Music Moves Us: Swing Dance Lesson at Kollen Park
2024-08-09 17:30 - 18:30 UTC | Kollen Park Henry VanderLinde Bandshell, 240 Kollen Park Dr., Holland, MI, 49423, United States
This event is part of Holland Symphony Orchestra’s Music Moves Us, a weeklong festival from August 6-10, 2024! We’re hosting 10 free events that blend music and movement leading up to our grand finale concert Music Unites Us – Brazil! at Kollen Park on August 10, 2024. All events are free so join us for live music, dancing, family-friendly activities, and more!
Friday, August 9, 2024
5:30-6 p.m. – Dance Lesson before Big Band Concert at Kollen Park. Warm up with a big band dance lesson from Walker Wilson, of Wilson Dance Studio, then show off your new moves during the Big Band Lakeshore concert from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Learn more about Walker Wilson’s history and approach to dance in this inspiring Lakeshore article.
This is a free event. No registration is necessary. Special thanks go to the event sponsors Wilson Dance Group, the City of Holland, and festival coordinators Shandra Martinez, Jane Vander Meer, Ketzi Chacon-Zylstra, and Patricia Strachan with Smooth Running Event Planning.

Music Moves Us: Lakeshore Big Band Concert
2024-08-09 18:30 - 20:00 UTC | Kollen Park Henry VanderLinde Bandshell, 240 Kollen Park Dr., Holland, MI, 49423, United States
The Summer Concerts at Kollen Park are one of the most popular spots to be on Friday evenings in the summer in Holland. From 6:30 – 8:30 PM, the park comes alive with music and dancing. Bring your lawn chairs, blankets, and a picnic basket and enjoy the sounds of summer at the Kollen Park Bandshell. Concerts are kid-friendly and FREE! Please have pets on a leash. Alcohol is prohibited at Kollen Park. One food truck each week from 5:30 – 8:30 PM.
This event is also part of Holland Symphony Orchestra’s Music Moves Us, a weeklong festival from August 6-10, 2024! We’re hosting 10 free events that blend music and movement leading up to our grand finale concert Music Unites Us – Brazil! at Kollen Park on August 10, 2024.
Special thanks go to the City of Holland and festival coordinators Shandra Martinez, Jane Vander Meer, Ketzi Chacon-Zylstra, and Patricia Strachan with Smooth Running Event Planning.

Music Moves Us: Sensory Art & Concert at Holland Museum
2024-08-10 10:00 - 11:00 UTC | Holland Museum, 31 W. 10 Street, Holland, MI, 49423, United States
MMU Kids Sensory Event Video
This event is part of Holland Symphony Orchestra’s Music Moves Us, a weeklong festival from August 6-10, 2024! We’re hosting 10 free events that blend music and movement leading up to our grand finale concert Music Unites Us – Brazil!
Saturday, August 10, 2024
10-11 a.m. – Kids’ Sensory Art and Music Experience at Holland Museum. A sensory-friendly event sponsored by Disability Network Lakeshore filled with art, music, and fun for children with sensory needs. Led by Black River Arts teacher Liz Donoghue and featuring Maddit Dykehouse on the cello, activities will include play dough sculpting, spin-wheel creation, sponge stamping, and live music segments.
Space is limited for this free event so please register early via email to Ketzi Chacon-Zylstra at zylstraketzi@gmail.com (Subject: Music Moves Us).
This is a free event. Special thanks go to our lead event sponsor the Disability Network Lakeshore, and supporters such as CultureWorks, the City of Holland, and event coordinator Ketzi Chacon-Zylstra.

Music Unites Us: Brazil! Finale at Kollen Park
2024-08-10 16:00 - 20:30 UTC | Kollen Park Henry VanderLinde Bandshell, 240 Kollen Park Dr., Holland, MI, 49423, United States
This Kollen Park event is the finale of Holland Symphony Orchestra’s Music Moves Us, a weeklong festival from August 6-10, 2024, featuring 10 free events blending live music, movement, dancing, family-friendly activities, and more!
Saturday, August 10, 2024
Bring your lawn chairs, blankets, and the whole family! Food will be available for purchase starting at 4 PM from Mezkla, Robinson’s Popcorn, Mac Shack, 3 Gatos Brewery, and Dolce Mini Cakes.
4-5 p.m. – Capoeira Dance Demonstration and Lesson. Discover the magic of the dancelike martial art form of Brazilian Capoeira in this lesson led by Leandro Leemos and sponsored by Lighthouse Immigrant Advocates.
5-6 p.m. – Holland Samba School Performance. Feel the rhythm of Brazil and enjoy the sizzle of Samba with a lively performance led by percussionist Christopher Fashun and his students.
7 p.m. – Music Unites Us: Holland Symphony Orchestra (HSO) with Choro das 3. Enjoy an unforgettable performance by this talented Brazilian folk music trio of sisters, accompanied by your Holland Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor Christopher Fashun.
Read more about the festival and finale in this Lakeshore West Michigan article.
This is a free event. No registration is necessary. Special thanks go to all our event sponsors and festival coordinators Shandra Martinez, Jane Vander Meer, Ketzi Chacon-Zylstra, and Patricia Strachan with Smooth Running Event Planning.
The 7 PM HSO concert is made possible through the support of Corewell Health, Macatawa Area Coordinating Council, Gentex, MillerKnoll Foundation, and the Brooks Family Foundation.

Community Concert: Music Unites Us - Brazil!
2024-08-10 19:00 - 20:30 UTC | Kollen Park Henry VanderLinde Bandshell, 240 Kollen Park Dr., Holland, MI, 49423, United States
Concert Sponsors:

Program
Information
Artist bios

Community Concert: Music Unites Us – Brazil!
Saturday, August 10, 2024, 7:00 p.m. Henry P. VanderLinde Bandshell, Kollen Park
Choro das 3, guest artists
Christopher Fashun, guest conductor

Tico-Tico no FubaZequinha de Abreu/arr. Marty Gold
Boca de GoiabaChoro das 3/arr. Christopher Fashun
Festa na LagoaChoro das 3/arr. Christopher Fashun
ViagantesChoro das 3/arr. Christopher Fashun
Pé de FrangoChoro das 3/arr. Josh Trentadue
MourãoCesar Guerra-Peixe
AlforriaElisa Meyer Ferreira/arr. Corina Meyer Ferreira/perc. arr. Christopher Fashun
TucunareChoro das 3/arr. Josh Trentadue
Forró BarrocoLeroy Amêndola/arr. Corina Meyer Ferreira/Christopher Fashun
Rock da SilvaWaldir Azevedo/arr. Corina Meyer Ferreira/Christopher Fashun
Additional pieces announced from the stage.
The Music Unites Us concert will bring together Brazilian musical group Choro das 3 and the Holland Symphony Orchestra in a celebration of music at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 10 in Kollen Park. This free community concert aims to showcase cultures that make up West Michigan.
Bring your lawn chairs and blankets and arrive early to scope out your spot for this one-of-a-kind concert experience.
Food and beverages will be available for purchase from:Dolce Mini CakesMac Shack (free ice cream)Mezkla Taqeria & FruiteriaPac PizzeriaRobinson’s Popcorn
Music Unites Us is a collaborative musical effort between the Holland Symphony Orchestra and Holland community to celebrate diversity and showcase the musical gifts of frequently underrepresented groups of people. This year the concert will showcase from Brazil.
This free community concert is made possible thanks to our concert sponsors: Brooks Family Foundation, Corewell Health, Gentex Corporation, Macatawa Area Coordinating Council, Macatawa Bank and the snack wagon. The concert is partially sponsored by Michigan Arts & Culture Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Choro das 3 is a family based trio formed by the sisters: Corina (flute), Lia (7 string guitar) and Elisa (mandolin, clarinet, banjo, accordion and piano). Tragically, Eduardo, the father of the three sisters, lost his life to Covid early in the pandemic, before vaccines were available in Brazil. Eduardo was the band’s percussionist from its founding. He played pandeiro (Brazilian tambourine). The trio’s mother, Cristina, stepped in to play a stronger role in band management. Bravely, the sisters resolved to continue as Choro das 3, but they play every song in their father’s memory.
They have released 11 albums and have been touring in North America, Europe and Brazil for the past 21 years.
The trio plays Brazilian instrumental music based on choro, an instrumental music genre that emerged in Brazil in the 19th century to become the foundation for all Brazilian music. Choro das 3 is in the midst of its eighth tour of the USA.
For more information, visit their website: https://www.chorodas3.com.br/english
Listen their music on their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1Y3mnm0S1vH5BRqx58cUkg

Books and Blooms with HSO Brass
2024-08-12 10:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Windmill Island Gardens, 1 Lincoln Avenue, Holland, MI, 49423, United States
Join Books and Bloom and the Holland Symphony Brass Quintet at Windmill Island Gardens for children’s story times, accompanied by live music, and fun activities. Our friends at the Herrick District Library will present “Casey at the Bat” with live brass music as part of Windmill Island’s new summer storytime series.
Monday, August 10, 2024, from 10 AM to 12 PM at Windmill Island Gardens, Holland, Michigan
Children can create their own Living Necklace with help from the MSU Extension! Learn about plant germination and take your plant home to care for, watch grow, and… wear!
FREE for Holland Residents
Non-Residents: Adults $12, Children (3-15) $6
More information on FaceBook and at Books and Blooms.

HSO Brass at Cappon House
2024-08-15 17:30 - 20:00 UTC | Cappon House, 228 W. 9th Street, Holland, MI, 49423, United States
Sounds of Summer: HSO Brass at Cappon House
Thursday, August 15, 2024
Cappon House Lawn – 228 W. 9th St., Holland, MI
5:30-6:45 PM – Celebrate 150 years of Cappon House legacy by taking a tour during the open house!
7 PM – Bring your chairs and lawn blankets and enjoy the sounds of summer with the HSO Brass Ensemble in works by Sousa, Cohan, Gershwin, Copland, Neil Diamond, and John William’s iconic Star Wars theme.
Bruce Formsma (trumpet), Gregory Alley (trumpet), Greg Bassett (horn), Adam Graham (trombone), and Brendan Bohnhorst (tuba).
Tickets: $7 adults, $5 seniors, $3 students. Museum members and children 5 and under are FREE. Click here to register.
Rain date: Friday, August 16 from 5:30-8 PM
Hosted by Holland Museum. Sponsors: Michigan Arts & Culture Council and the National Endowment of the Arts.

An American in Paris
2024-09-14 19:30 UTC | Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts at Hope College, 221 Columbia Ave., Holland, MI, 49423, United States
Concert Sponsor:
In memory of Floyd Farmer

Tickets

Program
Information
Program Notes
Artist bio
Pre-Concert Talk

Program
Saturday, September 14, 2024, 7:30 p.m.Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, Hope College
Johannes Müller Stosch, Music Director and Conductor
Christopher Houlihan, organ
Idylle (US Premiere)Joseph Marx (1882-1964)
Toccata Festiva for Organ and Orchestra, Op. 36Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Christopher Houlihan, Organ
Dances in the CanebrakesFlorence Price (1887-1953)
Nimble FeetTropical NoonSilk Hat and Walking Cane
An American in ParisGeorge Gershwin (1898-1937)

“An American in Paris,” the opening concert of the 24-25 season, will be held Saturday, September 14, 2024, 7:30 p.m. Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, Hope College, Johannes Müller Stosch, Music Director. Organ virtuoso Christopher Houlihan makes his HSO debut performing Samuel Barber’s magnificent Toccata Festiva for Organ and Orchestra. The concert will also feature Florence Price’s delightful Dances in the Canebrakes and Josef Marx’s Idylle. The evening will conclude with George Gershwin’s well-loved An American in Paris.
Tickets are $29 for adults and $10 for students through college.
Learn more about the music…
We will be hosting not only the Classical Chat series at Freedom Village, but also Pre-Concert Talks! Details below:
Classical Chats at Freedom Village: These informative and fun talks are led by Johannes Müller-Stosch and take place at 3:00pm on the Thursday before each Classics concert. (Freedom Village, 6th Floor Auditorium, 145 Columbia Ave.)
Pre-Concert Talks: These talks, led by Johannes Müller-Stosch and Amanda Dykhouse, are online under the “Pre-Concert Talk” Tab.
New to the Symphony? Check out the Frequently Asked Question page…
Parking Map at the Miller Center
Holland Symphony Orchestra will reserve and monitor Lot 40 for handicapped parking. The faculty parking lots are available for parking after 5pm

