-No-Chujo (Tale of the Genji) at Opera Theater of St. Louis; Belmonte (Entführung) with the Boston Baroque; Lensky (Eugen Onegin) and Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore) at Opera Festival of New Jersey; Candide, Lockwood (Wuthering Heights) and Fenton (Falstaff) at Boston Lyric Opera; and Albert Herring with the Atlanta Opera.

Mr. Clement studied voice at Georgia State University and the Cincinnati Conservatory, where he received his Master of Music degree. He was a Tanglewood Music Festival Fellow, has been a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio and was a recipient of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Jacobson Study Grant. Recordings include Britten’s War Requiem with the Washington Choral Society, Bartók’s Cantata Profana with the Atlanta Symphony (both Grammy winners) and Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame. Mr. Clement is currently on staff as a visiting lecturer at Atlanta's Georgia State University.


Kevin Deas, bass

Kevin Deas has gained international acclaim as one of America’s leading basses. Lauded for his “burnished sound, clarity of diction and sincerity of expression” and “fervent intensity” by Chicago Tribune critic John von Rhein, Deas has been variously called “exemplary” (Denver Post), “especially fine” (Washington Post) and possessing “a resourceful range of expression” (The Cincinnati Enquirer). He is perhaps most acclaimed for his signature portrayal of the title role in Porgy and Bess, having sung it with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco, Atlanta, San Diego, Utah, Houston, Baltimore and Montreal symphonies and the Ravinia and Saratoga festivals.

2011/12 brings repeat visits to the National Philharmonic, return engagements with Boston Baroque, Musica Sacra, Oratorio Society of New York and Princeton Pro Musica, as well as the Requiem by both Fauré and Mozart with the Vermont Symphony and a Dvorak program with the Buffalo Philharmonic and North Carolina Symphony.

Deas’ 2010/11 season highlights consisted of appearances with the Calgary Philharmonic in Porgy and Bess, Boston Baroque with Messiah, a Richmond Symphony Beethoven Symphony No. 9, St. John Passion at the Winter Park Festival, Philip Glass’ Passion of Ramakrishna with Pacific Symphony, Paukenmesse with Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the National Symphony of Costa Rica on occasion of the orchestra’s 70th anniversary.

Other recent highlights include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under the baton of Daniel Barenboim with Filarmonica della Scala in Accra celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of Ghana, Copland’s Old American Songs and Mozart's Marriage of Figaro with the Chicago Symphony, Messiah with the Cleveland Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic and Handel & Haydn Society, an opening performance at the Newport Jazz Festival with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Colorado Symphony and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and performances of Brubeck’s To Hope! in Salzburg and Vienna. He also sang at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival and Carnegie Hall, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius with the Chicago Symphony and Barenboim, Mozart’s Requiem with the Atlanta Symphony, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas with the Houston Symphony.

A strong proponent of contemporary music, Kevin Deas was heard at Italy’s Spoleto Festival in a new production of Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors in honor of the composer's eighty-fifth birthday, videotaped for worldwide release. His 20-year collaboration with Dave Brubeck have taken him to Salzburg, Vienna and Moscow in To Hope! and his Gates of Justice were presented in a gala performance in New York during the 95/96 season. He also performed Tippet's Child of our Time with the Vancouver Symphony and in 1992 debuted with the Chicago Symphony in a concert version of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X by Anthony Davis, later repeated in New York and recorded.

Kevin Deas’ list of recordings is as varied as it is impressive: He has recorded for Decca/London Die Meistersinger with the Chicago Symphony under the late Sir Georg Solti and Varèse's Ecuatorial with the ASKO Ensemble under the baton of Ricardo Chailly. Other releases include Bach's B minor Mass and Handel's Acis & Galatea on Vox Classics and Dave Brubeck's To Hope! with the Cathedral Choral Society on the Telarc label.

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Farmers' Night: a FREE concert on January 25

World-renowned conductor Andrew Massey leads the VSO in a Farmers' Night program that includes music of Gluck, Fauré, Bach, and Wagner. VSO English horn Ann Greenawalt and principal trumpet Mark Emery are featured in Copland’s popular Quiet City, and there is a part for the audience in Purcell’s clever “Fantasia upon One Note.” This delightful concert is part of the Vermont State House Farmers' Night series. These free concerts are presented in the Legislative Chambers. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the seats are offered on a first-come, first-served basis, so arrive early. Keep reading for the program and some biographical notes.

