George Whitefield Chadwick
“Jubilee” from Symphonic Sketches

Amy Beach
Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor, Op.45

1. Allegro moderato
2. Scherzo (Perpetuum mobile): Vivace
3. Largo
4. Allegro con scioltezza

INTERMISSION 

Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op.67 

1. Allegro con brio
2. Andante con moto
3. Allegro
4. Allegro

Tonight’s program celebrates two notable New England composers, George Whitefield Chadwick, and Amy Beach, whose works contributed profoundly to the musical landscape of the United States at the turn of the 20th century, showcasing the burgeoning talent of American music. Juxtaposed against these works is a cornerstone of Western music– Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, with its unforgettable four-note opening motive.

For nearly fifty years, George Whitefield Chadwick was a leading figure in Boston’s music scene, earning him as spot among the “Boston Six.” As director of the New England Conservatory (1897–1930), he influenced countless musicians and guest-conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Handel and Haydn Society, who regularly performed his works. Chadwick embraced his American identity, not through direct musical quotations like Ives, but with a broader, more pervasive approach. As Steven Ledbetter notes, his music is marked by “energy and high spirits, love of a good tune, a sense of humor, and a jaunty Yankee feeling.” These qualities are clearly heard in Symphonic Sketches, a set of four movements written between 1895 and 1904, each depicting a scene introduced by a poem.

The first movement, “Jubilee,” evokes an atmosphere of celebration and joy, befitting its title. Composed with Chadwick’s signature optimism, the work unfolds in vivid colors, using bold, fanfare-like themes interspersed with lyrical passages. About the Symphonic Sketches, said Chadwick, “I determined to make it American in style—as I understood the term.” Like Antonín Dvořák, whose influence can be heard in Chadwick’s colorful orchestration, Chadwick was able to craft music that simultaneously honored European tradition and embraced a New World sensibility.

Amy Beach, the second of our “Boston Six” this evening, was the first American woman to succeed as a composer of large-scale musical works. The Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor offers a powerful fusion of her roles as both composer and virtuoso pianist. In fact, the piece was first performed on April 7, 1900, with Beach as soloist and the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Wilhelm Gericke. The concerto’s four movements highlight Beach’s deep emotional range and technical command. The first movement, marked Allegro moderato, pairs orchestral grandeur with a passionate piano cadenza, while the second movement, a lively Scherzo, features an unrelenting perpetuum mobile, transforming art songs from Beach’s earlier works. The third movement, Largo, delves into a mournful and tragic lament, offering a stark contrast before the spirited, joyous finale brings the concerto to a triumphant close.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 stands in striking contrast to the American works on the program. Composed between 1804 and 1808, it is one of the most iconic and frequently performed works in the orchestral repertoire. Famous for its opening four-note motif, which has been described as “fate knocking at the door,” the symphony is a tour de force of musical innovation and emotional intensity.

The symphony’s first movement is a masterclass in economy and development, with Beethoven transforming a simple rhythmic idea into a grand, dramatic statement. The second movement offers a lyrical contrast with its elegant theme and variations, while the third movement introduces a mysterious scherzo that builds tension before leading directly into the triumphant final movement. Beethoven’s finale, with its resounding C major chords and blazing brass, offers a victorious resolution to the symphony’s preceding struggles.

Praised for her dynamic, passionate conducting style, Taiwanese American conductor Mei-Ann Chen is acclaimed for infusing orchestras with enthusiasm and high-level music-making, galvanizing audiences and communities alike. Newly named Artistic Advisor for Springfield Symphony Orchestra beginning fall 2024, since 2011 she has served as Music Director of the MacArthur Award-winning Chicago Sinfonietta; her contract has been extended through the end of the 2028-2029 season. Chen has been Chief Conductor of Austria’s Recreation – Grosses Orchester Graz at Styriarte since fall 2021 following two seasons as the orchestra’s first-ever Principal Guest Conductor, making her the first female Asian conductor to hold this position with an Austrian orchestra. She has served as the first-ever Artistic Partner of Houston’s ROCO since 2019, and since 2022, as an Artistic Partner with Northwest Sinfonietta (WA). Highly regarded as a compelling communicator and an innovative leader both on and off the podium she has appeared with distinguished orchestras throughout the Americas, Europe, Taiwan, The United Kingdom, and Scandinavia, and continues to expand her relationships with orchestras worldwide (over 150 orchestras to date). Honors include being named one of the 2015 Top 30 Influencers by Musical America; the 2012 Helen M. Thompson Award from the League of American Orchestras; the 2007 Taki Concordia Fellowship founded by Marin Alsop; and 2005 First Prize Winner of the Malko Competition (she remains as the only woman in the competition history since 1965 to have won First Prize), and ASCAP awards for innovative programming.

Anne-Marie McDermott, Pianist

One of the most dazzling American pianists of her generation, Anne-Marie McDermott has played concertos, recitals, and chamber music in hundreds of cities throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. She is one of the most versatile, respected, and best-reviewed pianists of our time. McDermott continues her tenure as music and artistic director of the Bravo! Vail music festival, in Colorado, through 2026, which hosts world-renowned artists and orchestras from around the world. She is also the artistic director of the Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival, in Florida.