Click here for Printable Program Notes
Idylle: Concertino on the Pastoral FourthJoseph Marx
Born: May 11, 1882, GrazDied: September 3, 1964, GrazWritten: 1926Premiered: March 4, 1926, ViennaApproximate Duration: 15 minutesInstrumentation: 3 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 3 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, percussion (tambourine, triangle, xylophone), 2 harps, celeste, strings
Joseph Marx was born in Graz, Austria. His mother taught him piano at an early age, and he taught himself how to play violin and cello. He went to Graz University. His father wanted him to study law, but Marx initially focused on philosophy, earning a Ph.D. in that field. When he turned more fully to musical studies it led to a break with his family, who forbade him to go into music as a career. He was a key figure in the emerging musical languages of the early twentieth century. He wrote an important scholarly study of tonality in which he coined the term “atonal.”
Marx began composing as his primary occupation in 1908, ultimately writing over 150 songs. He focused on orchestral pieces in the 1920s and 1930s, followed by a time devoted to chamber music. He assumed a faculty position at the Vienna Music Academy in 1914 and eventually became the director. He had a lot of influence on many musicians and composers, teaching over 1300 students from around the world. He was also one of the most prominent music critics in Vienna, particularly in the 1930s, and published influential books on music theory. When the Nazis came to power he had to resign his posts, instead speaking on cultural topics, but found various ways to secretly help Jewish families.
As a composer Marx was concerned about upholding the Viennese classical tradition, both in the forms he used, such as waltzes, and the use of Austrian folk music. He also included Impressionist, Slavonic, and Italian elements. Following World War II he thought of himself as a “father figure” for conservative, tonal music. He was well known in his lifetime but much of his music fell out of notice due to cultural and political upheaval.
Marx wrote Idylle–Concertino on the Pastoral Fourth during a time in his life when he focused on impressionistic orchestral music. This piece is the middle part of his Nature Trilogy, which opens with Symphonic Night Music, written in 1922, and closes with Spring Music, composed in 1925. This trilogy is a blend of romantic lyricism and impressionism all trying to depict Marx’s homeland. Marx uses more restraint in Idylle than in the other two movements, writing for a traditional-sized orchestra and using a sensitive style. His subtitle, “Concertino on the Pastoral Fourth,” refers to the “perfect fourth,” a musical interval spanning a four note range. With his gentle impressionistic tenderness, he creates a pastoral fantasy in F Major (the same key as Beethoven’s sixth “pastoral” symphony) based on that interval. The piece is inspired by Debussy’s “Afternoon of a Faun” and has been called its “Austrian counterpart. Marx transports his listeners into dreamy atmospheres and southern landscapes, all at a hazy distance. The piece is framed by a solo clarinet, which sets the feel and character of the work, in an adaptation of the solo flute part in Debussy’s work.
Click here to listen to Idylle.
Toccata Festiva for Organ and Orchestra, Op. 36Samuel Barber
Born: March 9, 1910, Westchester, PADied: January 23, 1981, New York CityWritten: 1960Approximate Duration: 14 minutesInstrumentation: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, triangle, tam-tam, xylophone), strings
In 1906 the Philadelphia Academy of Music installed a new pipe organ. Mary Curtis Zimbalist, who had founded the Curtis Institute of Music in the 1920s, funded the organ. She told Eugene Ormandy, conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra at the time, “I’m giving you that pipe organ you’ve been longing for,” assuring him that cost was no obstacle. The result was a massive Aeolian-Skinner organ which was said to be the largest movable pipe organ in the world. It had three manuals and 4102 pipes, and could be moved on stage for a performance and stored away afterward. It cost $150,000 at the time.
Samuel Barber was a natural choice to write a piece for the inauguration of this new instrument. He was a son of Philadelphia and one of the first students at the Curtis Institute of Music, soon becoming one of its most famous alumni. Zimbalist offered Barber $2000 for the commission, but Barber wanted to donate the piece to the orchestra and to the Curtis Institute. He wrote it in the spring of 1960 at his summer home in Mt. Kisco, New York. It was premiered on September 30, 1960, with Paul Callaway, the organist and choir director at the National Cathedral, as the soloist.
Barber composed a single movement festive toccata for the occasion. The term toccata is derived from the Italian word for touch. As a musical form, it is a loosely defined term for a piece written for a solo instrument, usually a keyboard instrument, that was full of fast passages, chords, and other virtuoso techniques intended to show off the performer’s “touch.” Toccatas date back to the renaissance but found their peak in the time of Johann Sebastian Bach, who wrote several difficult and groundbreaking toccatas. Barber included many virtuosic elements, including a cadenza just for the pedals, along with his characteristic lyricism. The organ and orchestra work together; a theme in the organ’s reed pipes is repeated by the English horn, and the trumpets and trumpet stops echo each other’s melodies. It has a celebratory quality and derives much of its energy from a motif in 5/8 time. It was received with excitement and acclaim, and has remained an important milestone in organists’ repertoire since its inception.
Click here to watch a video of Toccata Festiva.
Dances in the CanebrakesFlorence Price
Born: Little Rock, Arkansas, April 9, 1887Died: Chicago, Illinois, June 3, 1953Written: 1953 (solo piano version)Orchestrated: William Grant StillApproximate duration: 9 minutesInstrumentation: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, alto saxophone, 3 French horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, timpani and percussion (castanets, claves, glockenspiel, snare drum, suspended cymbal, triangle, vibraphone), harp, and strings
Florence Price was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. Her mother was a music teacher and her father was the only African-American dentist in the city. Even though Little Rock had lots of racial issues, the family was well-respected. Florence’s mother guided her early musical studies. At age four she performed for the first time on the piano, and published her first composition at age eleven. After graduating high school as valedictorian at age fourteen, she attended New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, majoring in organ and piano teaching. She also studied composition.
Upon her graduation in 1906, Price taught at Clark Atlanta University, becoming head of the music department. She eventually got married and moved back to Little Rock, where she raised two daughters. She had trouble finding work in that segregated town. After a series of racial incidents, including a lynching in 1927, the Price family moved to Chicago. Price met a lot of other musicians there and began her composition career. She also worked for a time as an organist for silent film showings. She studied with many of the city’s leading teachers, spending time at Chicago Musical College, University of Chicago, and American Conservatory of Music, and became part of the Chicago Black Renaissance. Ultimately she composed over 300 works. In 1932 she became the first African American woman to have a work played by a major orchestra when the Chicago Symphony played her first symphony. Chicago honored her in 1964 by naming an elementary school after her.
After she died, much of Price’s work fell out of favor as new styles emerged. A lot of her music was lost until the discovery of over 200 pieces in an abandoned house in 2009 outside St. Anne, Illinois, that Price used as a summer home late in her life. In recent years many of her works have been re-published or published for the first time. Orchestras, in an effort to recognize underrepresented composers, have helped audiences discover and enjoy her delightful music.
Price’s music draws heavily on the American musical sounds that surrounded her. She was a devoted Christian and used a lot of spirituals–both their melodic sounds and rhythms–in her symphonic pieces. Many of her works focused on the experience, folk songs, and dances of Black Americans. This is true of Dances in the Canebrakes, a collection of three piano pieces. Canebrakes are dense clusters or fields of tall cane plants that grow in marshy areas. They resemble thick bamboo patches. They are common in the south, and often had to be cleared before cultivating land for cotton crops.
These three pieces are based on stage and ballroom dances that were common in the early 1900s, when Scott Joplin’s music was popular. The first movement, “Nimble Feet,” is a rag with a cheerful melody. The second dance, “Tropical Noon,” is a “slow drag” with a dream-like melody, contrasted by a more assertive middle section. The last movement, “Silk Hat and Walking Cane,” is based on the “cakewalk,” full of the excitement and whirling energy of a crowded Harlem ballroom. These dances were orchestrated by William Grant Still shortly after Price’s death.
Click here to listen to Dances in the Canebrakes.
An American in ParisGeorge Gershwin
Born: September 26, 1898, Brooklyn, NYDied: July 11, 1937, Hollywood, CAWritten: March – June 1928, while Gershwin and his siblings were vacationing in ParisPremiered: December 13, 1928, New York PhilharmonicApproximate Duration: 17 minutesInstrumentation: 3 flutes, one doubling piccolo, 2 oboes, English Horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 trumpet, 3 trombones, tuba, 3 saxophones (alto, tenor, baritone) timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, glockenspiel, 4 taxi horns, 2 tom-toms, triangle, wood block, xylophone), celeste, strings
George Gershwin, born Jacob Gershwine, is one of America’s most beloved composers, known for incorporating popular music and jazz into classical music. He began his musical career as a pianist and “song plugger,” usually a singer or pianist employed by a department store, music store or song publisher to promote and sell new sheet music, which is how publishers advertised before recordings were readily available. Gershwin also wrote Broadway songs along with his brother Ira. During this time, from 1915 to 1921, he took “classical” harmony and counterpoint lessons to improve his compositional skills.
Gershwin, looking to advance his compositional career, moved to Paris, hoping to study with Nadia Boulanger or Maurice Ravel. Boulanger refused him, saying that too much “classical” training would ruin his jazz-influenced style. Ravel had recently been impressed by Gershwin’s compositional abilities and his skill as a pianist during a performance of Rhapsody in Blue in Ravel’s honor. Ravel also turned down Gershwin’s request for composition lessons, telling Gershwin that he should be “a first rate Gershwin rather than a second-rate Ravel.” Ravel also complimented Gershwin by writing his Piano Concerto in G in the style of Gershwin the following year.
An American in Paris was an important compositional milestone for Gershwin. He wrote Rhapsody in Blue a few years earlier, but Ferde Grofé orchestrated the piece, for which Gershwin was criticized. With An American in Paris, the first piece that Gershwin composed and orchestrated, he quieted the skeptics who doubted his abilities, demonstrating his skill at using the diverse palate of orchestral colors. The premiere by the New York Philharmonic was a big success. Some critics doubted the piece’s longevity. A writer for the New York Evening Post’s suggested that while An American in Paris might be popular in 1928, “to conceive of a symphony audience listening to it with any degree of pleasure or patience twenty years from now, when whoopee is no longer even a word, is another matter.” Those critics have been proven wrong by almost a century of ongoing performances and recordings. As Gershwin said, “It’s not a Beethoven symphony, you know. If it pleases symphony audiences as a light, jolly piece, a series of impressions musically expressed, it succeeds.”
An American in Paris doesn’t have a formal structure, but instead follows an “episodic” path. Gershwin said, “My purpose here is to portray the impression of an American visitor in Paris, as he strolls about the city and listens to various street noises and absorbs the French atmosphere…. As in my other orchestral compositions, I’ve not endeavored to represent any definite scenes in this music. The rhapsody is programmatic only in a general impressionistic way, so that the individual listener can read into the music such as his imagination pictures for him.” It is structured in three large sections with a concluding coda, interspersed with a lot of themes meant to portray walking. The opening section is based on the maxixe, a Brazilian dance, evoking the busyness of Paris with many short rhythmic cells, including those produced by taxi-horns, and a big variety of pitched percussion instruments. Of this first section, Gershwin noted: “it will be developed in typical French style, in the manner of Debussy and the Six [Les Six], though all the themes are original.” A violin cadenza leads into “a rich blues… Our American friend, perhaps after strolling into a cafe and having a couple of drinks, has succumbed to a spasm of homesickness.” This is portrayed by a bluesy trumpet solo. This “American” section concludes with a Charleston played by a couple of trumpets. The concluding section is an energetic finale meant to portray all the excitement and glitter of nightfall in the City of Light.
Click here to watch a video of An American in Paris.
Christopher Houlihan
The organist Christopher Houlihan has established an international reputation as an “intelligently virtuoso musician” (Gramophone), hailed for his “glowing, miraculously life-affirming performances” (Los Angeles Times). Houlihan has concertized at major venues throughout the United States, including the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), the Kimmel Center (Philadelphia), Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco), and Walt Disney Concert Hall, where he performed with the principal Brass of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The Los Angeles Times raved about his Disney Hall debut, proclaiming, “Houlihan is the next big organ talent.”
Houlihan’s performances in 2024 include a return invitation to the Aspen Music Festival (Colorado) and orchestral performances with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (Carolyn Kuan, conductor). Performances in recent seasons included solo recitals presented by the Madison Symphony Orchestra (Wisconsin), the Pacific Symphony (Costa Mesa, CA), and the Celebrity Recital Series at St. Paul’s Cathedral (London).
Noted for his compelling performances of Louis Vierne’s organ works, Houlihan’s “Vierne 2012” tour attracted international attention and critical acclaim for marathon recitals of Vierne’s six organ symphonies in six major North American cities. The Los Angeles Times called his performance there “a major surprise of the summer, a true revelation.” Building on this excitement and acclaim, Houlihan’s latest recording on Azica Records (released in 2023) features Vierne’s Symphony No. 6 and César Franck’s Grande Piece Symphonique. The recording was praised by The American Organist, which remarked, “as for Houlihan himself, he just keeps getting better.”
Christopher Houlihan’s orchestral performances in past seasons include Joseph Jongen’s Symphonie Concertante (Carolyn Kuan, conductor) and Barber’s Toccata Festiva (Edward Cumming, conductor) with the Hartford Symphony, Poulenc’s Organ Concerto with the Waterbury (CT) and Columbus (GA) Symphonies, and the Organ Concerto by Robert Edward Smith with the Boston Chamber Orchestra (David Feltner, conductor). He has been presented in recital at numerous conventions of the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society. In 2017 he was the featured performer at the closing concert of the AGO Southeast Regional Convention at Jacoby Symphony Hall in Jacksonville, where he presented the world premiere of Han Lash’s Ludus (written specifically for Houlihan). In 2014, he performed in a prime-time slot of WQXR’s All-Day Bach Organ Marathon in New York City which was webcast live and seen by thousands.
In 2017, Houlihan released Christopher Houlihan plays Bach (Azica). Recorded at Trinity College, the album was praised as “playful, celebratory and sparkling with color” (The Whole Note), and American Record Guide stated, “there’s no denying Houlihan’s extraordinary achievement.” Houlihan’s other recordings include music by Maurice Duruflé and Jehan Alain, and Organ Symphony No. 2 by Louis Vierne, both on Towerhill Records.
Christopher Houlihan is the John Rose Distinguished College Organist and Director of Chapel Music, and Artist-in-Residence at Trinity College, Hartford, where he succeeds his former teacher, John Rose. Since 2022, he also serves as Artistic Director of the Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival Hartford which presents one of the premier North American organ performance competitions for young organists.
In addition to his studies at Trinity College, Houlihan studied with Grammy Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs at The Juilliard School and with Jean-Baptiste Robin at the French National Regional Conservatory in Versailles. In 2015 he was selected for The Diapason’s “20 Under 30,” a distinguished list of young leaders in the organ world. More information is at ChristopherHoulihan.com.
To listen to the pre-concert talk, click here.

Sounds of the Sea
2024-11-02 19:30 - 21:00 UTC | Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts at Hope College, 221 Columbia Ave., Holland, MI, 49423, United States
Concert Sponsors:
Ann & John Query andRuth & David Crouch
Sheet music sponsored by a generous gift from the Franklin Kraai Trust.

Program
Information
Program Notes
Artist bio
Pre-Concert Talk

Program
Saturday, November 2, 2024, 7:30 p.m.Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, Hope College
Johannes Müller Stosch, Music Director and ConductorAndrew Le, Piano
Angels of Fire and Ice Ana Lara (b. 1959)
Angel of DarknessAngel of the DawnAngel of LightAngel of the Sunset
Piano Concerto in G MajorMaurice Ravel (1875-1937)
AllegrettoAndante con moto: Commencer très calmamentRondeau a La Française: Presto giocoso
Restless OceansAnna Clyne (b. 1980)
La Mer (The Sea)Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
From Dawn to Noon on the Sea: très lent – animez peu à peuPlay of the Waves: Allegro (dans un rythme très souple) – animéDialogue of the Wind and the Sea: Animé et tumultueux – cédez très légèrement

The concert on Saturday, November 2, 2024, 7:30 p.m. at the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, Hope College will feature the return to Holland of one of our favorite artists, Andrew Le, pianist. He will perform Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with Johannes Müller Stosch, Music Director and Conductor, conducting. The concert will open with Ana Lara’s striking Fire and Ice. Anne Clyne’s Restless Oceans will lead the way to Claude Debussy’s epic masterpiece, La Mer.
Tickets are $29 for adults and $10 for students through college.
Learn more about the music…
We will be hosting not only the Classical Chat series at Freedom Village, but also Pre-Concert Talks! Details below:
Classical Chats at Freedom Village: These informative and fun talks are led by Johannes Müller-Stosch and take place at 3:00pm on the Thursday before each Classics concert. (Freedom Village, 6th Floor Auditorium, 145 Columbia Ave.)
Pre-Concert Talks: These talks, led by Johannes Müller-Stosch and Amanda Dykhouse, are online under the “Pre-Concert Talk” Tab.
New to the Symphony? Check out the Frequently Asked Question page…
Parking Map at the Miller Center
Holland Symphony Orchestra will reserve and monitor Lot 40 for handicapped parking. The faculty parking lots are available for parking after 5pm

Angels of Fire and Ice (Ángeles del llama y hielo)Ana Lara
Born: November 30, 1959Written: 1994Premiered: September 2, 1994, Mexico City, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de MéxicoApproximate Duration: 20 minutesInstrumentation: 2 flutes, piccolo, alto flute, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, tam-tam, thunder sheet, tom-toms, triangle, tubular bells, vibraphone, wind machine), 2 harps, celeste, and strings
Ana Lara is one of the most respected composers in Mexico today. She studied piano and composition in Mexico City, Warsaw, and Baltimore. She has been composer in residence with the Mexico National Symphony Orchestra. She composes in a variety of genres, ranging from chamber music to musical theater to choreographed dance works. Lara says that the composers who influenced her most are Arvo Pärt and Henryk Górecki. She likes to explore the use of continuous sound in her work, as well as exploring microtonality and heterophony. Lara describes her music as “international and abstract, but deeply Mexican in its soul.”
Lara composed Angels of Fire and Ice in 1994. It is a spiritual reflection on time, with four angels representing stages in human life: darkness, dawn, light, and sunset. She uses huge sounds to represent the inexorable, ongoing cycle of life, and she uses quiet sounds to evoke awe, elemental powers, and deep silence. The piece starts with very quiet low notes, describing a quiet beginning. Energy begins to gather with swooping string gestures, bird-like woodwinds, booming percussion, and interjections from the brass instruments. This finally subsides back into silence. She based the piece on poetry by Mexican poet Francisco Serrano. Lara said, “Francisco Serrano’s poems speak of four angels, four cardinal points, four states of being, four moments of the day, and this gave me the idea to approach the orchestra in four different forms. It was never my intention to compose songs from the poems, but to take from them the basis for an orchestral work in four parts that alludes to the spirit of each poem and, in a way, to the structure of the poems: sonnet form. I tried to stay very true to the texts during the composition process and I had many conversations with the poet in which we discussed our respective interpretations. This work emerged, whose parts have a very close relationship between the literary origins and my musical version.”
Angels of Fire and Ice was premiered on September 2, 1994 by the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico in Mexico City. Lara dedicated it to their music director, Arturo Diemecke, who later became the Music Director of Long Beach Symphony in California from 2001-2014. The two orchestras jointly commissioned another piece by Lara in 2004.
To listen to a recording of Angels of Fire and Ice, click here.
Angels of Flame and Ice Francisco Serrano
To Ana Lara
Angel of Darkness
Imperious, glacial, like a bare blade of cold steel He suddenly appears, dark in the place of shadows, On the edge of silence, unrelenting, unvanquished, Terrible messenger of an existence that has not been reached.
He is a wind born of the void to gnaw at the body (Body itself) to leave it in an instant, intact. Prisoner perhaps of an excessive bliss,There is no passion in the angel: He is the stranger.
An acrid air precedes him, a limitless fog, A being without limits, coalesced shadow, breath of the breath. Being of silence, angel so sad, do you grieve for us?
Do you take for yourself what you need, or get back what is yours? Will this flesh be of use when death Finally breathes under your incomprehensible light?
Angel of Dawn
Is there no place for the angels to spread their wings? In the loose breeze of the first light He sparkles, indelible, a face Kneaded from water and fire and air and salt.
He hovers over time, like a flowing sky, Wing and skin undulating at the edge of bright water. With very gentle hands, a sketch of gold in each finger, He reaches towards light that fulfills its promise.
Angel, sacred vessel of being, incandescent condensation of the cosmos, Prescient space, in your grace everything is about to be born. Would you accept a prayer addressed to you?
The world is like rain that does not sustain you. The angel has no roots: he moves among us Detached from the earthly heart, like a hostage.
Angel of Light
Angels, birds of the abyss, are they so different from us? A breath of crystals coming from afar, A superior command, shining and hidden, Pure love unlimited within the boundaries of the spirit?
Maybe your diaphanous nature is not inaccessible to us. In the exact center of the heart, Beyond pleasure and grief, You exist alongside of anguish, like an act of love.
And if we shouted, would you hear us? If you descended upon us, could we keep silent? We can only guess at your strength, at your pitiless mediation.
The song of the earth is the trace of his passing; The white light of noon, his shadow. He is stillness. He does not last.
Angel of Dusk
Like a window opened on an untended garden, Like a wasteland beneath the open sky, They are beings that see with their eyes closed, Shadows of a body in search of its form.
They wander among us, sleepwalkers, Extravagant, like the blind without a face, Fire greedy for light, impenetrable fire surrounded by water. Where they alight, dancing ceases.
Angels of dusk, messengers Of who knows what vacant and higher kingdom, They turn into night with each one of us.
In the boundaries of time, in the crack between life and death, They stalk in the crevices of consciousness, formless, While a dove flutters in a frightfully severed sky…
Piano Concerto in GMaurice Ravel
Born: March 7, 1875, Ciboure, FranceDied: December 28, 1937, Paris, FranceWritten: 1931
Premiered: January 14, 1932, Paris, Lamoureux Orchestra, Ravel conducting, soloist Marguerite Long Approximate Duration: 23 minutesInstrumentation: solo piano, piccolo, flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, E-flat clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, trumpets, trombone, timpani, percussion (bass drum, snare drum, suspended cymbal, tam-tam, triangle, whip, woodblock), harp, strings
Maurice Ravel was born on the French side of the border with Spain when his father, an engineer and inventor, was working on railroad construction projects. Shortly thereafter, his family returned to Paris, but Ravel always felt strongly connected to the Basque area on the Spanish border. He began his musical studies at age seven and started composing when he was eighteen, publishing his first works at age twenty.
Ravel thought about writing a piano concerto for a long time, but didn’t start until he was in his fifties. He toured the United States in 1928, receiving a lot of acclaim for Boléro. When he got home he started writing his concerto and planned on performing it on a grand tour that would include not only the United States but also South America, East Asia, and Europe. Right after he started this piece he received a commission from Paul Wittgenstein, an Austrian pianist who had lost his right arm in World War I, asking Ravel to compose a concerto for the left hand. After he completed his commission Ravel returned to his G Major concerto. He shut himself off from the rest of the world, working long hours each day to finish it. It ended up being his last orchestral composition. Later in 1932 he developed a neurological disease that no longer allowed him to play piano, speak, compose, or conduct.
Ravel had strong feelings about concertos. He wrote in the summer of 1931, as he was finishing this concerto, that his piece was a “concerto in the strict sense, written in the spirit of Mozart and Saint-Saëns,” and that “the music of a concerto should, in my opinion, be lighthearted and brilliant, and not aim at profundity or at dramatic effects. It has been said of certain classics that their concertos were written not ‘for’ but ‘against’ the piano. I heartily agree. I had intended to title this concerto ‘Divertissement.’ Then it occurred to me that there was no need to do so because the title ‘Concerto’ should be sufficiently clear.” With this statement he was criticizing weighty pieces like Brahms’ second concerto. He was much more in favor of writing in the style of Mozart and Saint-Saëns, who wrote to showcase the virtuosity of the soloist. Ravel definitely wrote a piece that embraces flash and spectacle, and was in fact so difficult that he did not feel he would do it justice as its soloist. Marguerite Long premiered the piece on January 14, 1932, and Ravel conducted.
The concerto opens with the crack of a whip followed by the opening theme in the piccolo and trumpet. Soon the English horn changes the mood to a slower, Spanish-sounding theme, accompanied by a strumming piano figure that imitates Spanish guitars. Then the clarinet introduces a jazz and blues melody, inspired by American jazz as reflected by George Gershwin. Ravel and Gershwin greatly admired each other. This concerto by Ravel borrows so much from Gershwin that some have called it the sequel to Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and Gershwin’s Concerto in F (1925).
Ravel claimed that the slow movement of this concerto was one of the most difficult things he ever wrote, and he was only able to compose one or two measures at a time. He lamented, “that flowing phrase! How I worked over it bar by bar! It nearly killed me!” The result was one of his most expressive and beautifully crafted melodies, inspired by Mozart’s clarinet quintet. The piano begins alone, playing a stately sarabande in the right hand and a leisurely waltz in the left hand. The orchestra enters in a mournful dialogue with the piano.
The final movement is a short whirlwind. It begins with a drum roll and a fanfare, and then proceeds like a circus race, lasting only about four minutes. Like the first movement, it has many elements of jazz, including clarinet riffs, trombone slides, and brass fanfares. A sharp percussion crack recalls the opening, leading the music to an exciting and abrupt end.
To watch a video of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, click here.
Restless OceansAnna Clyne
Born: March 9, 1980, LondonWritten: 2018Premiered: January 22, 2019, World Economic Forum, Davos SwitzerlandApproximate Duration: 4 minutesInstrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 French horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, percussion (bass drum and snare drum), strings
British composer Anna Clyne is one of the most frequently performed contemporary composers today. She is known for collaborating with artists from a variety of disciplines–visual art, dance, film, and poetry–to compose a variety of creative musical works. She studied at University of Edinburgh and Manhattan School of Music. She was nominated for a GRAMMY award in 2015. She has been a composer-in-residence for the Chicago, Baltimore, Berkeley, BBC, and Helsinki symphonies. For a long time she has been interested in using symphony instruments to portray sounds from nature. She even recorded a piece written for cellist Yo-Yo Ma in a forest. She noted in a 2021 interview, “I think orchestration is like painting—you combine different instruments to create your own orchestral colours.”
She composed Restless Oceans In 2018, drawing on a variety of traditions of “pastoral” music. The piece includes a gentle flute melody over bubbling woodwing parts. Borrowing from a very different tradition of nature-inspired music, exemplified in Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, she also includes heavily accented notes and unpredictable rhythms. She asks performers to sing as well as play their instruments, adding stomps and sharper syllables for punctuation of dramatic moments.
She writes about the piece: “I composed Restless Oceans for Marin Alsop and the Taki Concordia Orchestra for performance at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. The piece received its world premiere at the opening ceremony in 2019 where Marin Alsop was presented with the Forum’s prestigious Crystal Award in recognition of her championship of diversity in music. This work draws inspiration and its title from A Woman Speaks – a poem by Audre Lorde and was composed with this particular all-women orchestra in mind. In addition to playing their instruments, the musicians are also called to use their voices in song and strong vocalizations, and their feet to stomp and to bring them to stand united at the end. My intention was to write a defiant piece that embraces the power of women. Restless Oceans is dedicated with thanks to Marin Alsop.”
Clyne takes her title for this piece from a line in the poem and includes the full poem in the printed conductor’s score for this piece. She doesn’t intend for her piece to portray the poem in any precise way, but hopes her audiences will read the poem to give hearers another way to connect to the auditory experience of the piece.
To watch a performance of Restless Oceans by Johannes’s university orchestra, click here.
A Woman Speaks Audre Lorde
Moon marked and touched by sunmy magic is unwrittenbut when the sea turns backit will leave my shape behind.I seek no favoruntouched by bloodunrelenting as the curse of lovepermanent as my errorsor my prideI do not mixlove with pitynor hate with scornand if you would know melook into the entrails of Uranuswhere the restless oceans pound.
I do not dwellwithin my birth nor my divinitieswho am ageless and half-grownand still seekingmy sisterswitches in Dahomeywear me inside their coiled clothsas our mother didmourning.
I have been womanfor a long timebeware my smileI am treacherous with old magicand the noon’s new furywith all your wide futurespromisedI amwomanand not white.
La Mer (The Sea)Claude Debussy
Born: August 22, 1862, Saint Germain-en-Laye, Départment of Seine-et-Oise, FranceDied: March 25, 1918, ParisWritten: 1903-05Premiered: October 15, 1905, Paris, Lamoureux Orchestra, conductor Camille ChevillardApproximate Duration: 24 minutesInstrumentation: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 cornets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, glockenspiel, tam-tam, and triangle), 2 harps, and strings
Claude Debussy loved the sea. He grew up listening to his father, a sailor, tell dramatic stories of his life on the water. He spent some of his holidays at the seaside, in Cannes and Arcachon and at the Villa Medici near Rome. He had one frightening voyage in a small boat near Brittany. He visited London a few times, crossing via the English Channel. On these trips he spent a lot of time with paintings by J. M. W. Turner, whose work he admired and studied. These and other paintings, especially by French Impressionist artists, added to his romantic fascination with the sea. Debussy wrote to his publisher, “I have loved the ocean and listened to it passionately…. The sea is always endless and beautiful. It is really the thing in nature which best puts you in your place…. The sea has been very good to me. She has shown me all her moods. You do not know perhaps that I was intended for the fine career of a sailor and only the chances of life led me away from it.… I have an endless store of memories…. Music is a free art, boundless as the elements, the wind, the sky, and the sea.”
Debussy began working on La Mer in 1903. He subtitled it, “Symphonic Sketches.” This musical triptych gives listeners three “portraits” of the sea. His first movement, “From Dawn to Noon on the Sea,” depicts the movement of the sun from below the horizon to directly overhead the listeners. The cellos usher in the dawn with a quiet, rising two note motive. Muted brass instruments add a small theme that also appears in the last movement. The ocean is quiet in this movement, but the power is present beneath the calm surface, as motion emerges as dawn emerges. Eventually flutes and clarinets suggest splashing waves, momentum builds, and then cellos sing a lyrical tune that rises and falls with the waves. As the morning progresses the water becomes livelier, with quickly appearing melodic phrases. A brass chorale ushers in the bright light of noon.
The second movement, “The Play of the Waves,” also begins quietly, but soon this music gets faster and more energetic. This music functions as a scherzo or intermezzo, with lighter textures than the weight and density found in the outer movements. The waves and the rhythms are irregular and full of quick melodies. Woodwinds are featured. The sea’s force is tangible under light woodwind textures. The sea becomes silent at the end.
In the third section, “Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea,” the low strings open with an ominous and foreboding mood, as if promising that a storm will appear soon. An exquisite melody arises out of the musical forces, possibly suggesting a mermaid’s song. Various woodwind instruments continue the dialogue until the horns usher in a climax of surging water and waves, recalling the first movement in the form of a stormy dialogue.
To watch a video of La Mer, click here.

