GPYO Fall 2024 Concert

Fall 2024 Greeley Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Concert
November 9th, 2024 | 5:00 PM | First Congregational Church Greeley
Doran Azari, Director

Capriol Suite for String Orchestra Peter Warlock

Basse Danse
The Pavane

Concerto in C for two Trumpets & Strings (RV 537) Antonio Vivaldi

Movement 1 arr. by Michael Rondeau

Noah Lambert, trumpet
Derek McDonald, trumpet

Gymnopedie No. 1 Erik Satie

arr. by Robert Klotman

Chaeli Fischer, guest conductor

An Armed Forces Salute arr. by Andrew Dabczynski


First Violin
Natalie Morehead, Concert Master
Mychaela Boeye
Rey Donohoue
Liberty Gomer
Olivia Kilpatrick
Riley Moore
Lily Riegel

2nd Violin
JT Perry, Principal
Connor Davidson
Max Nguyen
Anya Reiten
Kayden Rivard

Viola
Loryn Bustos, Principal
Shannon Parrish

Cello
Anika Deal, Principal
Stevie Haight, Principal
Corbin Brown
Ella Thomas
Lucy Shelley

Bass
Mikayla Kerbs, Principal
Calvin Long, Principal
Rae Alexander
Patrick Fulks
Rylee Wellman

Harp
Maureen Donelson


Doran Azari retired from teaching orchestra in Greeley-Evans School District 6 in 2020 after more than 30 years of service in just about every secondary school in Greeley. He was primarily the director of orchestras at Greeley Central High School. Mr. Azari also taught violin with the Union Colony Children's Music Academy and with the UNC String Project. Starting his music career as a violist, Mr. Azari has performed professionally for over 30 years with many orchestras throughout the region. Mr. Azari has performed many times as a pit musician and conducted in various operas and musicals. He also served for 10 years in the Colorado Army National Guard. He lives in Greeley with his wife Kathy who plays oboe in the Greeley Chamber Orchestra and who herself has had a long and distinguished music career both as a performer and educator.

Noah Lambert is an experienced musician having held professional orchestral positions throughout the country including: Assistant Principal in the Louisiana Philharmonic and Acting Second Trumpet of the Fort Worth Symphony. With the Fort Worth Symphony, he recorded and toured to the Kennedy Center. Currently, Noah lives in Park Hill, Denver and is Second Trumpet in the Boulder Philharmonic and Principal Trumpet of the Greeley Philharmonic.

Derek McDonald currently plays principal trumpet with the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra and the Boulder Chamber Orchestra, and also holds tenured positions with the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra, the Greeley Philharmonic, and the Colorado Ballet Orchestra. As an active freelance musician in the Denver/Boulder area, Derek frequently substitutes with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Boulder Philharmonic, and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. Mr. McDonald also performs annually at the International Ballet Festival held in Vail, Colorado.

 

Capriol Suite for String Orchestra, Movements 1 & 2

The Capriol Suite (1925) is a set of six dances, two of which will be performed by the GPYO at this concert- the Basse Danse and the Pavane. The dances were composed in the Renaissance style, and were based on tunes found in the collection of a French priest, Jehan Tabourot (1515-1595). The piece was originally written for piano duet and was a great success, prompting the version for string orchestra in 1926 and a full orchestra version in 1928.

Peter Warlock was the pen name of Philip Heseltine who was born to a wealthy London family in 1894. He graduated from both Eton College and Oxford University with degrees in the classics. He was fascinated by the work of Frederick Delius and wrote a major study of Delius’s music along with some early music manuscripts the first of which began to appear in 1917. His first widely acknowledged work was the Curlew song cycle completed in 1922 followed thereafter by the Capriol Suite.

Concerto in C (RV 537) for two Trumpets & Strings, Movement 1

The Concerto in C for Trumpet Duet is one of Vivaldi’s most popular works. The orchestra will play the first movement of the three movement work--a fanfare with virtuosic solo performances by the trumpets. Although the date of its writing is unknown, it is believed to have been written in the 1720’s. It was published in 1950 after it was found in a library in Turin, Italy. It is Vivaldi’s only trumpet concerto and was written for natural trumpet at the time- a valveless instrument limited to notes that stay close to the natural harmonic series of a home key- in this case C. The arranger of the work, Michael Rondeau, is a Canadian educator, composer and trumpet player.

Gymnopédie No. 1

Program notes provided by the arranger: Although his teachers at the Paris Conservatoire thought he was lazy and showed little promise, Erik Satie (1866-1925) became one of the more inventive and original composers of his time. The music composed during his 20’s, mainly piano works, already revealed Satie’s talent for harmonic innovation and complex composition. During those early years, Satie was friends with many revolutionary artists in Paris, and both his lifestyle and his compositions became extravagant and fanciful. Later in his career he became more prolific, composing works with strange titles and long, confusing commentaries. The unusual ballets he composed at this time had unique costumes designed by Cubist artist Pablo Picasso. His “3 Gymnopédies”, composed in 1888, are three works originally for piano that display gentle, delicate melodies. The title was derived from the Greek name “Gymnopaidiai”--a festival in ancient Sparta. The festival included athletic contests and music performances.

The arrangement the orchestra will play at today’s concert features our harp player and will be conducted by Chaeli Fischer, the music director at Winograd K-8 school in Greeley. The arranger, Robert Klotman, is a Professor Emeritus of Music at Indiana University where he has served as chairman of the music education department and taught conducting and string technique.

An Armed Forces Salute

In honor of Veteran’s Day, the orchestra will perform five of the service songs--the Marines’ Hymn, The US Air Force Song, The Army Caisson Song, The Coast Guard Sempre Paratus, and Anchors Aweigh. Unfortunately, this arrangement does not feature Semper Supra, the song of the US Space Force, written by James Teachenor in 2022. As is custom, present and past members of the different service branches are welcome to stand when their song is played. US Space Force members are welcome to stand during the Air Force Song.

Andrew Dabczynski is Professor of Music Education at Brigham Young University. He holds degrees from Eastman School of Music, the University of Connecticut, and the University of Michigan. He has written dozens of works for orchestra and has received multiple awards including BYU’s Joseph E White Fellowship for Teaching and Learning.

GPOgpyo