David M. Wilson Memorial Farmers' Night Concert
Wednesday, January 25
Doors at 6:30 p.m.
Concert at 7:30 p.m.
Free and open to the public

Andrew Massey, conductor
Ann Greenawalt, English horn
Mark Emery, trumpet

GLUCK Overture to Orpheus
FAURE Nocturne from Shylock, Op. 57
COPLAND Quiet City
J.S. BACH Air on the G String
PURCELL Fantasia upon One Note
WAGNER Siegfried Idyll

Andrew Massey lives in Montgomery Center, VT, although his musical activities take him far and wide. Last summer he was conducting the Indonesian National Symphony Orchestra in Jakarta, also visiting Bali and Singapore. He recently conducted the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong on the first tour by a Chinese Orchestra to Italy, and last year directed a concert of new Icelandic music in Reykjavik; a concert at which every composer featured was both alive and present.

Andrew grew up in England, studying at Oxford University, composing and conducting, until he moved to the USA in 1978 to become Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra under Lorin Maazel. Since then he has been Associate Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony and New Orleans Symphony, Resident Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony, and Music Director of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Fresno Philharmonic, Toledo Symphony, Oregon Mozart Players, Racine Symphony, and the Michigan Chamber Orchestra. He has guest conducted widely, and appeared with soloists such as Rostropovich, Ella Fitzgerald, Viktoria Mullova, Gil Shaham, Claudio Arrau, Ivan Moravec, Ida Haendel, Hilary Hahn.

He conducted the Vermont Symphony first in 2007, and is delighted to return. In Vermont, he also leads the orchestra at Middlebury College, appears this season with the Burlington Chamber Orchestra, and directed a memorial concert on 9/11/2011 with the Green Mountain Mahler Festival, featuring Mahler’s second symphony, and his own memorial composition Early Mourning.

The violin concerto, Another Spring, composed as a companion piece for Vivaldi, was performed recently in Wisconsin, and he has several compositions in the pipeline, along with essays on the hidden message of Britten’s War Requiem, and on music by Webern, Mahler, and Beethoven.

Like so many in Vermont, he lives hidden away in the hills, listening to the wind move through the forest, hearing the Hermit thrush, delighted to be able to drive to the airport encountering no traffic lights. His wife, Sabra, heads the Mountain Fiber Folk Cooperative, and his grown children live in Florida and England.


Ann Greenawalt, oboe, holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in performance from the Juilliard School. At Juilliard she was fortunate to have the opportunity to study English horn with Thomas Stacy, principal English horn with the New York Philharmonic. In 1989 she became a member of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra when she won the contracted English horn position. In addition, she teaches privately, and performs with Opera North and the Burlington Choral Society. Since moving to Vermont in 1984, she has also played with the Hanover Chamber Orchestra, the Vermont Mozart Festival, and the New England Bach Festival. Ann works part-time at Ellis Music Company, a business founded by her father-in-law, Richard Ellis. She resides in South Royalton, Vermont with her husband, trumpeter David Ellis, and has two grown children, Emily and Miles.



Mark Emery, trumpet, grew up in California and Oregon. After hearing a brass quintet perform at his school, he fell in love with the trumpet, and began learning how to read music while singing hymns in church. He earned his B.M. from Portland State University in 1998.

Mark is a graduate of New England Conservatory and the Tanglewood Music Center, where he received the "Roger Voisin Trumpet Award." In addition to playing principal trumpet with Vermont Symphony and Opera North in Lebanon, NH, Mark has performed with National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, has toured and recorded with the Boston Pops Orchestra under Keith Lockhart, and has performed extensively with the Boston Symphony, including six Carnegie Hall performances and dozens of concerts at Tanglewood under the greatest conductors in the world. Mark can be heard on recordings by Vermont Symphony, Boston Pops, Oregon Symphony, Callithumpian New Music Consort, Huntington Brass, and Innovata Brass.