To watch the pre-concert video, click here.

Tickets

HSYO Fall Concert
2024-11-17 15:00 - 16:30 (America/New_York) | West Ottawa Harbor Lights Middle School, 1024 136th Ave, Holland, MI, 49424, United States
Concert Sponsors:

Holland Symphony Youth Orchestras
Fall ConcertSunday, November 17, 2024, 3:00pmWest Ottawa Performing Arts Center
Harbor Lights Middle School
Tickets are $10 at the door
Program
Holland Area Concert StringsKyle Nester, Music Director/Conductor
HANDEL Entrance of the Queen of Sheba (arr. H. B. Fisher)TCHAIKOVSKY Swan Lake, Act II, No. 10 (arr. Michael Hopkins)R. MEYER Idylls of PegasusB. RIDEOUT Scottish Mist (Arr. Bob Phillips)
Holland Area Youth OrchestraJosh Zallar, Music Director/Conductor
Selections from Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished” and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7
https://youtu.be/Kj6Wxz6Gpcs

Home for the Holidays (3:30pm)
2024-12-14 15:30 - 17:00 UTC | Dimnent Chapel, 277 College Ave., Holland, MI, 49423, United States
Concert Sponsor:
Pat & Camy Thompson

Tickets

Program
Information
Artist bio

Program
Saturday, December 14, 2024, 3:30 p.m.Dimnent Chapel, Hope College
Johannes Müller Stosch, Music Director and ConductorJennie Judd Reyes, Soprano
Suite from Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66aPeter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Apotheosis Panorama Valse
O Holy NightAdolph Adam, arr. David T. Clydesdale
Dusk WaltzCecil Armstrong Gibbs
“Alleluia” From Exsultate jubilateWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Overture to Hansel and GretelEngelbert Humperdinck
Still, Still, StillTrad. German, arr. Robert Sterling
See Amid the Winter’s SnowEdward Caswall & John Goss, arr. Dan Forrest
Places Far AwayDaniel Fisher
Christmas SingalongJohn Finnegan
I’ll Be Home for ChristmasWalter Kent, arr. Marty Gold
“My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music
Richard Rodgers, Robert Russell Bennett
Breath of HeavenChris Eaton & Amy Grant, arr. Lloyd Larson
Sleigh RideLeroy Anderson
Concert Suite from The Polar ExpressAlan Silvestri, arr. Jerry Brubaker

Holland Symphony Orchestra presents a concert of tradiitonal holiday classics as we celebrate the season. Local favorite Jennie Reyes will join HSO to share her gifts with us.
Tickets are $29 for adults and $10 for students through college.
Learn more about the music…
We will be hosting not only the Classical Chat series at Freedom Village, but also Pre-Concert Talks! Details below:
Classical Chats at Freedom Village: These informative and fun talks are led by Johannes Müller-Stosch and take place at 3:00pm on the Thursday before each Classics concert. (Freedom Village, 6th Floor Auditorium, 145 Columbia Ave.)
Pre-Concert Talks: These talks, led by Johannes Müller-Stosch and Amanda Dykhouse, are online under the “Pre-Concert Talk” Tab.
New to the Symphony? Check out the Frequently Asked Question page…
Parking Map at the Miller Center
Holland Symphony Orchestra will reserve and monitor Lot 40 for handicapped parking. The faculty parking lots are available for parking after 5pm

Soprano, Jennie Judd Reyes is recognized for her vocal versatility and stage artistry, singing repertoire that spans from the baroque to the present as a soloist, chamber musician, and stage performer. Upcoming performances include Frasquita in Carmen; a collaboration with Deos Contemorary Ballet in their Ember series; Baroque Meditations, featuring works by Telemann, Bach, and Couperin; Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater; and Free at Three Concert Series in Holland, Michigan.
Recent engagements as a featured soloist include Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben BWV147 (VoxGR); Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV 61 (Holland Bach Society); Considering Matthew Shepard (Fountain Street Church); Handel’s Messiah (Zeeland Civic Chorus); Broadway Holiday (Williamsport Symphony Orchestra); and Showtime: A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch (Illinois Valley Symphony).
Judd is equally at home performing both operatic and musical theatre works. Recent stage credits include Blonde in Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Opera Grand Rapids), Mabel in Pirates of Penzance (Opera Grand Rapids 2022; Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company, Chicago 2020), Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel (West Michigan Opera Project), Maria in The Sound of Music (Shadblow Theatre), Cunegonde in Bernstein’s Candide, Proserpine in Charpentier’s La descente d’Orphée aux enfers (UM Opera), Susanna (cover) and Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro (Janiec Opera Company), and ensemble in NOAH and Miracle of Christmas (Sight & Sound Theatres).
Judd is a proud alumna of the University of Michigan (M.M.) where she peformed with the Contemporary Directions Ensemble, premiering new works such as George Lewis’, P. Multitudinis with members of the International Contemporary Ensemble, Steve Reich’s, “Tehilim,” and she sang the US premiere of Oliver Knussen’s, “O Hototogisu!” Judd worked closely with composer, Shuying Li performing the title role of Older Sister in “Who Married Star Husbands.”
Judd graduated from Wheaton College Conservatory of Music (B.M.) and spent two summers with the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center, where she received the Linda Candler Award for Outstanding Opera Student in 2016.
In addition to performing, Judd is the Operations Manager for the Holland Chorale and is an Adjunct Professor of Voice at Hope College.

Home for the Holidays (7:30pm)
2024-12-14 19:30 - 21:00 UTC | Dimnent Chapel, 277 College Ave., Holland, MI, 49423, United States
Concert Sponsor:
Pat & Camy Thompson

Tickets

Program
Information
Artist bio

Program
Saturday, December 14, 2024, 7:30 p.m.Dimnent Chapel, Hope College
Johannes Müller Stosch, Music Director and ConductorJennie Judd Reyes, Soprano
Suite from Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66aPeter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Apotheosis Panorama Valse
O Holy NightAdolph Adam, arr. David T. Clydesdale
Dusk WaltzCecil Armstrong Gibbs
“Alleluia” From Exsultate jubilateWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Overture to Hansel and GretelEngelbert Humperdinck
Still, Still, StillTrad. German, arr. Robert Sterling
See Amid the Winter’s SnowEdward Caswall & John Goss, arr. Dan Forrest
Places Far AwayDaniel Fisher
Christmas SingalongJohn Finnegan
I’ll Be Home for ChristmasWalter Kent, arr. Marty Gold
“My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music
Richard Rodgers, Robert Russell Bennett
Breath of HeavenChris Eaton & Amy Grant, arr. Lloyd Larson
Sleigh RideLeroy Anderson
Concert Suite from The Polar ExpressAlan Silvestri, arr. Jerry Brubaker

Holland Symphony Orchestra presents a concert of tradiitonal holiday classics as we celebrate the season. Local favorite Jennie Reyes will join HSO to share her gifts with us.
Tickets are $29 for adults and $10 for students through college.
Learn more about the music…
We will be hosting not only the Classical Chat series at Freedom Village, but also Pre-Concert Talks! Details below:
Classical Chats at Freedom Village: These informative and fun talks are led by Johannes Müller-Stosch and take place at 3:00pm on the Thursday before each Classics concert. (Freedom Village, 6th Floor Auditorium, 145 Columbia Ave.)
Pre-Concert Talks: These talks, led by Johannes Müller-Stosch and Amanda Dykhouse, are online under the “Pre-Concert Talk” Tab.
New to the Symphony? Check out the Frequently Asked Question page…
Parking Map at the Miller Center
Holland Symphony Orchestra will reserve and monitor Lot 40 for handicapped parking. The faculty parking lots are available for parking after 5pm

Soprano, Jennie Judd Reyes is recognized for her vocal versatility and stage artistry, singing repertoire that spans from the baroque to the present as a soloist, chamber musician, and stage performer. Upcoming performances include Frasquita in Carmen; a collaboration with Deos Contemorary Ballet in their Ember series; Baroque Meditations, featuring works by Telemann, Bach, and Couperin; Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater; and Free at Three Concert Series in Holland, Michigan.
Recent engagements as a featured soloist include Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben BWV147 (VoxGR); Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV 61 (Holland Bach Society); Considering Matthew Shepard (Fountain Street Church); Handel’s Messiah (Zeeland Civic Chorus); Broadway Holiday (Williamsport Symphony Orchestra); and Showtime: A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch (Illinois Valley Symphony).
Judd is equally at home performing both operatic and musical theatre works. Recent stage credits include Blonde in Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Opera Grand Rapids), Mabel in Pirates of Penzance (Opera Grand Rapids 2022; Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company, Chicago 2020), Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel (West Michigan Opera Project), Maria in The Sound of Music (Shadblow Theatre), Cunegonde in Bernstein’s Candide, Proserpine in Charpentier’s La descente d’Orphée aux enfers (UM Opera), Susanna (cover) and Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro (Janiec Opera Company), and ensemble in NOAH and Miracle of Christmas (Sight & Sound Theatres).
Judd is a proud alumna of the University of Michigan (M.M.) where she peformed with the Contemporary Directions Ensemble, premiering new works such as George Lewis’, P. Multitudinis with members of the International Contemporary Ensemble, Steve Reich’s, “Tehilim,” and she sang the US premiere of Oliver Knussen’s, “O Hototogisu!” Judd worked closely with composer, Shuying Li performing the title role of Older Sister in “Who Married Star Husbands.”
Judd graduated from Wheaton College Conservatory of Music (B.M.) and spent two summers with the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center, where she received the Linda Candler Award for Outstanding Opera Student in 2016.
In addition to performing, Judd is the Operations Manager for the Holland Chorale and is an Adjunct Professor of Voice at Hope College.

HSO 2025 Norbert Mueller Memorial Young Artist Competition
2025-01-11 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts at Hope College, 221 Columbia Ave., Holland, MI, 49423, United States
HSO 2025 Norbert Mueller Memorial Young Artist Competition
Saturday, January 11, 2025, at 1 PM
Jack H. Miller Center for Music Arts – Recital Hall
Admission is Free. No RSVP is required.
Experience passionate performances by rising stars as talented young musicians from West Michigan compete for the grand prize. A panel of hand-picked judges and a live audience will enjoy approximately 10 minutes of musical performance from each applicant. The winner will be announced at the conclusion of the concert. Featured instrumentalists included two violins, cello, clarinet, French horn , and bassoon.
Generously sponsored by the Mueller Fund.

Family Event: Musical Adventures of Ferdinand the Bull
2025-02-08 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Herrick North Branch Library Holland, 155 Riley Street, Holland, MI, 49424, United States
Free Kids Concert: The Musical Adventures of Ferdinand the Bull
Saturday, February 8, 2025
11 AM – 12 PM
Herrick North Branch Library, Holland
Community Room
Ideal for families with kids who love music and story time.
Back by popular demand! Join Herrick and a string quartet from your Holland Symphony Orchestra to enjoy a free performance of the beloved classic The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf accented with beautiful and dramatic music from the opera Carmen!
Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Michigan Arts and Culture Council, and the Holland Symphony Orchestra Annual Fund.