Highlights of McDermott’s 2024-25 season include three performances of the Piano Concerto by the 20th-century American composer Amy Cheney Beach with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, with which she makes her subscription debut, and with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (MA); her debut in Galway, Ireland, performing music by Bach, Busoni, and Brahms at a Music for Galway recital; Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Paducah Symphony Orchestra (KY); Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Des Moines Symphony, Palm Beach Symphony, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra USA (WA); performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at Alice Tully Hall in New York City, and on tour in Chicago, Grand Rapids, Kansas City, Ashland (OR), and Vienna (VA); a special chamber music program at the New World Symphony, in Miami Beach, that includes Mozart’s Quintet in E-flat major and Olivier Messiaen’s wartime masterwork Quartet for the End of Time; performances as a member of the SPA Trio—with soprano Susanna Phillips and violist Paul Neubauer—at the Rockefeller University (New York City), and at Arizona Friends of Chamber Music (Tucson); and a chamber music program at the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, in Stillwater (OK).

McDermott’s 2023-24 season included performances with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, both resulting in immediate re-engagements. She also performed Mozart with the New York Philharmonic at the McKnight Center in Stillwater. Recent international highlights include recitals in France at the famed Piano aux Jacobins, in Toulouse; performances with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra at the Cartagena International Music Festival; and an all-Haydn recital tour of China.

The breadth of McDermott’s repertoire ranges from Bach, Haydn, and Beethoven to Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and Scriabin, also including works by today’s most influential composers. A recording artist, McDermott is currently recording the complete Beethoven piano concertos with Mexico City’s illustrious Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, under conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto. She has also recorded the complete piano sonatas of Prokofiev, solo works by Chopin, Bach’s English Suites and Partitas (Editor’s Choice, Gramophone Magazine), and Gershwin’s complete works for piano and orchestra with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (also Editor’s Choice, Gramophone Magazine). In 2013 she released an album of Mozart concertos with the Calder Quartet that was praised as “exceptional on every count” by Gramophone Magazine. She has recorded five Haydn piano sonatas and two Haydn concertos with the Odense Philharmonic, in Denmark, including two cadenzas written by the late American composer Charles Wuorinen.

In recent years, McDermott participated in the New Century Chamber Orchestra’s Silver Jubilee all-Gershwin program and embarked on a cycle of Beethoven concertos at Santa Fe Pro Musica. She also premiered and recorded a new concerto by the Danish composer Poul Ruders with the Vancouver Symphony, alongside Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Variations, and returned to play Gershwin with the New York Philharmonic at Bravo! Vail. Other recent highlights include performing the Mozart Concerto, K. 595 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, led by Sir Donald Runnicles; the Bach D minor concerto with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra; and Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 with the New York City-based Le Train Bleu.

McDermott continues to perform with many leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the symphonies of Dallas, Seattle, Houston, Colorado, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Atlanta, San Diego, New Jersey, Columbus, and Baltimore. She has also toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Moscow Virtuosi.

McDermott, who studied at the Manhattan School of Music, is a winner of the Mortimer Levitt Career Development Award for Women, the Young Concert Artists auditions, and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. She lives in New York City with her husband Michael.

First Violin
Masako Yanagita, Concertmaster (Physicians’ Fund Chair)
Marsha Harbison, Assistant Concertmaster (Raymond E. & Mildred G. Clark Chair)
Robert Lawrence
Martha McAdams
Romina Kostare (Massachusetts Fire Technologies, Inc. Chair)
Ira Morris
Kathy Andrew
Mitsuko Suzuki
Miho Matsuno
Jennifer Hillaker
Yuko Naito-Gotay

Second Violin
Beth Welty, Assistant Principal
Julie Marden
Lori Everson
Amy Sims
Joyce Ryu
Jean Gress
Anne-Marie Chubet
Krzysztof Gadawski
Ani Gregorian Resnick
Lu Sun Friedman
Viktoria Tchertchian

Viola
Ronald Gorevic, Principal
Delores Thayer, Assistant Principal
Carol Hutter
James Gustafson
Elizabeth Rose
Dani Rimoni

Cello
Emily Taubl, Principal
Aron Zelkowicz, Assistant Principal
Richard Mickey
Karen Wilson
Joel Wolfe
Boris Kogan
Yoonhee Ko

Bass
Salvatore Macchia, Principal
Alexander Svensen, Assistant Principal
Joel Meginsky
Michael Gorajec
Julianne Russell

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Ellen Redman

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Karen Hosmer (Grace A. Kellogg Chair)
Grace Shryock

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Lynn Sussman
John Friedrichs

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Leo Kenen

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Sarah Sutherland
Matthew Muehl-Miller

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Margaret Mantoni, Treasurer
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Jean E. Gress, Orchestra Librarian