Dear Friends,

What a thrill it is to welcome you to the 53rd season of concerts with the Ashland Symphony Orchestra.  We open a new chapter in ASO history this season as Michael Repper begins his tenure as Music Director and Conductor.   With an enthusiastic new Music Director, a cadre of outstanding musicians, and a discriminating and appreciative audience, we are poised to enjoy a great year of music together.  ASO will present both familiar and new musical offerings that we expect will delight, challenge, inspire, console, stimulate, or refresh you (or perhaps do a combination of those things).

The ASO Board of Directors thanks you for your continuing support of our outstanding orchestra.  We welcome your comments about the ASO and its programs, so please do not hesitate to share your thoughts with any of the Board members.  We look forward to finding ways to make each concert even more rewarding for you.

Enjoy the music.

Michael Hupfer
President, ASO Board of Directors

Dear Ashland Symphony Orchestra Patrons,

It is my great privilege to welcome you to our concerts at the marvelous Robert M. & Janet L. Archer Auditorium. I am incredibly proud to be taking the helm as Ashland’s new Music Director, and to continue to grow this jewel of Ashland County. We are going to make tremendous music together and enjoy a wonderful communal spirit. Our concerts are a place for everyone – come and enjoy, and be sure to introduce yourself! Our musicians and I are incredibly proud to share our work with you, and we hope you enjoy every minute!

Michael Repper
Music Director and Conductor
Ashland Symphony Orchestra

Here’s to NEW beginnings! For this momentous concert season, we welcome Michael Repper as the ASO’s new Music Director and Conductor, a new Fan Club for students in grades 9-12 and college students, pieces that are new to both patrons and musicians, new collaborations, new fundraisers, the ASO’s new Volunteers Coordinator Mark Gorsuch and new House Manager Ivey Buffenmyer, new complimentary children’s tickets, and much more.

We are back together again in the concert hall and I look forward to welcoming returning patrons as well as new audience members.
Come listen to what people are talking about!

Martha Buckner
Executive Director
Ashland Symphony Orchestra

SIBELIUS, Jean: Finlandia, op.26

Born: 8 December 1865, Finland
Died: 20 September 1957, Finland

Composition and Premiere: 1899 in Helsinki, Revised in 1900

Instrumentation: 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, 3 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Tuba, Timpani, Bass Drum, Cymbals, Triangle, and Strings

Duration: 8 Minutes

In 1899, tensions between Russia and Finland reached a new high point, as Russia’s quest for control over the Finnish peninsula grew stronger and stronger. Jean Sibelius, who by the last decade of the 19th century had become recognized as Finland’s preeminent composer, was invited to write a short musical offering to be performed at a political demonstration in Helsinki, to bolster Finnish pride. Thus, the first edition of this piece was born (originally titled Finland Awakes).

The short piece begins with trombones playing tight diminished chords that immediately introduce tension. The prevalence of minor seconds in the first theme (minor seconds are the smallest interval, and one of the most dissonant) build on this tension.

Dissonant and consonant harmonies battle over control of a recurring rhythmic motive in the trombones, until a gallant A-flat major theme shines through, bursting forth like a knight on a horse. Horns feature prevalently, which captures the mood of a battle proudly won.

Eventually the tension and energy yield, and the woodwinds introduce Sibelius’ famous hymn, known throughout the world as the “Finlandia Hymn.” This 32-bar sequence would become so popular with the Finnish people that it became an unofficial national song, and thanks to its popularity worldwide, it has been co-opted by various religions in their hymnbooks. Many Christian denominations might recognize the tune as “Be Still, My Soul.”

Recommended Recording: Oslo Vänskä conducting the Lahti Symphony Orchestra

PRICE, Florence: Ethiopia’s Shadow in America
I. Adagio–Allegretto: The Arrival
II. Andante: His Resignation and Faith
III. Allegro: His Adaptation

Born: 9 April 1887, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
Died: 3 June 1953, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Composition: 1929-1932 in Chicago
Premiere: Possibly 2015 in Little Rock, Arkansas

Instrumentation: Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Tuba, Timpani, Suspended Cymbal, Woodblock, Snare Drum, Bass Drum, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Crash Cymbals, Celesta, and Strings

Duration: 16 minutes

Ethiopia’s Shadow in America by Florence Price is presented under license from G. Schirmer Inc. and Associated Music Publishers, copyright owners.

Florence Price is one of America’s greatest composers, whose music, due to decades of neglect, is only just now being uncovered in a widespread fashion. Price was interested in music from a very early age, and showed immense talent as well. She gave her first public performances from as young as 4 years old, and began composing around age 10. She was incredibly bright, and graduated with top grades as valedictorian of her high school.

Price eventually decided to pursue higher education in music, and was admitted to the New England Conservatory of Music. She was forced to register as “Mexican” rather than “African American” due to fears that her skin color would prevent the processing of her application or any chance of being admitted.

Price moved to Chicago in the late 1920s, fleeing from the generally unsafe environment for Black people in Little Rock during that period. In Chicago, Florence Price would find tremendous success. Among those successes was the premiere of her first symphony by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (this was the first time a full-time American orchestra played a work by a Black woman, and the Chicago Symphony was an orchestra with which Price would enjoy a close relationship for years), as well as numerous composition competition wins.

Unfortunately, due to general neglect, Florence Price’s music was largely forgotten between her death and the last decade. Audiences today, however, are falling in love with her music anew, much in the same way they did in the 1930s. Today, we will play one of her most special tone poems, Ethiopia’s Shadow in America.