FREE Chamber Concert: Celebrating Black History Month
2025-02-09 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Saugatuck-Douglas Library, 174 Center Street, Douglas, MI, 49406, United States
Sunday, February 9, 2025, at 2 PM
Saugatuck Douglas Library – Admission is FREE
174 Center St, Douglas, MI 49406
Holland Symphony Orchestra String Quartet
Amanda Dykhouse, violin
Katie Bast, violin
Lauren Garza, viola
Lee Copenhaver, cello
“A Celebration of Black History Month”
Program
SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Fantasy Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 5
GEORGE WALKER Lyric for Strings George Walker
ANTONIN DVORÁK String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96, “American”

ARTISTS
Amanda Walvoord Dykhouse began to study the violin at age five with Ellen Rizner. She went on to graduate from Interlochen Arts Academy and attend Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. She graduated with highest honors from Rice University in Houston, Texas, with degrees in music and religious studies. She pursued further training at the Meadowmount School of Music and Music Academy of the West. Her primary teacher was Kathleen Winkler. She subsequently pursued a Master of Divinity at Western Theological Seminary in Holland.
Amanda is currently the concertmaster of the Holland Symphony Orchestra and the principal second violin of the West Michigan Symphony in Muskegon. She performs frequently throughout the area, including several appearances as a soloist with the Holland Symphony Orchestra. She also plays regularly on the Free@3 recital series and the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck. She maintains a violin studio in Holland. Her students have won numerous local awards, including the Holland Symphony Orchestra’s concerto competition, have appeared on the NPR program, “From the Top,” and have been admitted into highly competitive undergraduate music programs. In addition to her musical activities, Amanda has served as a pastor (RCA) at two churches in Holland, Michigan.
Holland resident Katie Bast received her Bachelor’s of Music in Violin Performance from Southern Methodist University and her Master’s of Music in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy from the University of Minnesota. She is an Assistant Concertmaster of the Holland Symphony, a member of the West Michigan Symphony and the Holland Bach Society. Katie has published articles in the American Suzuki Journal, been awarded the Suzuki Association of the Americas “Certificate of Achievement” for teaching excellence and teaches in her home studio as well as at workshops around the country including the Blue Lake Suzuki Family Camp.
Lauren Garza is a Holland native and principal violist of the Holland Symphony. While she enjoys playing with her talented colleagues, her true joy is teaching. She maintains a private studio and facilitates experiential music programs with community partners through her Harmony Scholars Mobile Studio. She is the lead teaching artist and program manager for Tune Up, in Muskegon, MI. Lauren is also an artist in residence with the West Ottawa public schools orchestras. She is a graduate of Michigan State University (DMA and MM) and Hope College (BM).
Lee Copenhaver taught music theory/analysis, ear-training, counterpoint, and orchestration courses at Grand Valley State University. He has presented sessions on hymnody at Westminster Presbyterian Church and has conducted many small ensembles. He earned a BS and an MM (music education) and then an MA (cello) and a PhD (music theory) from the University of Iowa

Holland Community Strings Symphony of Togetherness: A Friends & Family Night
2025-03-20 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Quincy Place Senior Living, 12300 Quincy Street, Holland, MI, 49424, United States
Holland Community Strings Symphony of Togetherness: A Friends and Family Night
Thursday, March 20, 2025, from 6-7:30 PM
A FREE Holland Community Strings Concert at Quincy Place Senior Living
12300 Quincy Street, Holland, MI, United States, Michigan 49424
Live Mini Concert with Holland Community Strings, Happy Hour & Appetizers!
Join us at Quincy Place Senior Living for a heartwarming evening of music, laughter, and connection. Enjoy a special performance by the Holland Community Strings, where beautiful melodies will fill the air. This evening is all about celebrating togetherness and making lasting memories with friends and family. Don’t miss this chance to share in a night of joy and music that brings us all closer!
Holland Community String Orchestra
John Reikow, Conductor & Music Director
J.S.BACH Double Violin Concerto in D Minor (Kathryn Reikow & Ruth Crouch)
Raff-Pochon The Mill
BIZET Farandole
Ignaz Pleyel Sonatina No. 1 for String Quartet
HAYDN Andante from Symphony No. 94
Alan Menkin Kingdom Dance from the film Tangled (Arr. Robert Longfield)
Duration: 1 hour, 30 min (no intermission)

Scottish Influence
2025-03-22 19:30 - 21:00 UTC | Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts at Hope College, 221 Columbia Ave., Holland, MI, 49423, United States
Tickets

Program
Information
Program Notes
Artist bio
Pre-Concert Talk

Sponsored by the Padnos Family Foundations.
Program
Saturday, March 22, 2025, 7:30 p.m.Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, Hope College
Johannes Müller Stosch, Music Director and Conductor
Hebrides Overture, Op. 26, “Fingal’s Cave”Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1932)
Letitia Jap, violin
“Andante moderato” from String Quartet in G majorFlorence Price (1887-1953)
Symphony No.3 in A major, op.56 “Scottish”Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Andante con moto – Allegro un poco agitatoVivace non troppoAdagioAllegro vivacissimo — Allegro maestoso assai
The “Scottish Influence” concert will be performed on Saturday, March 22, 2025, 7:30 p.m. at the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, Hope College, conducted by Johannes Müller Stosch, Music Director. The concert open’s with Felix Mendelssohn’s musical depiction of The Hebrides and concludes with his Scottish Symphony will be Florence Price’s beautiful Andante Moderato for strings will be followed Camille Saint-Saëns’s Introduction and Rondo and Capriccioso, performed by Letitia Jap, violinist.
Tickets are $29 for adults and $10 for students through college.
Learn more about the music…
We will be hosting not only the Classical Chat series at Freedom Village, but also Pre-Concert Talks! Details below:
Classical Chats at Freedom Village: These informative and fun talks are led by Johannes Müller-Stosch and take place at 3:00pm on the Thursday before each Classics concert. (Freedom Village, 6th Floor Auditorium, 145 Columbia Ave.)
Pre-Concert Talks: These talks, led by Johannes Müller-Stosch and Amanda Dykhouse, are online under the “Pre-Concert Talk” Tab.
New to the Symphony? Check out the Frequently Asked Question page…
Parking Map at the Miller Center
Holland Symphony Orchestra will reserve and monitor Lot 40 for handicapped parking. The faculty parking lots are available for parking after 5pm

Felix MendelssohnBorn: February 3, 1809, HamburgDied: November 4, 1847, Leipzig
The Hebrides, “Fingal’s Cave,” Op. 26Written: 1830Premiered: May 14, 1832, LondonApproximate Duration: 10 minutesInstrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings
Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, “Scottish”Written: 1829-42, rev. 1843Premiered: March 3, 1842, LeipzigApproximate Duration: 40 minutesInstrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, stringsMusic donated by Mark Dykstra.
Scotland was the inspiration for a lot of nineteenth century art and music in France and Germany. It seemed exotic–far away, mysterious, full of picturesque and rugged landscapes, rainy and misty, and inhabited by people wearing kilts and plaids and speaking in the seemingly unintelligible Gaelic language. Many students, writers, and artists traveled there seeking inspiration from this beautiful and foreign place.
In 1829 Mendelssohn’s father sent him on a tour of Europe to complete his education and gain cultural understanding. This was common for young men of fortune at the time. Mendelssohn and a friend began their travels in England and Scotland. In Edinburgh they immersed themselves in the stories of Queen Mary and her personal secretary, David Rizzio. Mendelssohn wrote, “We went to the palace of Holyrood where Queen Mary lived and loved. There is a little room to be seen there with a winding staircase leading up to it. This, the murderers ascended and, finding Rizzio, drew him out. Three chambers away is where they killed him . . . Everything is broken and moldering and the bright sky shines in. I believe I found today in the old chapel the beginning of my Scottish Symphony.” As they traveled farther north, Mendelssohn wrote that the Scottish highlands “brew nothing but whiskey, fog, and foul weather.” Eventually they made their way to the west coast of Scotland and to the island of Jaffa.
Fingal’s Cave is on the uninhabited island of Jaffa in the inner Hebrides. The cave has a giant arched roof and is filled with the eerie sounds produced by the breaking waves. Its Celtic name means “cave of melody.” Many Romantic artists and writers travelled there. Sir Walter Scott’s reaction was typical: “…one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld. It exceeded, in my mind, every description I had heard of it…. composed entirely of basaltic pillars as high as the roof of a cathedral, and running deep into the rock, eternally swept by a deep and swelling sea, and paved, as it were, with ruddy marble, baffles all description.”
After seeing the stunning scenery Mendelssohn composed the opening bars of his overture and sent it to his sister Fanny, saying, “In order to make you understand how extraordinarily the Hebrides affected me, I send you the following, which came into my head there.” He continued to work on the overture as he traveled, finally completing it a year later in Rome. It premiered in London in 1832. Critics, including Wagner and Schumann, praised the overture as a masterpiece. Mendelssohn originally entitled it “The Lonely Island,” but soon changed the name, rather confusingly using the title “Hebrides Overture” on the orchestral parts but “Fingal’s Cave” on the full score.
Mendelssohn’s work was a new type of overture which emerged during the nineteenth-century, referred to as the concert overture. These overtures are not drawn from a stage work or opera, but rather, are stand-alone works to be programmed as an opening piece in a concert hall. Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture evokes a whole seascape including the grandeur of the cave, the swelling of the sea, the light on the water and the fury of the waves breaking on the cliffs. It was one of the first works of music to evoke nature in this way, a hallmark of the emerging romanticism of Mendelssohn’s time, and remains one of the greatest of its genre.
Though Mendelssohn sketched the opening phrase of what would become his “Scottish Symphony” on his travels, he did not focus on this piece until 1841. Later on his trip, in Rome in 1831, he wrote that he could not “find his way back into the Scottish fog mood.” For the next decade he wrote two symphonies (the “Italian” and “Reformation”), two piano concertos, an oratorio, several books of “Songs Without Words,” and much of his chamber music. He returned to his Scottish symphony while conducting in Berlin. The piece opens with a brooding and somber introduction. The main theme is introduced by the clarinet and violins. After a song-like second theme, a stormy development leads to a stormier recap of the main themes. Mendelssohn had a gift for portraying places through his music, and these sweeping melodies, introspective lyrical moments, and tumult evoke the ancient ruins, grand landscapes, and powerful storms of Scotland.
The second movement follows the first movement without pause. This vivacious scherzo recalls Scottish folk dances, traditional Scottish music, and celebratory gatherings. This unfolds into the slow movement, which goes back and forth between a lyrical melody and a more ominous mood. Here listeners can experience Mendelssohn’s gift for melody. He seemingly invites listeners into a space that is tender, introspective, and nostalgic, as if he is dreaming of the romantic lure of Scotland’s old legends and history. Mendelssohn labels the fourth movement “Allegro guerriero,” literally referring to war and soldiers. It is fiercely energetic, animated by a Scotch snap. The music and frenzied energy build in grandeur and celebration to a climax that flows into a final noble hymn, leaving audiences full of awe, triumph, and joyful solemnity.
To watch a video of Hebrides Overture, click here.
To watch a video of Symphony No. 3, “Scottish,” click here.
“Andante moderato” from String Quartet No. 1 in G MajorFlorence PriceBorn: Little Rock, Arkansas, April 9, 1887Died: Chicago, Illinois, June 3, 1953Written: 1929Arranged: Peter Stanley MartinApproximate duration: 7 minutesInstrumentation: strings
Florence Price was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. Her mother was a music teacher and her father was the only African-American dentist in the city. Even though Little Rock had lots of racial issues, the family was well-respected. Florence’s mother guided her early musical studies. At age four she performed for the first time on the piano, and published her first composition at age eleven. After graduating high school as valedictorian at age fourteen, she attended New England Conservatory in Boston, majoring in organ and piano teaching. She also studied composition.
Upon her graduation in 1906, Price taught piano instruction at Clark Atlanta University, becoming head of the music department. She eventually got married and moved back to Little Rock, where she raised two daughters. She had trouble finding work in that segregated town. After a series of racial incidents, including a lynching in 1927, the Price family moved to Chicago. Price met a lot of other musicians there and began her composition career. She also worked for a time as an organist for silent film showings. She studied with many of the city’s leading teachers, spending time at Chicago Musical College, University of Chicago, and American Conservatory of Music, and became part of the Chicago Black Renaissance. Ultimately she composed over 300 works. In 1932 she became the first African American woman to have a work played by a major orchestra when the Chicago Symphony played her first symphony. Chicago honored her in 1964 by naming an elementary school after her.
After she died, much of Price’s work fell out of favor as new styles emerged. A lot of her music was lost until the 2009 discovery of over 200 pieces in an abandoned house outside St. Anne, Illinois, that Price used as a summer home late in her life. Her two-movement String Quartet No. 1 was one of those pieces. In recent years many of her works have been re-published or published for the first time. Many orchestras, in an effort to recognize underrepresented composers, have helped audiences discover and enjoy her delightful music.
Price drew heavily on the American musical sounds that surrounded her. She was a devoted Christian and used a lot of spirituals–both their melodic sounds and rhythms–in her symphonic pieces. Many of her works focused on the experience, folk songs, and dances of Black Americans. This movement from her first string quartet brings together European classical traditions and elements of African American spirituals. She draws on the harmonic language of Antonín Dvořák and other romantic composers, but the melodic language is based in American folk songs and spirituals. It begins in an improvisatory and lyrical manner before some spritely music marked by pizzicato and a final section that sounds like a folk dance.
To watch a video of “Andante moderato” from String Quartet No. 1 in G Major, click here.
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 23Camille Saint-SaënsBorn: October 9, 1835, ParisDied: December 16, 1921, AlgiersWritten: 1863Premiered: April 4, 1867, Paris, Pablo SarasateApproximate Duration: 10 minutesInstrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, stringsMusic donated by Mark Dykstra.
Camille Saint-Saëns was one of the most talented musical child prodigies of all time. He began piano lessons with his great-aunt at age two and composed his first piece at age three. His precociousness was not limited to music; he could read and write by the time he was three, and learned Latin four years later. On his first public performance, at age five, he accompanied a Beethoven violin sonata. At his formal debut at age ten he dazzled a Parisian audience with an extremely difficult piano program. As an encore he offered to play any of Beethoven’s thirty-two piano sonatas from memory. He wrote his first symphony at age sixteen. From there he continued to perform and compose, and his abilities were legendary all over Europe and even in America. He was as skilled on the organ as he was on the piano, and served as the organist of Paris’ most prestigious church, La Madeleine, for nineteen years.
When Saint-Saëns was twenty four, the fifteen year old Spanish violin virtuoso Pablo Sarasate (1844–1908) commissioned a violin concerto from him. Four years later Saint-Saëns wrote another piece for Sarasate, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, also designed to feature Sarasate’s impressive technique. The piece opens slowly, in the style of an operatic recitative. It is sentimental, reflective, occasionally showy, and casts the soloist in the role of a coloratura soprano. The faster rondo section showcases a wide range of violin techniques. It has a slightly Spanish flavor, in honor of Sarasate. There are two main themes–one lyrical and one fast and leaping. A brief cadenza leads to an even more dazzling coda.
To watch a video of Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, click here.
Letitia Jap, violinist, enjoys a career as a performer and educator. She finds most joy using music to connect with people and makes it her life mission to create programs or platforms that will help people engage with music in fun and accessible ways.
Winning numerous concerto competitions, Letitia has been a featured soloist with orchestras like the Seattle Symphony, Austin Civic Orchestra, Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestra, and has performed solo recitals at festivals such as the Chelsea Music Festival, Lake George Music Festival, and the 21st Century Artist Initiative.
Additionally, Letitia has served as concertmaster with the Seoul International Community Orchestra in 2017, the Boston Chamber Orchestra from 2015-2016, Masterworks Music Festival in 2013, and various other orchestras since 2008. She also performed with orchestras such as Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and Masterworks Festival Orchestra.
Letitia also maintains an active schedule as an educator, hoping to inspire the next generation of musicians. Her experience draws on years spent teaching at the University of Texas String Project Program in Austin, Texas and at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School in Boston, Massachusetts. In Boston, she was an ensemble coach for the Greater Boston Asian American Symphony Orchestra and served on faculty for Youth and Family Enrichment Services Inc., teaching music to children from a lower-income, Haitian community. Currently, Letitia is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americans. Letitia was Head Chamber Ensemble Coach at the University of Rochester, held two teaching assistant positions at the Eastman School of Music, faculty at the Eastman Community Music School, was Music History Lecturer at Nazareth College, and Artist in Residence at Hong Kong Baptist University. She is currently Affiliate Faculty of Violin at Grand Valley State University.
Letitia received her Bachelor of Music from the University of Texas at Austin, her Master of Music from the New England Conservatory, and her Doctorate of Musical Arts at the Eastman School of Music.
In her free time, she enjoys reading, eating good food, exploring different cities, and watching Shark Tank.
To learn more, visit https://www.letitiajap.com/
To watch the pre-concert video, click here.

Holland Youth Symphony Orchestra Spring Concert 2025
2025-03-23 15:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | DeWitt Auditorium, Zeeland East High School, 3333 96th Ave., Zeeland, 49464, United States
Sunday, March 23, 2025, at 3 PM
Zeeland East DeWitt Auditorium
3333 96th Avenue, Zeeland, MI 49464
Kyle Nester, Josh Zallar, & Tori Zokoe, Conductors
Tori Zokoe, Jaclyn Klinger, & Katie Rae Hayduk, Managers

Holland Symphony Junior Strings
Tori Zokoe, Conductor
Soon Hee Newbold Honor & Glory
Kathryn Griesinger Lotus Dance
Kevin Sluder Not All Who Wander
Richard Meyer Incantations
Holland Area Concert Strings
Kyle Nester, Conductor
Four Royal Dances by Eric Ewazen
The Lord – The Lady – The Jester – The Knight
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 by J.S. Bach, arr. Merle J. Isaac
From Amadeus Symphony No. 25 in G Minor, Movement 1, by W.A. Mozart, arr. Jamin Hoffman
Holland Symphony Youth Orchestra
Josh Zallar, Conductor
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Procession of the Nobles (Arr. Merle J. Isaac)
TCHAIKOVSKY Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture
Rimsky-Korsakov’s Procession of the Nobles begins with a festival of tradespeople. The music bursts to life with a rousing brass flourish, soon followed by the processional music, a noble tune for strings, and a rousing close of energy and color. Arguably one of his most beloved works next to the Nutcracker and his first Piano Concerto, Tchaikovsky’s fantasy overture packs Shakespear’s love-soaked Romeo and Juliet tragedy into a passionate 20-minute homage to his own life’s ups and downs. The beloved work features iconic brass fanfares, and many recognizable melodies used in countless movies and cartoons including A Christmas Story and the 1996 version of Romeo & Juliet starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.
Tickets sold at the door:
Ages 6 – College: $5
Adults: $10
For information on enrolling in a Holland Symphony Orchestra youth ensemble click here.
These programs are funded by the generous support from the Michigan Arts & Culture Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and individual gifts to the Holland Symphony Orchestra Annual Fund. THANK YOU for your thoughtful generosity. Join your fellow community leaders in investing in music education by donating through this link.

Spring for Music: Mozart & Poulenc
2025-04-10 06:30 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Harderwyk Church, 1627 W Lakewood Blvd, Holland, MI, 49424, United States
Spring for Music: Mozart & Poulenc
Thursday, April 10, 2025, at 6:30 PM
Harderwyk Church (1627 W Lakewood Blvd, Holland, MI 49424)
The Zeeland High School Quartet will open the program performing selections from Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18.
Eli Zheng, violin 1, Sophia Reese, violin 2, Jailen Nesbitt, viola, Zachary Schoudt, cello.
Holland Symphony Wind Ensemble
Rebecca VanDeWalker, flute
Caitlin Kramer, oboe
Gary June, clarinet
Noelle Harrity, bassoon
Greg Bassett, horn
Christina Krause, piano
MOZART Quintet for Piano and Winds in E Flat, K. 452
POULENC Sextet for Piano and Winds
Written to inspire one of his wealthy employers to invest in a wind ensemble, Mozart’s charming 1784 quintet has all the elements allowing each instrument to shine bright in duets and trios, especially highlighting the piano, ending in a finale that awards each instrument a long cadenza. French composer Francis Poulenc composed his sextet 150 years after Mozart’s K452 but still quotes a Mozart sonata in the melodious second movement. Jazz was the big rage in France in the 1930s, inspiring Poulenc to make his whimsical sextet a juxtaposition of rickytick jazziness and near teary songfulness.
Tickets: $10
To purchase tickets, click HERE or call 616-796-6780.