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Jill and the Beanstalk

Holiday Pops: Fun and Games is our festive three-concert tour to Barre, Burlington, and Rutland, December 9-11. The program -- in addition to pieces showcasing the youthful side of the season -- features a composition by a Vermont student. Her name is Eileen Kocherlakota (pictured) and her piece is a musical fractured fairy tale, Jill and the Beanstalk. Keep reading for a full description of the piece, Eileen's bio, and the complete tour schedule.

Eileen Kocherlakota is 14 years old, and a freshman at Burlington High School. Music has been a big part of her life ever since she started playing violin when she was 5 years old. Currently she studies violin with Evelyn Read and plays in the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association (VYOA). She started composing with the Vermont MIDI Project (VMP) when she was in fourth grade. She recently took music theory lessons with Erik Nielson and completed the theory courses offered by VYOA. She would like to thank Ms. Greene and Ms. Nolan, her music teachers in elementary and middle school, who fostered her interest in composition. She thanks Erik Nielsen, Matt Podd, and Zach Sheets, all composer mentors with the Vermont MIDI Project and Sandi MacLeod, Executive Director of VMP. She especially thanks her family for supporting her all the way.

The Vermont MIDI Project is a non-profit organization supporting young composers through a variety of technology tools. VMP enlists professional composers to provide feedback to students in an online mentoring website and supports teachers in music composition. Live performance opportunities of student compositions are offered through the Opus concerts and with organizations such as the VSO. Visit the website for more information.

Jill and the Beanstalk is a fractured fairy tale based on “Jack and the Beanstalk.” This updated rendition is told through music with narration throughout the piece. It is like another piece Eileen Kocherlakota wrote, based on the fairytale, ”Cinderella,” which was for a small ensemble of brass, piano and percussion. In Jill and the Beanstalk, similar to Peter and the Wolf, different instruments representing different characters. Jill’s theme is played by clarinets, the witch trading beans is represented by violins 1 and 2, the giantess’ dancing is numbly highlighted with flutes and a piccolo, and the giant comes to life with timpani and low brass. Please enjoy!

2011 Holiday Pops I: "Fun & Games"
The National Life Group Holiday Pops Concert
Friday, December 9, 2011, 7:30 p.m.
Barre Opera House, Barre
Anthony Princiotti, conductor
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2011 Holiday Pops II: "Fun & Games"
Saturday, December 10, 2011, 7:30 p.m.
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington
Anthony Princiotti, conductor
Visit the event page


2011/2012 Sunday Matinee Series I/2011 Holiday Pops III
Sunday, December 11, 2011, 3:00 p.m.
Paramount Theatre, Rutland
Anthony Princiotti, conductor
Holiday Pops: Fun and Games
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Carnival of the Animals a huge success!

Our orchestral youth concert this week at the Flynn Center in Burlington was a huge hit! Carnival of the Animals surprised and delighted over 1200 schoolchildren from around the state, some coming from as far as Windsor! Student Charles Wu wowed the audience with both his piano AND saxophone skills, the artist mural backdrop was stunning, and Champlain Elementary took home the Symphony Bear. The purpose of the VSO's SymphonyKids Educational Outreach Programs is to explore the delights of classical music with Vermont school children, and to inspire them with a lifelong enthusiasm for music through a variety of high-quality, educational, and FUN programs. In 2010/2011 SymphonyKids reached 30,223 students or 53% of the statewide K-8 population. This impressive statistic is made up of 248 presentations serving 199 schools in 166 towns (66% of the 251 towns in Vermont, not all of which have schools). Keep reading for upcoming SymphonyKids programs around the state.

DrumShtick Percussion Trio
December 8, 2011
Bennington Elementary 9:15 AM
Monument Elementary (Bennington) 11 AM
North Bennington Graded School 1:30 PM

Fanfare Brass Trio
December 16, 2011
Weybrigde Elementary 9 AM
Ripton Central School 10:45 AM
Beeman Elementary (New Haven) 12:45 PM

Symphony Reel String Trio
January 6, 2012
Thatcher Brook Elementary (Waterbury) 9 & 10 AM
Moretown Elementary 1 PM

Musical Petting Zoo
January 9, 2012
Waterville Elementary Time TBA
Eden Elementary Time TBA

Ah! Cappella Vocal Quartet
January 20, 2012
Sheldon Elementary 9 AM
Highgate Elementary 10:15 AM
Fairfield Elementary 1 PM Keep reading!