Price’s musical language is distinctly American, forging together her musical training at the New England Conservatory (where she would have studied Brahms, Beethoven, Bach, and other Western musicians) with her learned American musical customs, and particularly customs stemming from the Black community: jazz, blues, and spirituals, for example. Price’s large pieces, such as her Piano Concerto and also Ethiopia’s Shadow, both contain spirituals in the middle movement — it is easy to see the influence of the Black American musical tradition in her writing.

A tone poem, this piece is programmatic, or music written to portray a specific meaning, image, story, or idea. Ethiopia’s Shadow in America is quite plainly about slavery in this country, and Price’s depiction of a Black person being subjected to slavery. Price’s writing is so organic that it is easy to follow the story as she describes in her own movement titles. Full of drama, this piece is quickly becoming one of Price’s most popular pieces, and a stirring reminder of a dark part of our past.

Recommended Recording: Michael Repper conducting the New York Youth Symphony

BRAHMS, Johannes: Symphony No. 2, op.73, D Major
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Adagio non troppo
III. Allegretto grazioso (Quasi andantino)
IV. Allegro con spirito

Born: 7 May 1833, Germany
Died: 3 April 1897, Austria

Composition and Premiere: 1877, Vienna

Instrumentation: 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Tuba, Timpani, and Strings

Duration: 40 minutes

Brahms was an incredibly reluctant symphonic composer for most of his career. Whereas some of his forebears (such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn) were writing and publishing before they were even teenagers, Brahms was into his forties before he published his first symphony.

The reason for this is simple: there was immense expectation amongst the public that Brahms would be the one to carry Beethoven’s legacy forward. Even other preeminent composers thought so, including Robert Schumann who introduced Brahms to a wider audience through his music journal as, essentially, the second coming of Beethoven. That’s a lot of pressure! That, combined with Brahms’ notorious perfectionism meant that Brahms was incredibly slow to symphonic writing, relatively speaking, taking over twenty years to complete his first symphony. Fortunately, his first symphony was such a rousing success that, boosted with confidence, it took him merely months to complete his second symphony, the one we will play today.

Of Brahms’ four symphonies, the second is arguably the sunniest and most radiant. The key to understanding the entire piece comes in the first four notes, as played by the cellos (D – C# – D – A). This short motive of a minor second and a perfect fourth forms the basis for nearly every theme in the piece in some way, and is frequently called back verbatim (such as the opening notes of the fourth movement, also D – C# – D.

Brahms also included fun kernels for his audience, items that may have been meant to be recognizable and enjoyed by Brahms fans. Take, for example, the second theme of the first movement, which highly resembles Brahms’ infamous Lullaby.

Each movement is distinctive. Whereas the first movement is idyllic, the second movement is dramatic. The third movement is playful, and the fourth movement bursts with energy. The fourth movement features trombones in a way that had become quite prominent in Beethoven’s time (trombones playing high notes are a great way to exude energy), and the first trombone is asked to play quite high. A great challenge for any orchestra, and a wonderful way to conclude our concert, we look forward to presenting Brahms’ great Symphony no. 2 for you today.

Recommended Recording: Marin Alsop conducting the London Symphony Orchestra

The Ashland Symphony Orchestra thanks

Our ushers and volunteers
Philip McNaull, Technical Director
Ashland City Schools for its continued support of the arts
Tommy Beech, Photographer
Roger Price, Professional Voice Actor & Announcer, www.RogerzVoice.com

Please silence all electronic devices.
No flash photography or audio/visual recording permitted.
No food or drink permitted in the Robert M. & Janet L. Archer Auditorium.

Thank you for your cooperation.

In 1997, Bob and Jan Archer established the first donor fund through the Ashland County Community Foundation to benefit the Ashland Symphony Orchestra. The ASO then partnered with the ACCF in 1999 and created the “Ashland Symphony Orchestra Fund in Memorium of James E. Thomas”. Since then, three new agency funds and fourteen additional donor advised or designated funds have been established! The Ashland County Community Foundation can assist you in creating a fund to benefit the Ashland Symphony Orchestra now or as part of your estate plan. For more information, call the Foundation at 419-281-4733.

Donations may be made to existing endowments at any time. Contact the Foundation for more information www.ashlandforgood.org.

*To contribute to these funds, please send donation to Ashland Symphony Orchestra, 401 College Ave., Ashland, OH 44805.

The Ashland Symphony Orchestra is thankful for the following funds:

Robert M. & Janet L. Archer Fund est. 1997

Ashland Symphony Orchestra Fund in Memorium of James E. Thomas est. 1999*

ASO Podium Endowment Fund in Honor of Masetro Arie Lipsky est. 2018*

ASO Harold Weller Music Education Endowment Fund est. 2019*

gift from Nick & Edna Weller Charities: Harold & Betsy Weller and Thomas Weller

ASO Rev. John H. Landrum Memorial Endowed Chair for Flute 2 est. 2020*

gift from Marybelle H. Landrum

Ashland Symphony Orchestra est. 2000

Mary M. Case Memorial Fund est. 2005

Ann K. Guthrie Fund est. 2009

Arie Lipsky Honorary Endowment Fund est. 2010

Kopp Family Fund est. 2011

Dr. Alvin W. Garrett Fund est. 2017

William and Marlene Rose Fund est. 2017

J. Robert and Ruth L. Tipton Fund est. 2017

Dr. JoAnn Ford Watson Fund est. 2017

Dr. Beverly Bixler Fund est. 2018

Billy Harris Charitable Fund est. 2018

Lawrence and Catherine Hiner Endowed Chair for Percussion of the ASO Fund est. 2020

John R. Donelson for the benefit of the ASO est. 2021

Elizabeth Pastor Fund for the benefit of the ASO est. 2021