Purchase Spring for Music Tickets

Looking for a quality piano?
Our friends at Market Masters pianos are having a piano sale April 11 & 12. This is a rare opportunity for Holland Symphony friends and supporters to select a piano for considerably less than a traditional piano store. A portion of all piano and chamber concert ticket sales will be donated to the Holland Symphony Orchestra education programs!
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY: This sale is by appointment only. Please call 269-506-3356 to secure your piano appointment. By scheduling your appointment as early as possible in advance, Market Masters Piano will have the opportunity to showcase pianos that best align with your musical needs and interests, ensuring a personalized experience with the best selection and pricing.
What to Expect:

New and pre-owned pianos from Steinway, Baldwin, Yamaha, Kawai, and other top brands

Player Grands, Baby Grands, and Vertical uprights offered at favorable discounts

Full 5-year warranty on all major components included on all pianos

Financing options available

Professional moving services provided

Enjoy and support your HSO—a portion of all proceeds will be donated to HSO education programs!

We hope you take this opportunity to consider finding the perfect piano for your home, studio, or performance space while making a meaningful contribution to HSO.

Romantic Rachmaninoff
2025-04-26 19:30 - 21:00 UTC | Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts at Hope College, 221 Columbia Ave., Holland, MI, 49423, United States
Concert Sponsor:
George and Sibilla Boerigter
Sheet music sponsored by a generous gift from the Franklin Kraai Trust.

Tickets

Program
Information
Program Notes
Artist bio
Pre-Concert Video

Program
Saturday, April 26, 2025, 7:30 p.m.Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, Hope College
Johannes Müller Stosch, Music Director and Conductor
Cameron Renshaw, cello
Finlandia, Op. 26Jean Sibelius
Kol NidreMax Bruch (1838-1920)
Cameron Renshaw, cello
Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Largo – Allegro moderatoAllegro moltoAdagioAllegro vivace

Sergei Rachmaninoff’s grand Second Symphony is the centerpiece of the concert on Saturday, April 26, 2025, 7:30 p.m. at the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts, Hope College. Johannes Müller Stosch, will conduct the final concert of the 24-25 season. A young cellist, Cameron Renshaw, will perform Max Bruch’s emotional Kol Nidre. The concert will open with a piece chosen by the HSO audience. Look for ways to vote in Fall, 2024!
Tickets are $29 for adults and $10 for students through college.
Learn more about the music…
We will be hosting not only the Classical Chat series at Freedom Village, but also Pre-Concert Talks! Details below:
Classical Chats at Freedom Village: These informative and fun talks are led by Johannes Müller-Stosch and take place at 3:00pm on the Thursday before each Classics concert. (Freedom Village, 6th Floor Auditorium, 145 Columbia Ave.)
Pre-Concert Talks: These talks, led by Johannes Müller-Stosch and Amanda Dykhouse, are online under the “Pre-Concert Talk” Tab.
New to the Symphony? Check out the Frequently Asked Question page…
Parking Map at the Miller Center
Holland Symphony Orchestra will reserve and monitor Lot 40 for handicapped parking. The faculty parking lots are available for parking after 5pm

Finlandia, Tone Poem for Orchestra, Op. 26Jean Sibelius
Born: December 8, 1865, Hämeenlinna, FinlandDied: September 20, 1957, Järvenpää, FinlandComposed: 1899-1900Approximate length: 8 minutesInstrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, triangle), strings
Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the people of Finland became increasingly resistant to the oppressive rule of Czarist Russia. Artists and composers such as Sibelius subtly joined this patriotic resistance by nurturing nationalism through their art. For an 1899 festival, Sibelius composed music for a series of tableaux on themes of Finnish historical events. Finlandia, which accompanied the final tableaux, was an instant success, bringing international attention to the composer and the cause of Finnish independence.
From its beginning, Finlandia establishes a mood of defiance with a snarling theme played in the brass. This is answered by an organ-like response in the woodwinds and a prayerful passage in the strings, thought to reflect the earnestness of the Finnish people, even under the stress of national sorrow. Trumpet calls seem designed to appeal to national emotion. The piece closes with a chorale that has become almost a national anthem.
“There is a mistaken impression among the press abroad that my themes are often folk melodies” Sibelius wrote. “So far I have never used a theme that was not of my own invention. Thus the thematic material of Finlandia is entirely my own.” There is good reason for these misconceptions, however; Siblelius’ identification with his people was so complete that even though he did not take his melodies from Finnish folk tunes, many of his melodies, including the chorale from Finlandia, have become folk melodies.
To listen to Finlandia, click here.
Kol Nidre, Op. 47Max Bruch
Born: January 6, 1836, CologneDied: October 2, 1920, BerlinComposed: 1880Published: 1881, BerlinApproximate length: 10 minutesInstrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, harp, strings
Max Bruch was a German Romantic composer, violinist, teacher, and conductor. He began composing at an early age and continued to pursue a life of music with a lot of support from his parents and community. He was a well known musical figure during his lifetime though today he is known for only a few works, mostly solos for violin or cello and orchestra. Bruch had a gift for writing captivating melodies. Like many other Romantic composers of his day, he was fascinated by “foreign” music. His Scottish Fantasy was one exploration of music from a different culture. Another one of those pieces is his Kol Nidrei for cello and orchestra.
Bruch wrote Kol Nidrei at the urging of cellist Robert Hausmann, who was envious of the pieces Bruch had written for violin and orchestra. Bruch got the idea to write this piece from a melody given to him by a member of the Stern Choral Society, of which he was director from 1878-1880. The melody was an old Hebrew song of atonement traditionally sung toward the beginning of a worship service on the eve of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This is the most solemn day of the Jewish calendar and the culmination of the Jewish High Holy Days that begin with Rosh Hashanah. This day is traditionally observed by praying and fasting, and is an opportunity for reflection on the past year, repentance, and setting intentions for the coming year.
Kol Nidrei, an Aramaic phrase meaning “all vows,” is a long, wandering liturgical chant that invites worshippers into this reflective mineset. Bruch treats the traditional, meditative melody with a lot of freedom, breaking it up into groups of three pleading and sorrowful notes, each separated by a musical “sigh.” Eventually Bruch departs from the “Jewish” atmosphere and moves in the direction of German Romantic music, becoming much more flowing in his melodies and even visiting major keys.
Kol Nidre has become one of Bruch’s most beloved and widely performed pieces, and is in the repertoire of every cellist. Bruch became so well known through this piece that the German National Socialist Party assumed he was of Jewish origin when they came to power in the 1930s, and banned all his music. Fortunately the music by this German Lutheran composer survived the ban, and is cherished by soloists and audiences today.
To watch a video of Kol Nidrei, click here.
Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27Sergei Rachmaninoff
Born: March 20/April 1 1873, Oneg, RussiaDied: March 28, 1943, Beverly Hills, CaliforniaComposed: 1906-7Premiere: January 26, 1908, Saint Petersburg, Russia Approximate length: 60 minutesInstrumentation: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, glockenspiel, snare drum), strings
Rachmaninoff’s second symphony almost never happened! The premiere of his first symphonic work–his first symphony–in 1897 was a disaster. Alexander Glazunov, who was allegedly drunk, conducted a very poor performance of the piece. Critics and the public responded harshly, including composer César Cui, who suggested the piece would only be appreciated by the “inmates” of a conservatory in hell. Rachmaninoff described the experience as “the most agonizing hour of [his] life.” This disaster led to one of the most legendary breakdowns in the history of classical music–a bout of depression and writer’s block that lasted three years. He still performed as a pianist and composed some piano pieces, but threatened never to write again for orchestra.
In 1900 some of his relatives convinced him to seek psychotherapy with Nikolai Dahl, who specialized in hypnosis. (Among other treatment approaches, Dahl had Rachmaninoff repeat to himself that he would write again “with great facility.”) This therapy proved to be highly successful, and Rachmaninoff began to compose again. In 1901 he completed his second piano concerto, his best known piece, and performed as soloist at its celebrated premiere. He was so grateful that he dedicated the piece to Dahl.
In the wake of this success Rachmaninoff quickly became a celebrity and was often recognized and crowded by fans. He longed for a quieter life that would enable him to compose, and he wanted to avoid the growing political turmoil in Russia, so in 1906 he and his family moved to Dresden, a city he had previously visited. There he composed many piano pieces and a symphonic poem. That fall he even found the courage to compose his second symphony, even writing to friends, “I have composed a symphony. It’s true! . . . I finished it a month ago and immediately put it aside. It was a severe worry to me and I’m not going to think about it anymore.” He finished the piece quickly, completing his first draft on New Year’s Day, 1907. He continued to revise it and conducted the premiere himself in St. Petersburg on February 8, 1908. This symphony was received with acclaim and was extremely popular throughout Rachmaninoff’s life and beyond. With this piece Rachmoninoff won his second Glinka Prize.
Rachmaninoff’s second symphony is considered his orchestral masterpiece. In this piece listeners experience a mature Rachmaninoff, who succeeds in expanding everything good about Tchaikovsky and Russian romanticism–orchestral colors, rich harmonies, and heartfelt melodies. His language is unabashedly romantic at a time when his contemporaries were moving beyond tonality. Rachmaninoff’s musical phrases are expansive, surging between tender moments and passionate outbursts. The massive scope of the entire symphony (the violin part is twenty-nine pages!) takes listeners on an incredible musical and emotional journey.
The first movement begins with a quiet and simple melodic fragment in the cellos and basses. Almost every melody in the piece can trace its origin to this brief stepwise theme, which provides a brilliant sense of cohesion to this massive symphony. The lyrical opening leads to a mournful English horn solo before the faster main theme begins. Scurrying triplet motives present a different version of the original theme and foreshadow the final movement. Rachmaninoff’s expansive dialogue invites listeners into a musical exploration of tenderness, pathos, and melancholy, with moments that look toward triumph.
The second movement, a scherzo, is the shortest movement. It feels festive despite its minor key, and starts with bustling and sparkling energy. He provides contrast with a broad secondary theme and a complicated fugue. As the movement progresses, four unison horns play a majestic theme derived from the Dies irae, the ancient chant describing the day of judgment, adding a layer of ominous darkness to the emotional palette of the piece. The movement ends quietly
The third movement is the most quintessentially “Rachmaninoff” movement of the symphony, with its rhapsodic and wandering melodies, rich harmonies, and slowly building climaxes. It opens with a theme for clarinet which is repeated by the strings. Pop singer Eric Carmen used this theme in his song, “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again.” Throughout this movement Rachmaninoff wears his heart on his sleeve as he showcases his gift for taking a simple theme and making it expansive, rich, and heartfelt.
The last movement bursts on the scene with enthusiastic joy. It initially takes the form of a tarantella, with quickly moving triplet figures, but moves on to contrasting musical sections that are boisterous, march-like, and lyrical. Toward the end the Dies irae theme from the scherzo returns as a brass chorale, and a grand romantic theme brings the piece to a close.
To watch a video of Rachmaninoff’s second symphony, click here.
Cameron Renshaw, cello
Rising cellist Cameron Renshaw, age 13, described by NPR as “so exuberant… a born entertainer,” is gaining recognition for expressive performances that are beyond his years. As a first place or grand prize winner of numerous international competitions, including the “First Great Award” at both the Vienna International Music Competition and the Manhattan International Music Competition, he has had the honor of performing in some of the world’s greatest concert halls, such as Carnegie Hall, Mozarteum Salzburg, Lincoln Center, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Romanian Athenaeum.
Cameron has been featured on local and national media and in a performance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in 2020. He soloed with eight orchestras in the United States and abroad, including his orchestral debut at the age of 8 with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.
As a From the Top Fellow, Cameron’s performance and interview were featured on the NPR program in March 2024. He was also selected to perform on NPR’s “From the Top: Tiny Desk Concert,” which aired in January 2025. Cameron is looking forward to full solo performances for Young Artist Performances (YAC) in Hilton Head (2025-26 season), as well as the Sobrio Festival in Switzerland (June 2025).
Cameron enjoys playing electric guitar solos on his cello, having performed hits by Metallica and Black Sabbath at Graceland live in Memphis, TN.
Cameron is passionate about promoting music education to the next generation, spreading the joy of music to school kids through outreach efforts and Young People’s Concerts throughout the country. In March 2023, he hosted and performed a benefit concert for his favorite school teacher, Sierra Zylstra, who suffers from Osteosarcoma, to a sold-out crowd at Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids.
Cameron takes private lessons at Grand Valley State University and attends University of Michigan Pre-College in Ann Arbor, MI. Cameron has taken cello lessons and masterclasses with esteemed teachers at universities and prestigious summer festivals, including Pablo Mahave-Veglia (long-time teacher), Leo Singer, Richard Aaron, Uri Vardi, Steve Doane, Laurence Lesser, Anthony Elliott, Clara Minhye Kim, Li-Wei Qin, Zvi Plesser, Paul Katz, Wei Yu, Andres Diaz, Lluís Claret, Hans Jørgen Jensen, Tian Bonian, and Julia Lichten.
Outside of music, Cameron enjoys tennis, cooking, and fast rapping.
To watch the pre-concert video, click here.

Program
Information
Program Notes
Artist bio
Pre-Concert Video

Program

HSO Pop-Up Concert at Tulip Time
2025-05-02 14:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Beechwood Church, 895 Ottawa Beach Rd, Holland, MI, 49424, United States
Hear the Holland Symphony Orchestra String Quartet while enjoying the magic of the Tulip Time emersion gardens at Beechwood Church.
HSO String Quartet
Amanda Dykhouse, violin, Katie Bast, violin, Lauren Garza, viola, Maddy Dykhouse, cello.
The quartet will perform light classics, traditional favorites, and popular songs.
Entrance fee for the gardens is $15. For more information on how to enjoy the 2025 Tulip Time Emersion Gardens and the HSO String Quartet, click here.
A big thank you to our friends at Tulip Time and Beechwood Church for this wonderful opportunity!

HSO Pop-Up Concert at Tulip Time
2025-05-03 02:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Beechwood Church, 895 Ottawa Beach Rd, Holland, MI, 49424, United States
Enjoy the rich sound of the HSO Brass Quintet for a free pop-up concert in the magical Tulip Emersion Gardens at Beechwood Church during Tulip Time!
HSO Brass Quintet
Bruce Formsma, Trumpet
Gregory Alley, Trumpet
Greg Bassett, Horn
Adam Graham, Trombone
Brendan Bohnhorst, Tuba
The group will perform a variety of light classics, traditional favorites, and popular songs.
Entrance fee to the gardens is $15. For more information on how to enjoy the 2025 Tulip Time Emersion Gardens click here.
A big thank you to our friends at Tulip Time and Beechwood Church for this wonderful opportunity!

HSO Brass Quintet in Saugatuck - Free Concert
2025-05-18 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Saugatuck-Douglas Library, 174 Center Street, Douglas, MI, 49406, United States
https://youtu.be/IWPZXyqCFD4
Five Centuries of Music!
Enjoy a free Sunday afternoon concert of classical and popular tunes by the Holland Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet.
From Renaissance dances to popular tunes from the early 20th century, including J.S. Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze,” Victor Ewald’s Romantic Quintet No. 1, and Scott Joplin’s “Easy Winners.”
Bruce Formsma, Trumpet
Paul Hardaker, Trumpet
Greg Bassett, Horn
Adam Graham, Trombone
Brendan Bohnhorst, Tuba
More information can be found here.

Pops at the Pier 2025: The Music of Judy Garland
2025-06-19 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Eldean’s Boat Shed, 2150 S. Shore Drive, Holland, 49423, United States
Preconcert at 6 PM: Holland Concert Jazz Orchestra
Joan Ellison, Vocalist • Mark Alpizar, Conductor
A “rare combination of artist, archivist, and arranger” (Michael Feinstein), songstress Joan Ellison is the restorer of Garland’s original orchestral arrangements for the Judy Garland Heirs Trust, bringing musical authenticity and a lifelong love for Judy to the stage. Add the lush sound of your Holland Symphony Orchestra under the baton of former Cleveland Pops conductor Mark Alpízar, the Get Happy! A Judy Garland Celebration concert brings Judy Garland’s original symphonic arrangements back to life through a nostalgic trip from technicolor Hollywood to Carnegie Hall! The hit parade includes “The Trolley Song,” “The Man That Got Away,” “Get Happy,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart,” “Stormy Weather,” “The Boy Next Door,” “Chicago,” and, of course, “Over the Rainbow.”
Enjoy food from local truck vendors: Da Kidd BBQ, PAC Pizza, Dolce Tacos & Crepes by the Lake!
A big thank you to the Eldean family for their continued hospitality and support of the HSO!
Tickets: $37. Seating is general admission.

BUY TICKETS

HSO Welcomes Midori
2025-08-08 19:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | West Ottawa Performing Arts Center, 3685 Butternut Drive, Holland, MI, 49424, United States
Buy Tickets

Friday, August 8th, 2025, at 7:30 PM
NEW VENUE: West Ottawa Performing Arts Center
Click here to view or download a PDF of the West Ottawa Performing Arts seating chart.
The HSO Midori concerts are in memory of Jack H. Miller
Call or email Amanda for accessible (ADA/handicapped) seating options or for $20 student tickets (ticketing@hollandsymphony.org, 616-796-6780).
As part of Holland Symphony Orchestra’s 2025 Gift of Music summer offerings, we are excited to announce a special pair of concerts featuring the violin superstar Midori. She will make her Holland debut with music director and conductor Johannes Müller Stosch and the HSO in two performances of Mendelssohn’s towering Violin Concerto and Arvo Pärt’s raucous double violin concerto entitled Tabula Rasa with ZenViolin creator and prodigy Moni Simeonov. The program will include Mendelssohn’s whimsical Hebrides Overture “Fingal’s Cave” and J. S. Bach’s regal Orchestral Suite No. 1. The concerts will take place on Friday, August 8, 2025, at 7:30 pm and Saturday, August 9, 2025, at 2 pm at the West Ottawa Performing Arts Center.
Midori is a visionary artist, activist, and educator who explores and builds connections between music and the human experience. In the four decades since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 11, the “simply magical” (Houston Chronicle) violinist has performed with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras and has collaborated with world-renowned musicians including Leonard Bernstein, Yo-Yo Ma, and many others.
These are special event prices and are not part of a subscription package.
Ticket prices for the Midori concert are as follows:
Premium seats (yellow): $45
Choice seats (orange): $40
Main (white): $35
A limited number of student tickets, in the Main Section, will be available for $20.

Concert Sponsor:

Tickets

Program
Program Notes
Artist bio

The Hebrides, “Fingal’s Cave,” Op. 26Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Tabula RasaArvo Pärt (b. 1935)

Ludus
Silentium

Midori and Moni Simeonov, violins
Intermission
Suite No. 1, BWV 1066, in C MajorJohann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Overture
Courante
Gavotte I & II
Forlane
Menuet I & II
Bourrée I & II
Passepied I & II

Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Allegro molto appassionato
Andante
Allegretto non troppo – Allegro molto vivace

Midori, violin
The Hebrides, “Fingal’s Cave,” Op. 26Felix Mendelssohn
Born: February 3, 1809, HamburgDied: November 4, 1847, LeipzigWritten: 1830Premiered: May 14, 1832, LondonApproximate Duration: 10 minutesInstrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings
Scotland was an inspiration for nineteenth century art and music in France and Germany. The location seemed exotic–far away, mysterious, full of picturesque and rugged landscapes, rainy and misty, and inhabited by people wearing kilts and plaids and speaking in the seemingly unintelligible Gaelic language. Many students, writers, and artists traveled there, seeking inspiration from this beautiful and foreign place.
In 1829, Mendelssohn’s father sent him on a tour of Europe to complete his education and gain cultural understanding, as was common for young men of fortune at the time. Mendelssohn and a friend began their travels in England and Scotland. In Edinburgh, they immersed themselves in the stories of Queen Mary and her personal secretary, David Rizzio. Mendelssohn wrote, “We went to the palace of Holyrood where Queen Mary lived and loved. There is a little room to be seen there with a winding staircase leading up to it. This, the murderers ascended and, finding Rizzio, drew him out. Three chambers away is where they killed him…. Everything is broken and moldering and the bright sky shines in. I believe I found today in the old chapel the beginning of my Scottish Symphony.” As they traveled farther north, Mendelssohn wrote that the Scottish highlands “brew nothing but whiskey, fog, and foul weather.” Eventually they made their way to the west coast of Scotland and to the island of Jaffa.
Fingal’s Cave is on the uninhabited island of Jaffa in the inner Hebrides. The cave has a giant arched roof and is filled with the eerie sounds produced by the breaking waves. Its Gaelic name means “cave of melody.” Sir Walter Scott described it as “…one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld. It exceeded, in my mind, every description I had heard of it…. composed entirely of basaltic pillars as high as the roof of a cathedral, and running deep into the rock, eternally swept by a deep and swelling sea, and paved, as it were, with ruddy marble, baffles all description.”
After seeing the stunning scenery, Mendelssohn composed the opening bars of his overture and sent it to his sister Fanny, saying, “In order to make you understand how extraordinarily the Hebrides affected me, I send you the following, which came into my head there.” He continued to work on the overture as he traveled, finally completing it a year later in Rome, with a London premiere in 1832. Critics, including Wagner and Schumann, praised the overture as a masterpiece. Mendelssohn originally entitled it The Lonely Island, but soon changed the name, rather confusingly using the title Hebrides Overture on the orchestral parts but Fingal’s Cave on the full score.
Mendelssohn’s work was the first of a new type of overture which emerged during the nineteenth-century, referred to as the concert overture. These overtures are not drawn from a stage work or opera, but rather, are stand-alone works to be programmed as an opening piece in a concert hall. Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture evokes a seascape including the grandeur of the cave, the swelling of the sea, the light on the water, and the fury of the waves breaking on the cliffs. It was one of the first works of music to evoke nature in this way, a hallmark of the emerging Romanticism of Mendelssohn’s time, and remains one of the greatest of its genre.
To watch a video of Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture, click here.
Tabula RasaArvo Pärt
Born: September 11, 1935, Paide, EstoniaWritten: 1977Premiered: September 30, 1977, Tallinn, Estonia, with Gidon Kremer and Tatjana Grindenko, violinists, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conductor Eri KlasApproximate Duration: 25 minutesInstrumentation: two violin soloists (or solo violin and solo viola), strings, prepared piano
In the late twentieth century, composers pushed classical music to its limits by challenging and re-examining conventions of tonality, structure, and sound quality. In the midst of that musical exploration, Estonian composer Arvo Pärt emerged with a strikingly new style that he called “tintinnabuli.” He described this as “an area I sometimes wander into when I am searching for answers–in my life, my music, my work.” Pärt was a person of deep faith who had significant mystical experiences with chanted music and prayer. He wanted to find a musical language that would invite listeners to explore silence, simplicity, and spirituality, which musicologists have dubbed holy or mystical minimalism. Pärt’s style is characterized by distinct voices that move in simple arpeggiated triads, representing bell tones, and stepwise motion, all at a slow and meditative pace.
One of Pärt’s best known tintinnabular pieces is Tabula Rasa, composed in 1977. The Latin title is translated “blank slate.” Pärt intends this blank slate to be a fresh start, an invitation to a contemplative journey of clearing one’s mind and soul, allowing the musical experience to transform oneself and awaken a sense of musical rebirth.
From the first note of the first movement, “Ludus” (Game), Pärt writes for the extreme high and low range of the violin, evoking a wide-open environment. The movement is structured with increasingly long and complex episodes of activity that seem to invite reflection on the entirety of human experience: from joy, to sorrow, to longing. These Interludes are interspersed with moments of timeless stillness. The movement culminates with a cadenza. “Silentium” (Silence) is sparse and fragile. In this simplicity, Pärt encourages listeners to meditate on the hushed melodic fragments and the spaces between the sounds. The piece concludes in the quiet depths of the orchestra, inviting everyone into a final moment of contemplative rest.
Tabula Rasa is written for two violin soloists, string orchestra, and prepared piano. A prepared piano is a regular piano that has objects such as screws, paper, bolts, or erasers placed between or on the strings to temporarily alter the sound but leave the piano unharmed. Composers John Cage and Henry Cowell were some of the first to use this technique. In this piece, 24 screws and some felt are placed between specific piano strings to produce a variety of percussive-sounding notes. These “unfamiliar” instrumental sounds add to the mystery of this piece.
To watch a video Pärt’s Tabula Rasa, click here.
Suite (Overture) No. 1 in C Major, BWV 1066Johann Sebastian Bach
Born: March 21, 1685, EisenachDied: July 28, 1750, LeipzigWritten: c. 1725Approximate Duration: 22 minutesInstrumentation: 2 oboes, 1 bassoon, harpsichord, strings
The origin of J.S. Bach’s four orchestral suites is mysterious! We don’t know when Bach wrote these pieces–either in his years at Cöthen (1717-1723) or while working in Leipzig (1729-early 1740s) with the Collegium Musicum, a group consisting of university students and a few professional musicians. Bach never assembled the suites into a finished volume, as he did with the Brandenburg Concertos, and there is no surviving autograph. We only have instrumental parts copied by various people including Bach’s son and students.
Nevertheless, Bach’s four orchestral suites represent the pinnacle of orchestral writing in the French Overture style, an approach characterized by a stately introduction full of dotted rhythms, trills, and flourishes followed by a faster fugal section before ending with the stately opening music. The overtures in these suites are proportionally so grand that the suites themselves are sometimes called “overtures.” The remainder of the suites consist of lighter dance movements. Bach may have intended these suites to be light and entertaining, but they demand a high level of virtuosity from performers and display a remarkable level of thematic and rhythmic cohesiveness in their composition.
Bach’s first suite probably dates to 1725. It is lightly scored for two oboes, bassoon, strings, and harpsichord. With these modest forces, Bach achieves a variety of textures, sometimes using the woodwinds as soloists. This suite is noteworthy in Bach’s use of paired dance movements, such as Gavotte I & II. These movements are played in an ABA format, with the second contrasting gavotte between two statements of the first.
To watch a video of Bach’s first suite, click here.
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64Felix Mendelssohn
Born: February 3, 1809, HamburgDied: November 4, 1847, LeipzigComposed: 1844, revised 1845Premiered: March 13, 1845, LeipzigApproximate Duration: 26 minutesInstrumentation: two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two French horns, two trumpets, timpani, strings
Music donated by Diane Lewis
In 1838, Mendelssohn wrote to his friend Ferdinand David, one of the leading violinists of the mid-nineteenth century: “I should like to write a violin concerto for you next winter. One in E minor runs through my head, the opening of which gives me no peace.” Mendelssohn worked closely with David while composing the concerto. Both men disliked the “empty showpiece concerto” of the early Romantic era that contained little more than what Mendelssohn called “juggler’s tricks and rope dancer’s feats.” The two sought to produce a serious musical piece in the manner of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. The result is a piece wonderfully suited to the violin, both musically and technically.
Unlike Classical concertos, with long orchestral introductions, Mendelssohn’s work begins with the soloist presenting the initial soaring theme that “haunted” the composer. This melody is contrasted with a tender second theme, introduced by the woodwinds. Mendelssohn took an innovative approach to the cadenza; instead of putting it at the end of the movement, he used it as a bridge leading from the development into the restatement of the movement’s opening themes. Furthermore, instead of leaving it to the soloist to improvise or write his or her own cadenza, Mendelssohn provides a cadenza, probably written by David.
A single thread—a note sustained by one bassoon—provides the seamless bridge to the lyrical second movement, an endearing song. The melodies are harmonized and scored beautifully—sometimes peacefully, sometimes restlessly. Another brief transition, which recalls the impassioned first movement, the Finale begins, a brilliant and sunny scherzo that recalls Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. The soloist is called upon to display light-hearted virtuosity alternating with long, lyrical passages, leading to a rousing conclusion.
To listen to Mendelssohn’s violin concerto, click here.
Program notes by Amanda W. Dykhouse
Midori is a visionary artist, activist and educator who explores and builds connections between music and the human experience. In the four decades since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 11, the “simply magical” (Houston Chronicle) violinist has performed with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras and has collaborated with world-renowned musicians including Leonard Bernstein, Yo-Yo Ma, and many others. Midori is the Artistic Director of Ravinia Steans Music Institute’s Piano & Strings program; summer 2024 is her first year in that role.
This season, she premieres Spirituals — a new work written for her by Che Buford — on a recital program, with pianist Özgür Aydin, at the Edinburgh Festival; the 92nd Street Y, New York; the Celebrity Series of Boston; San Francisco Performances; and the Colburn Celebrity Series. Other highlights of Midori’s 2024–2025 season include appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and Oklahoma City Philharmonic.
Outside the U.S., she performs with the Vienna Philharmonic under Andris Nelsons in Vienna and on tour in Japan and Korea (Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto); she appears twice in the spring of 2025 at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, with the German National Youth Orchestra in May, performing Glanert’s Second Violin Concerto, and with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) in June, performing Dvořák’s Violin Concerto. She also joins the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Jonathan Nott, performing Sibelius’s Violin Concerto on a tour of Spain, and has concert appearances in Geneva, Köln and Nürnberg, as well as Mumbai, Istanbul, Izmir and Colombo.
Deeply committed to furthering humanitarian and educational goals, Midori has founded several non-profit organizations; the New York City-based Midori & Friends and Japan-based MUSIC SHARING have both been active for over three decades. For the Orchestra Residencies Program (ORP), which supports youth orchestras, Midori commissioned a new work from composer Derek Bermel, Spring Cadenzas, that was premiered virtually during the COVID lockdown and continues to be performed; this season, she is working on creating a video recording of the work to be accompanied by a tutorial. ORP also worked recently with the Afghan Youth Orchestra, which relocated to Portugal in order to continue operating. Midori’s Partners in Performance (PiP) helps to bring chamber music to smaller communities in the U.S. In recognition of her work as an artist and humanitarian, she serves as a United Nations Messenger of Peace and was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2021.
Born in Osaka in 1971, she began her violin studies with her mother, Setsu Goto, at an early age. In 1982, conductor Zubin Mehta invited the then 11-year-old Midori to perform with the New York Philharmonic in the orchestra’s annual New Year’s Eve concert, where the foundation was laid for her subsequent career. Midori is the Dorothy Richard Starling Chair in Violin Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She is the recipient of honorary doctorates from Smith College, Yale University, Longy School of Music and Shenandoah University, and of the 2023 Brandeis Creative Arts Award from Brandeis University.
She plays the 1734 Guarnerius del Gesù ‘ex-Huberman’ and uses four bows – two by Dominique Peccatte, one by François Peccatte and one by Paul Siefried.
A native of Bulgaria, Moni Simeonov began playing the violin at age 5, and ten years later, came to the United States on a full scholarship to the Idyllwild Arts Academy. He performs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Opera, Ensemble San Francisco, and until recently, was the Concertmaster for the Sacramento Philharmonic. He has also served as a guest concertmaster with Reno Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic and the Pacific Symphony. His doctoral studies included minor fields in Viola Performance, Schenkerian Analysis, Japanese Language, as well as an emphasis on the interpretation of the Balkan folk music.
On tour and in Los Angeles, Mr. Simeonov dedicates considerable time and energy to community engagement work and to musical activities and presentations for young people. Moni has performed and coached alongside Midori for her Orchestra Residencies Program American and International tours. Until 2014, he served as a director for the program. Outreach activities have taken him to places as diverse as homeless shelters in Peru and at-risk centers in Tennessee, to Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon, and hospitals for the terminally ill in Sri Lanka.
Moni’s summer teaching includes engagements with the Interlochen Summer Festival, the Singapore Violin Festival, and the Atlantic Music Festival. Moni is also the founder of Bulgaria’s first chamber music academy – “Quartet Intensive” in Sofia.
Moni has concertized and taught around the United States, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. His recordings have been archived by PBS, NPR, KUSC, Bulgarian National Radio and TV, as well as Japanese Broadcasting Company – NHK.
Moni received his BM and PC from the Eastman School of Music under Zvi Zeitlin, his MM and AD from Yale University with Ani Kavafian, and his GC and DMA from USC’s Thornton School of Music where he studied with Midori.
Moni served as Adjunct Instructor at USC’s Thornton School of Music until 2014. That year, he was appointed Director of String Studies and Violin Professor with the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach. Moni is also the creator of zenviolin.com.

HSO Welcomes Midori - Matinee Concert
2025-08-09 14:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | West Ottawa Performing Arts Center, 3685 Butternut Drive, Holland, MI, 49424, United States
Buy Tickets

Saturday, August 9th, 2025, at 2 PM
NEW VENUE: West Ottawa Performing Arts Center
Click here to view or download a PDF of the West Ottawa Performing Arts seating chart.
The HSO Midori concerts are in memory of Jack H. Miller
Call or email Amanda for accessible (ADA/handicapped) seating options or $20 student tickets (ticketing@hollandsymphony.org, 616-796-6780).
Teachers and educators get a $10 discount per ticket! Use promo code LEARN at checkout online or by phone.
As part of Holland Symphony Orchestra’s 2025 Gift of Music summer offerings, we are excited to announce a special pair of concerts featuring the violin superstar Midori. She will make her Holland debut with music director and conductor Johannes Müller Stosch and the HSO in two performances of Mendelssohn’s towering Violin Concerto and Arvo Pärt’s raucous double violin concerto entitled Tabula Rasa with ZenViolin creator and prodigy Moni Simeonov. The program will include Mendelssohn’s whimsical Hebrides Overture “Fingal’s Cave” and J. S. Bach’s regal Orchestral Suite No. 1. The concerts will take place on Friday, August 8, 2025, at 7:30 pm and Saturday, August 9, 2025, at 2 pm at the West Ottawa Performing Arts Center.
Midori is a visionary artist, activist, and educator who explores and builds connections between music and the human experience. In the four decades since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 11, the “simply magical” (Houston Chronicle) violinist has performed with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras and has collaborated with world-renowned musicians including Leonard Bernstein, Yo-Yo Ma, and many others.
These are special event prices and are not part of a subscription package.
Ticket prices for the Midori concert are as follows:
Premium seats (yellow): $45
Choice seats (orange): $40
Main (white): $35
A limited number of student tickets, in the Main Section, will be available for $20.
Concert Sponsor:

Tickets

Program
Program Notes
Artist bios

The Hebrides, “Fingal’s Cave,” Op. 26Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Tabula RasaArvo Pärt (b. 1935)

Ludus
Silentium

Midori and Moni Simeonov, violins
Intermission
Suite No. 1, BWV 1066, in C MajorJohann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Overture
Courante
Gavotte I & II
Forlane
Menuet I & II
Bourrée I & II
Passepied I & II

Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Allegro molto appassionato
Andante
Allegretto non troppo – Allegro molto vivace

Midori, violin
The Hebrides, “Fingal’s Cave,” Op. 26Felix Mendelssohn
Born: February 3, 1809, HamburgDied: November 4, 1847, LeipzigWritten: 1830Premiered: May 14, 1832, LondonApproximate Duration: 10 minutesInstrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings
Scotland was an inspiration for nineteenth century art and music in France and Germany. The location seemed exotic–far away, mysterious, full of picturesque and rugged landscapes, rainy and misty, and inhabited by people wearing kilts and plaids and speaking in the seemingly unintelligible Gaelic language. Many students, writers, and artists traveled there, seeking inspiration from this beautiful and foreign place.
In 1829, Mendelssohn’s father sent him on a tour of Europe to complete his education and gain cultural understanding, as was common for young men of fortune at the time. Mendelssohn and a friend began their travels in England and Scotland. In Edinburgh, they immersed themselves in the stories of Queen Mary and her personal secretary, David Rizzio. Mendelssohn wrote, “We went to the palace of Holyrood where Queen Mary lived and loved. There is a little room to be seen there with a winding staircase leading up to it. This, the murderers ascended and, finding Rizzio, drew him out. Three chambers away is where they killed him…. Everything is broken and moldering and the bright sky shines in. I believe I found today in the old chapel the beginning of my Scottish Symphony.” As they traveled farther north, Mendelssohn wrote that the Scottish highlands “brew nothing but whiskey, fog, and foul weather.” Eventually they made their way to the west coast of Scotland and to the island of Jaffa.
Fingal’s Cave is on the uninhabited island of Jaffa in the inner Hebrides. The cave has a giant arched roof and is filled with the eerie sounds produced by the breaking waves. Its Gaelic name means “cave of melody.” Sir Walter Scott described it as “…one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld. It exceeded, in my mind, every description I had heard of it…. composed entirely of basaltic pillars as high as the roof of a cathedral, and running deep into the rock, eternally swept by a deep and swelling sea, and paved, as it were, with ruddy marble, baffles all description.”
After seeing the stunning scenery, Mendelssohn composed the opening bars of his overture and sent it to his sister Fanny, saying, “In order to make you understand how extraordinarily the Hebrides affected me, I send you the following, which came into my head there.” He continued to work on the overture as he traveled, finally completing it a year later in Rome, with a London premiere in 1832. Critics, including Wagner and Schumann, praised the overture as a masterpiece. Mendelssohn originally entitled it The Lonely Island, but soon changed the name, rather confusingly using the title Hebrides Overture on the orchestral parts but Fingal’s Cave on the full score.
Mendelssohn’s work was the first of a new type of overture which emerged during the nineteenth-century, referred to as the concert overture. These overtures are not drawn from a stage work or opera, but rather, are stand-alone works to be programmed as an opening piece in a concert hall. Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture evokes a seascape including the grandeur of the cave, the swelling of the sea, the light on the water, and the fury of the waves breaking on the cliffs. It was one of the first works of music to evoke nature in this way, a hallmark of the emerging Romanticism of Mendelssohn’s time, and remains one of the greatest of its genre.
To watch a video of Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture, click here.
Tabula RasaArvo Pärt
Born: September 11, 1935, Paide, EstoniaWritten: 1977Premiered: September 30, 1977, Tallinn, Estonia, with Gidon Kremer and Tatjana Grindenko, violinists, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conductor Eri KlasApproximate Duration: 25 minutesInstrumentation: two violin soloists (or solo violin and solo viola), strings, prepared piano
In the late twentieth century, composers pushed classical music to its limits by challenging and re-examining conventions of tonality, structure, and sound quality. In the midst of that musical exploration, Estonian composer Arvo Pärt emerged with a strikingly new style that he called “tintinnabuli.” He described this as “an area I sometimes wander into when I am searching for answers–in my life, my music, my work.” Pärt was a person of deep faith who had significant mystical experiences with chanted music and prayer. He wanted to find a musical language that would invite listeners to explore silence, simplicity, and spirituality, which musicologists have dubbed holy or mystical minimalism. Pärt’s style is characterized by distinct voices that move in simple arpeggiated triads, representing bell tones, and stepwise motion, all at a slow and meditative pace.
One of Pärt’s best known tintinnabular pieces is Tabula Rasa, composed in 1977. The Latin title is translated “blank slate.” Pärt intends this blank slate to be a fresh start, an invitation to a contemplative journey of clearing one’s mind and soul, allowing the musical experience to transform oneself and awaken a sense of musical rebirth.
From the first note of the first movement, “Ludus” (Game), Pärt writes for the extreme high and low range of the violin, evoking a wide-open environment. The movement is structured with increasingly long and complex episodes of activity that seem to invite reflection on the entirety of human experience: from joy, to sorrow, to longing. These Interludes are interspersed with moments of timeless stillness. The movement culminates with a cadenza. “Silentium” (Silence) is sparse and fragile. In this simplicity, Pärt encourages listeners to meditate on the hushed melodic fragments and the spaces between the sounds. The piece concludes in the quiet depths of the orchestra, inviting everyone into a final moment of contemplative rest.
Tabula Rasa is written for two violin soloists, string orchestra, and prepared piano. A prepared piano is a regular piano that has objects such as screws, paper, bolts, or erasers placed between or on the strings to temporarily alter the sound but leave the piano unharmed. Composers John Cage and Henry Cowell were some of the first to use this technique. In this piece, 24 screws and some felt are placed between specific piano strings to produce a variety of percussive-sounding notes. These “unfamiliar” instrumental sounds add to the mystery of this piece.
To watch a video Pärt’s Tabula Rasa, click here.
Suite (Overture) No. 1 in C Major, BWV 1066Johann Sebastian Bach
Born: March 21, 1685, EisenachDied: July 28, 1750, LeipzigWritten: c. 1725Approximate Duration: 22 minutesInstrumentation: 2 oboes, 1 bassoon, harpsichord, strings
The origin of J.S. Bach’s four orchestral suites is mysterious! We don’t know when Bach wrote these pieces–either in his years at Cöthen (1717-1723) or while working in Leipzig (1729-early 1740s) with the Collegium Musicum, a group consisting of university students and a few professional musicians. Bach never assembled the suites into a finished volume, as he did with the Brandenburg Concertos, and there is no surviving autograph. We only have instrumental parts copied by various people including Bach’s son and students.
Nevertheless, Bach’s four orchestral suites represent the pinnacle of orchestral writing in the French Overture style, an approach characterized by a stately introduction full of dotted rhythms, trills, and flourishes followed by a faster fugal section before ending with the stately opening music. The overtures in these suites are proportionally so grand that the suites themselves are sometimes called “overtures.” The remainder of the suites consist of lighter dance movements. Bach may have intended these suites to be light and entertaining, but they demand a high level of virtuosity from performers and display a remarkable level of thematic and rhythmic cohesiveness in their composition.
Bach’s first suite probably dates to 1725. It is lightly scored for two oboes, bassoon, strings, and harpsichord. With these modest forces, Bach achieves a variety of textures, sometimes using the woodwinds as soloists. This suite is noteworthy in Bach’s use of paired dance movements, such as Gavotte I & II. These movements are played in an ABA format, with the second contrasting gavotte between two statements of the first.
To watch a video of Bach’s first suite, click here.
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64Felix Mendelssohn
Born: February 3, 1809, HamburgDied: November 4, 1847, LeipzigComposed: 1844, revised 1845Premiered: March 13, 1845, LeipzigApproximate Duration: 26 minutesInstrumentation: two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two French horns, two trumpets, timpani, strings
Music donated by Diane Lewis
In 1838, Mendelssohn wrote to his friend Ferdinand David, one of the leading violinists of the mid-nineteenth century: “I should like to write a violin concerto for you next winter. One in E minor runs through my head, the opening of which gives me no peace.” Mendelssohn worked closely with David while composing the concerto. Both men disliked the “empty showpiece concerto” of the early Romantic era that contained little more than what Mendelssohn called “juggler’s tricks and rope dancer’s feats.” The two sought to produce a serious musical piece in the manner of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. The result is a piece wonderfully suited to the violin, both musically and technically.
Unlike Classical concertos, with long orchestral introductions, Mendelssohn’s work begins with the soloist presenting the initial soaring theme that “haunted” the composer. This melody is contrasted with a tender second theme, introduced by the woodwinds. Mendelssohn took an innovative approach to the cadenza; instead of putting it at the end of the movement, he used it as a bridge leading from the development into the restatement of the movement’s opening themes. Furthermore, instead of leaving it to the soloist to improvise or write his or her own cadenza, Mendelssohn provides a cadenza, probably written by David.
A single thread—a note sustained by one bassoon—provides the seamless bridge to the lyrical second movement, an endearing song. The melodies are harmonized and scored beautifully—sometimes peacefully, sometimes restlessly. Another brief transition, which recalls the impassioned first movement, the Finale begins, a brilliant and sunny scherzo that recalls Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. The soloist is called upon to display light-hearted virtuosity alternating with long, lyrical passages, leading to a rousing conclusion.
To listen to Mendelssohn’s violin concerto, click here.
Program notes by Amanda W. Dykhouse
Midori is a visionary artist, activist and educator who explores and builds connections between music and the human experience. In the four decades since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 11, the “simply magical” (Houston Chronicle) violinist has performed with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras and has collaborated with world-renowned musicians including Leonard Bernstein, Yo-Yo Ma, and many others. Midori is the Artistic Director of Ravinia Steans Music Institute’s Piano & Strings program; summer 2024 is her first year in that role.
This season, she premieres Spirituals — a new work written for her by Che Buford — on a recital program, with pianist Özgür Aydin, at the Edinburgh Festival; the 92nd Street Y, New York; the Celebrity Series of Boston; San Francisco Performances; and the Colburn Celebrity Series. Other highlights of Midori’s 2024–2025 season include appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and Oklahoma City Philharmonic.
Outside the U.S., she performs with the Vienna Philharmonic under Andris Nelsons in Vienna and on tour in Japan and Korea (Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto); she appears twice in the spring of 2025 at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, with the German National Youth Orchestra in May, performing Glanert’s Second Violin Concerto, and with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) in June, performing Dvořák’s Violin Concerto. She also joins the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Jonathan Nott, performing Sibelius’s Violin Concerto on a tour of Spain, and has concert appearances in Geneva, Köln and Nürnberg, as well as Mumbai, Istanbul, Izmir and Colombo.
Deeply committed to furthering humanitarian and educational goals, Midori has founded several non-profit organizations; the New York City-based Midori & Friends and Japan-based MUSIC SHARING have both been active for over three decades. For the Orchestra Residencies Program (ORP), which supports youth orchestras, Midori commissioned a new work from composer Derek Bermel, Spring Cadenzas, that was premiered virtually during the COVID lockdown and continues to be performed; this season, she is working on creating a video recording of the work to be accompanied by a tutorial. ORP also worked recently with the Afghan Youth Orchestra, which relocated to Portugal in order to continue operating. Midori’s Partners in Performance (PiP) helps to bring chamber music to smaller communities in the U.S. In recognition of her work as an artist and humanitarian, she serves as a United Nations Messenger of Peace and was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2021.
Born in Osaka in 1971, she began her violin studies with her mother, Setsu Goto, at an early age. In 1982, conductor Zubin Mehta invited the then 11-year-old Midori to perform with the New York Philharmonic in the orchestra’s annual New Year’s Eve concert, where the foundation was laid for her subsequent career. Midori is the Dorothy Richard Starling Chair in Violin Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She is the recipient of honorary doctorates from Smith College, Yale University, Longy School of Music and Shenandoah University, and of the 2023 Brandeis Creative Arts Award from Brandeis University.
She plays the 1734 Guarnerius del Gesù ‘ex-Huberman’ and uses four bows – two by Dominique Peccatte, one by François Peccatte and one by Paul Siefried.
A native of Bulgaria, Moni Simeonov began playing the violin at age 5, and ten years later, came to the United States on a full scholarship to the Idyllwild Arts Academy. He performs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Opera, Ensemble San Francisco, and until recently, was the Concertmaster for the Sacramento Philharmonic. He has also served as a guest concertmaster with Reno Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic and the Pacific Symphony. His doctoral studies included minor fields in Viola Performance, Schenkerian Analysis, Japanese Language, as well as an emphasis on the interpretation of the Balkan folk music.
On tour and in Los Angeles, Mr. Simeonov dedicates considerable time and energy to community engagement work and to musical activities and presentations for young people. Moni has performed and coached alongside Midori for her Orchestra Residencies Program American and International tours. Until 2014, he served as a director for the program. Outreach activities have taken him to places as diverse as homeless shelters in Peru and at-risk centers in Tennessee, to Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon, and hospitals for the terminally ill in Sri Lanka.
Moni’s summer teaching includes engagements with the Interlochen Summer Festival, the Singapore Violin Festival, and the Atlantic Music Festival. Moni is also the founder of Bulgaria’s first chamber music academy – “Quartet Intensive” in Sofia.
Moni has concertized and taught around the United States, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. His recordings have been archived by PBS, NPR, KUSC, Bulgarian National Radio and TV, as well as Japanese Broadcasting Company – NHK.
Moni received his BM and PC from the Eastman School of Music under Zvi Zeitlin, his MM and AD from Yale University with Ani Kavafian, and his GC and DMA from USC’s Thornton School of Music where he studied with Midori.
Moni served as Adjunct Instructor at USC’s Thornton School of Music until 2014. That year, he was appointed Director of String Studies and Violin Professor with the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach. Moni is also the creator of zenviolin.com.

Music Unites Us 2025: Grupo Super Nova
2025-08-09 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Kollen Park Henry VanderLinde Bandshell, 240 Kollen Park Dr., Holland, MI, 49423, United States
Free Community Concert!
Family-friendly activities start at 5 PM, Concert at 7 PM
The Holland Symphony Orchestra’s annual Community Concert: Music Unites Us empowers our community to gather for free music, art, dance, and local food. Over 1,500 community members enjoy dancing in the sunshine, live art making, and orchestral folk music along with local food vendors such as DaKidd BBQ, Robinson’s Popcorn, Dolce Mini Cakes & Tacos, PAC pizza, and the Macatawa Bank Ice Cream truck. The 2025 concert will feature the local Cumbia band Grupo Super Nova with the Holland Symphony Orchestra and original arrangements by famed local composer Greg Scheer. Cumbia originated in Columbia and is a Latin American style of music and dance that combines African, European, and Indigenous influences. It’s known for its percussion-heavy sound and double beat. Muralist Chris Garcia will accompany the music with live painting!
Also enjoy a photo booth and dancing lessons by the Latin Americans United for Progress (LAUP) Salsarines!
A special thank you to our event sponsors Corewell Health, the Macatawa Area Coordinating Council, Gentex, the Michigan Arts & Culture Council, and National Endowment for the Arts.

Program
Information
Program Notes
Artist bio
Pre-Concert Video

Program

Our New Home Celebration - A Free Family-Friendly Concert
2025-08-16 14:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | West Ottawa Performing Arts Center, 3685 Butternut Drive, Holland, MI, 49424, United States
Sat, Aug. 16, 2025, 2 PM
West Ottawa Performing Arts Center (WOPAC)
3685 Butternut Drive, Holland, MI 49424 (best to use Google Maps, as Apple Maps is inaccurate for this location.)
HSO Our New Home Celebration – ATTENDANCE IS FREE
Sponsored by Ruth & David Crouch
Even if you forgot to RSVP, we will welcome you at this concert and open house! Feel free to come anyway!
General Admission Seating – First Come, First Served
This family-friendly concert is part of HSO’s “Gift of Music” month! Please join us in celebrating our move into our new home at WOPAC. This is our way of treating our West Michigan audiences to an afternoon of sublime orchestral music.
Enjoy fresh-baked goods, candies, and snacks from Marlene Buller’s local bakery, Frosted Memories. A portion of each purchase will benefit HSO’s Education programs. Cash payment is preferred, but Venmo is also an option.
Johannes Muller-Stosch, Music Director & Conductor
Rebecca VanDeWalker, Principal Flute, Susan & Randall Miller Chair
PROKOFIEV Peter & the Wolf
J.S. BACH Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major*
MOZART Flute Concerto in D Major*
HAYDN Symphony No. 104 in D Major “London” *
*Only the first movement will be performed
This family-friendly concert begins with one of the most famous musical children’s folktales, Prokofiev’s Peter & the Wolf. Designed to introduce children to the instruments of the orchestra, each character in the story is represented by a specific instrument, allowing listeners to easily identify them through the music. The story follows Peter, a young boy who disobeys his grandfather and ventures out into the meadow, encountering various animals and ultimately capturing the wolf. This charming 35-minute masterpiece is full of brilliant melodies that listeners will carry with them throughout the day. Families with young children may leave after this piece, should they not wish to stay for the more “classical” half of the concert.
Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos are among the most perfect examples of the Baroque concerto that we have today. Few works in the history of music can match their tireless invention, their colorful instrumentation, or the tremendous demands they make on performers. The Third Concerto, for nine solo strings, opens majestically, with the soloists grouped by instrument (the violins play one figure, the violas another, and the cellos a third), although there are moments of independence for each of the soloists. This first movement is a prime example of Bach’s genius and offers music of lighthearted warmth and melodic majesty.
Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 2 in D major, K. 314, is a vibrant and engaging piece, originally written for oboe but later adapted for flute. The first movement is characterized by its bright disposition and virtuosic flute writing, which will give HSO principal flute and Susan and Randall Miller chair Rebecca VanDeWalker, the spotlight for rapid scales and trills, countered by witty and charming orchestral passages.
Mozart studied and admired Haydn, who is considered the father of the symphony and string quartet. His last group of symphonies were composed during his two trips to London in the 1790s. Number 104 is his last symphony and nicknamed the “London” symphony because it was Haydn’s farewell to the great city. From its triumphant grand opening to the brooding minor passages, the first movement is noted for its expressive range, including humor, irony, and emotional depth, exploring a wide range of human emotions beyond simple joy and sadness. The work is a great way for listeners to hear the many colors of the full orchestra and the exceptional skill of its players.
Click the RSVP button for tickets to this FREE event or call 616-796-6780.

RSVP Now

Program
Artist bio

Program

Peter and the WolfSergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Michael Naess, narrator
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G MajorJohann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) 1. Allegro moderato
Flute Concerto in D Major, K. 314Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) 1. Allegro aperto
Rebecca VanDeWalker, flute
Symphony No. 104 in D Major, “London”Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) 1. Adagio – Allegro

Rebecca VanDeWalker, Flute
Artistry, connection, and collaboration are at the heart of flutist Rebecca VanDeWalker’s performance and teaching. She is the principal flutist with the Holland Symphony and has deep experience as a classical musician.
She is frequently described as a beautiful and brilliant musician with depth of heart and vibrancy, possessing the ability to play “inside” the notes. Her mentor, Darlene Dugan, described her with these words: “Rebecca, like most musicians, is very sensitive, but hers is a special two-way sensitivity. She also connects with and responds to the sensitivity of those around her. This gives her a magnetism and charisma that communicates at a deep level in her performances, teaching, and relationships. She has a strong, positive, passionate character. In our WMFA orchestra, I frequently hear, ‘Thanks for seating me next to Rebecca.’ Our members really enjoy her personality and love learning from her phrasing, sense of direction, and beautiful tone. Sometimes after she has a solo, our orchestra members are so charmed that they forget to play (which causes my baton no small anxiety!) She is a model for my hope that competition, co-operation, and compassion can co-exist.”
Rebecca has performed with various orchestras and ensembles, including the Boston Philharmonic, New England Chamber Orchestra, New Life Symphony, St. Cecilia Chamber Orchestra, Holland Chamber Orchestra, Muskegon Chamber Choir Orchestra, Grand Rapids Civic Theater Orchestra, Community Circle Theater, New England Conservatory Philharmonia and Symphony Orchestras, Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Orchestra, and Empire State Youth Orchestra. In addition to her solo performances, she has collaborated with colleagues from the Hope College Department of Music and participated in the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck, as well as faculty recitals on campus and other musical events throughout West Michigan and beyond.
As a dedicated flute instructor, Rebecca’s mission is to empower her students with the skills and encouragement necessary to unlock their full potential, fostering beautiful tone, technical proficiency, stylistic expression, and kinesthetic awareness. She taught at Hope College from 1998 to 2006 and returned in the fall of 2014, rejoining the Department of Music in 2022. She has taught flute lessons at various institutions and in her flute studio throughout New York State, Massachusetts, and West Michigan. A colleague, Julie Sooy, described her as, “A superb teacher…Her students trust and respect her, and under her patient tutelage, excel in their playing abilities. They do well because they are consistently taught to listen, to truly create music, and to play with energy.” A Hope College graduate who went on to receive her Masters in Music, described her experience with Rebecca as, “In my years of study with her, she put every ounce of energy into her teaching and professional flute career. In each lesson, she was genuinely concerned about my growth as a flutist and challenged me to take the next step…her excitement about music is contagious and very stimulating to be around.”
Exceptional teachers, including the renowned soloist Paula Robison and Boston Symphony flutists Lois Schaefer and Fenwick Smith at the New England Conservatory of Music, have guided Rebecca’s journey as a musician. Her early studies began with Janet Stockwell and Eleanor Barnes of the Albany Symphony. After NEC, Rebecca thrived under the mentorship of Darlene Dugan, a beloved educator and director of the West Michigan Flute Association (WMFA), as well as a former principal flutist of the Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Amarillo (TX) Symphonies. She further honed her craft with private lessons from Carnegie Mellon University professors Jeanne Baxtresser, former principal flutist of the New York Philharmonic, and Alberto Almarza.
Since 1997, Rebecca has been actively involved with the West Michigan Flute Association, currently serving as its President. She frequently showcases her talents with the WMFA Flute Orchestra and Great Lakes Flutes at the annual conventions of the National Flute Association.
Rebecca VanDeWalker lives a fulfilling life with her husband of 31 years, Kent, and their three beautiful children, each of whom has been active in worship arts and world missions. Her interests include the art of floral arranging and design, traveling, and exploring the visual arts.

Classics I: Orchestral Fate
2025-09-06 19:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | West Ottawa Performing Arts Center, 3685 Butternut Drive, Holland, MI, 49424, United States
BUY TICKETS

Johannes Müller Stosch, conductor Ryan Darke, Trumpet (Principal Trumpet of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra)
Guest Musician Hosts: Dr. Ronald & Jerrie Lynn Gibbs
West Ottawa Performing Arts Center
Click here to view or download a PDF of the West Ottawa Performing Arts seating chart.
Enjoy fresh-baked goods, candies, and snacks from Marlene Buller’s local bakery, Frosted Memories. Our friends PAC Pizza and Crepes by the Lake will also have their food trucks on-site. A portion of each purchase will benefit HSO’s Education programs. Cash payment is preferred, but Venmo is also an option. We also have a FREE HSO Play Booth! Play children’s instruments, pose with silly glasses, and make memories you’ll see again in our special Facebook video.
SCHREKER Tanz from Romantic Suite ARUTIUNIAN Trumpet Concerto TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64
Tchaikovsky’s fifth symphony is a highly personal and emotionally charged unfurling of ominous “fate” themes transforming into exultant triumph. Alexander Arutiunian combined the post-Romantic Russian tradition with Armenian folk elements, qualities readily evident in his beloved 1950 Trumpet Concerto, a cornerstone of brass repertoire for its dance elements and challenging cadenza. Schreker composed his Romantic Suite during his prestigious position as director of the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin and is known for creating impressionistic sound worlds of ever-changing colors and moods. The Tanz (Dance) movement of his suite is a grand finale of orchestral fireworks and mercurial rhythms.

Program
Information
Program Notes
Artist bio
Pre-Concert Video

Program
Tanz (Dance) from Romantic SuiteFranz Schreker (1878-1934)
Trumpet Concerto Aleksandr Grigori Arutiunian (1920-2012)
Ryan Darke, Trumpet
Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) 1. Andante – Allegro con anima 2. Andante cantabile con alcuna licenza 3. Valse: Allegro moderato 4. Finale: Andante maestoso – Allegro vivace
We are looking forward to seeing you at HSO’s “Orchestral Fate” Concert! Know Before You Go!THIS CONCERT IS AT THE WEST OTTAWA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER! Where is the West Ottawa Performing Arts Center (WOPAC)? WOPAC is at 3685 Butternut Drive on the north side of Holland, between Riley and Quincy. The drive time from downtown Holland is approximately 11 minutes. If you use a navigation app on your phone or in your car, enter the address. DO NOT SEARCH FOR WEST OTTAWA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER. This might take you to the old performing arts center at Harbor Lights Middle School. We recommend that you use Google Maps, as iPhone and Apple Maps programs have errors for this address. From downtown Holland, take River Ave until it becomes Butternut. After the four-way stop sign at 144th St., continue straight on Butternut almost a mile. Drive past the West Ottawa High School Campus and turn left (west) immediately after the tallest building—the performing arts center. We will have balloons, our HSO sign, and a volunteer greeter by the correct driveway on Butternut. Where do I park?WOPAC has lots of parking! There is a large lot to the immediate north and west of the performing arts center. We will have balloons and a sign at the best entrance off Butternut. There are some permanent ADA (handicapped) parking spaces, and we will have other spaces saved with cones for people who have mobility needs. Once you have parked, enter the building through the main door. What time does everything happen?The doors will open one hour before the concert begins. This is our first performance at WOPAC, so please allow a few extra minutes to park and find your seats. Where are my tickets? If you selected “Will Call” tickets when you placed your order, your tickets will be available for pick up at the “Will Call” table in the lobby. Season Subscribers: You only wait in line once—all of your tickets for the season will be stapled together. Keep your tickets for future concerts. HSO will not print your tickets again unless you request it. If you selected “Print at Home” tickets when you placed your order, click on the blue box in the email confirmation from HSO (emailed separately) that says “Print Tickets.” Bring these tickets to the concert. If you selected “Mobile Tickets” when you placed your order, open the email confirmation from HSO (emailed separately), and click on the blue box that says “View Mobile Tickets.” Take a screenshot of each of your tickets. This will save a lot of time in line. If you want HSO to print your tickets, please email ticketing@hollandsymphony.org by noon on Friday, September 5. All your tickets will be stapled together and can be picked up at the concert at the Will Call table in the lobby. There’s no need to respond if you have already requested this. Keep the rest of your tickets for future concerts. If you know you bought tickets but don’t have them, email ticketing@hollandsymphony.org or call the office (616-796-6780) and Amanda will take care of you. We will have additional tickets for sale in the box office in the lobby of WOPAC. Where are my seats?We will have lots of volunteers who will help you find your seats. You can view the seat map by clicking here. How can I learn more about the music? All the program information is online. To read the program notes, listen to recordings of the pieces on this concert, or learn more about the soloists, click the tab you want (such as “Program notes, Artist bio,” etc.). Will Ryan Darke be available for autographs? Ryan will be available to meet you and sign autographs in the lobby at intermission and after the concert. What do I do with my walker? You may use a walker to get to and from your seat. Someone in your party can bring the walker to our secure area, or an usher can do that for you. You cannot keep your walker with you in the seats. During the concert, walkers will be stored inside the performance hall, on the sides by the loge seats. Walkers will be tagged with your name and seat number, if desired. Let an usher know if you need help with your walker before or after the concert. Where are the restrooms?Restrooms are available on the main level and the balcony level on the right side of the hall. What Hearing Assistance is available at WOPAC? WOPAC does not have a full loop system. They have RF belt packs and personal loop devices that can be worn around patrons’ necks to connect to a hearing aid. These devices will receive any speaking from the stage and projected audio. The performance itself will not be amplified through the sound system. These devices can be checked out at the Will Call table. WOPAC is also working on another process to connect their system to your phones. You can download the WaveCAST app here, connect to the WOPAC WiFi (WO-guest, no password necessary), and use your phone as a hearing assistance device in lieu of a belt pack, but you will need your own headphones or means of connecting their hearing aid to your phone via bluetooth or another method if you have that ability. What else do I need to know about the concert? WOPAC is offering free WiFi at this network: WO-guest. No password is needed. Some patrons are sensitive to perfumes, colognes, and other scented products. Please consider minimizing your use of these products. Thank you for your support of HSO!
“Dance” from Romantic Suite, Op. 14Franz Schreker
Born: March 23, 1878, MonacoDied: March 21, 1934, Berlin Written: 1900-1902Premiered: 1903, 1910Approximate Duration: 7 minutesInstrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, percussion (cymbals, triangle), strings
After World War I, Austrian composer Franz Schreker composed operas, conducted, and directed the prestigious Berlin Music Academy, where he taught Paul Hindemith and influenced Alban Berg. Drawing from late romantic composers like Tchaikovsky, Strauss, and Wagner, Schreker also found inspiration in the many changing colors and moods of Impressionism. He, along with Richard Strauss and Arnold Schoenberg, sought to “modernize” late Romantic music with unexpected harmonies, extravagant orchestration, and non-traditional programmatic structures. His operas were very popular and occasionally scandalous. In the 1920s, he was second only to Richard Strauss in the number of performances of his operas in Germany.
However, by the mid 1920s, Schreker’s romantic style was considered “old-fashioned.” Audiences that survived through World War I preferred the acerbic style of composers like Kurt Weill and Paul Hindemith. Rising antisemitism in the 1930s further threatened his career. In 1933, Hitler added him to the list of “Degenerate” composers, a list including modernists, Marxists, and Jews. Although Schreker, of Jewish descent, found himself in illustrious company on that list, with Schoenberg, Mendelssohn, and Mahler, he was unable to work or have his music performed. He died soon after, and his musical reputation, which had yet to reach beyond German-speaking countries, fell into oblivion. Schreker was all but forgotten, but a small number of conductors, scholars, and orchestras have been re-discovering music by Schreker and his colleagues, including Josef Marx and Franz Schmidt. A few record companies have started to record and publish this neglected but remarkable music.
Schreker wrote his Romantic Suite, one of his few instrumental works, not long after his graduation from the Vienna Conservatory. The youthful piece is grounded in Schreker’s nineteenth century musical heritage and draws a lot of inspiration from Tchaikovsky. However, its harmonies show the innovation of his mature musical language. It is colorful and full of variety. The music is light and cheerful, portraying the optimism that was pervasive at the beginning of the twentieth century. The Tanz (Dance), the suite’s final movement, is fast and triumphant, with a full, noble sound fitting for the finale of a big symphony.
To watch a video of Johannes conducting his university orchestra playing the Schreker, click here.
Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in A-flat MajorAlexander Arutiunian
Born: September 23, 1920, Yerevan, ArmeniaDied: March 28, 2012, Yerevan, ArmeniaWritten: 1950Approximate Duration: 17 minutesInstrumentation: 2 flutes (one doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 24 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, triangle), harp, strings
Alexander Arutiunian was born in Armenia and pursued his early studies there. After traveling to Moscow to study composition, he returned to Armenia and served first as the Music Director of the Royal Philharmonic Society, and later, the Music Director of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra. He was given the “People’s Artist of the USSR” award in 1970 for his artistic efforts, which included the incorporation of melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic characteristics of Armenian folk music into his orchestral works, like fellow Armenian Aram Khachaturian. He also showcased his heritage by incorporating the flavor of folk minstrel improvisations.
Arutunian’s trumpet concerto was his sixth major composition and the only one of his pieces that is regularly played in the United States. It was written in 1950 for the renowned trumpet player Timofei Dokschitzer, who immigrated to the United States and brought the concerto with him. An energetic powerhouse of eastern European lyricism and harmonic textures, Arutunian’s trumpet concerto has become one of the standard works for trumpet with orchestra and is a favorite with soloists due to its soulful melodies, eastern European folk language, and flashy technique.
Arutunian’s concerto is presented in a single, unbroken movement, but the piece follows a traditional concerto pattern of alternating tempos and moods. It opens with a series of dramatic statements by the orchestra, to which the trumpet makes its equally dramatic replies. After a few moments, the orchestra introduces the first main section of the work, which is fast and furious, frequently broken up into unexpectedly irregular rhythms. The clarinet, singing a folk-inspired melody, introduces a slower section, next played by the trumpet. After a restatement of the original material, a beautiful slow movement features the “big band” sound of muted trumpet playing a poetic sounding tune. Another clarinet solo leads back to the dramatic opening theme, followed by a lengthy cadenza for the soloist, and finally a brisk ending.
To listen to a recording of Timofei Dokschitzer playing the Arutiunian concerto, click here.
Symphony No.5 in E minor, Op. 64Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Born: May 7, 1840, Votkinsk, north-eastern RussiaDied: November 6, 1893, St PetersburgWritten: 1888Approximate Duration: 44 minutesInstrumentation: 3 flutes (one doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (cymbals), strings
Piotr Illych Tchaikovsky’s life was marked by turmoil and extreme sensitivity. He lost his mother at age fourteen and had to deal with the cold and hostile atmosphere of a military boarding school from age ten. He began to study the piano at age five and showed remarkable gifts, yet his father, a mine inspector, discouraged this skill. Young Tchaikovsky “escaped” from his harsh and brutal world, finding solace in music. At age nineteen, he took a civil service job, but became increasingly involved in musical circles across Europe. It was upon hearing Mozart’s Don Giovanni that Tchaikovsky decided to dedicate his life to music. In 1863 he entered St. Petersburg Conservatory, and three years later became a professor of harmony at the Moscow Conservatory.
On a deeper and more personal level, Tchaikovsky was tormented by his homosexuality, often leading him to feel depressed and insecure. He attempted a marriage in 1877 with a young student, but after nine short weeks, he attempted suicide and had a nervous breakdown. During this time, another woman, Nadejda von Meck, entered his life as an elusive pen-pal and patron. She wished to subsidize him without ever meeting. This mysterious 14-year relationship offered Tchaikovsky peace of mind and confidence in his ability as a composer.
Tchaikovsky had mixed feelings about his fifth symphony, as he did about many of his works, writing: “I am dreadfully anxious to prove not only to others, but also to myself, that I am not yet played out as a composer… The beginning was difficult; now, however, inspiration seems to have come…. I have to squeeze it from my dulled brain…. It seems to me that I have not blundered, that it has turned out well.” Ten years had passed since his fourth symphony, which Tchaikovsky had described as a journey of triumph over Fate. Although Tchaikovsky did not provide such a descriptive program for his fifth symphony, he did leave some notes about the first movement: “Introduction: Complete resignation before Fate—the inscrutable predestination of Providence. Allegro: Murmurs of doubt, complaints, reproaches… Shall I throw myself in the embraces of faith??? A wonderful program, if only it can be carried out.”
The first movement opens with the clarinets in their lowest register introducing the “fate” theme. Set to the low strings “stepping” in a moderate tempo, the distinctive theme sounds like a funeral march. The introduction gradually subsides, coming to a suspenseful halt, then the main part of the first movement begins in a quicker tempo. The movement, at times highly energized, and at other times yearning with sadness and emotional turmoil, ultimately vanishes in utter darkness.
The second movement presents one of Tchaikovsky’s most beautiful melodies, sung by solo horn. Expressive melodies from a solo oboe, then clarinet lead to a contrasting central section, which builds gradually towards a climax: a restatement of the “fate” motive by the brass. After a shocked silence and a return of the initial theme, this time in the strings, the mood is shattered again by the return of “fate,” and the movement ends with quiet, exhausted despair.
Tchaikovsky provides a graceful waltz that opens the third movement instead of the typical scherzo. A skittish middle section intrudes temporarily before returning to the serenity of the waltz tune. Tchaikovsky adds a coda, which includes a ghostly statement of the “fate” motive. Here it is transformed into the triple meter of the waltz, yet reminds us that relief is not yet here.
The last movement presents the “fate” theme in a major key, now transformed into a triumphant march. The music proceeds through melodies and moods ranging from forceful to hesitant, recalling the anxiety of the second movement. After an extended coda, there is a surprise—the main theme of the first movement returns in the closing bars, transformed into something exultant and optimistic, as if the listener and composer have overcome the dark feelings that opened the piece; the music has come full circle and the spirit is victorious.
To watch a video of Tchaikovsky’s fifth symphony, click here.
Trumpeter Ryan Darke enjoys a diverse career as a performer and educator. He is currently in his 7th season as Principal Trumpet of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra led by conductor James Conlon and as Lecturer of Trumpet at the Bob Cole Conservatory at California State University of Long Beach.
As an educator, his energy and commitment to his students is a tremendous priority and truly a passion of his. In addition to his position at CSULB, Ryan is also a Lecturer of Pedagogy (Graduate Level) at The Colburn Conservatory of Music. Previously, he was Assistant Professor of Trumpet at the University of Arizona (2015-2017), a guest lecturer at The Juilliard School, Tianjin, a studio teacher at the Orange County High School of the Performing Arts, Program Director of Brass & Trumpet at the Montecito Music Festival, a Graduate Assistant Teacher while a masters student at Rice University, and the Brass Head at his alma mater Cerritos High School.
Throughout Ryan’s orchestral career he has played full seasons with The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (2nd trumpet), San Diego Symphony (principal trumpet), and a year of fellowship at New World Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas. In addition, he has played short-term contracts with Auckland Philharmonia, The Malaysia Philharmonic, and the Stavanger Philharmonic.
In addition, he has played with orchestras across the United States including San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Saint Louis Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Pacific Symphony, Hawaii Symphony, and the Mainly Mozart All-Star Orchestra in San Diego. With the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ryan has appeared as guest principal trumpet, played in the LA Philharmonic Brass Quintet, and joined two international tours (Venezuela and Scotland).
He has enjoyed positions at summer festivals including three seasons as associate principal at the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, in Santa Cruz. He has also played at Britt Festival Orchestra, Castleton Festival Orchestra under Lorin Maazel, two summers at the National Orchestra Institute, the Aspen Music Festival, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, Bar Harbor Brass Institute, and seminars at Domaine Forget.
In addition, Ryan enjoys recording work in Los Angeles, and frequently performs at Warner Brothers, Sony, Capital Records, and Fox Studios. He can be heard on many motion pictures and television shows including The Greatest Showman, Turning Red, The Mandalorian, Mulan, The Suicide Squad, The Simpsons, Star Trek: Picard, and more.
While in Los Angeles, Ryan enjoys performing contemporary music with the modern music collective wildUp, of which he is a founding member and has appeared on several grammy nominated recordings. He also has performed in salsa bands and a fantastic world music/Brazilian band named Badaue!
Throughout his career, Ryan has worked with many of the world’s great conductors, including Gustavo Dudamel, Michael Tilson Thomas, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Marin Alsop, Louis Langree, and Esa Pekka Salonen. He also has enjoyed working closely with Christoph Eschenbach, while serving two years as principal trumpet at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. While residing in Germany he was featured playing Mahler 5, among other large works during several international tours.
Ryan received his Professional Studies Certificate at The Colburn School (2013) Masters in Music Performance from Rice University (2010), and his Bachelor’s Degree at the California State University Long Beach – Bob Cole Conservatory of Music (2008). His most influential instructors have been James Wilt, Tony Prisk, Rob Frear, Richard Giangiulio, Joan LaRue, and Michael Sachs.
In addition to performing, Ryan is an active teacher and mentor of young musicians. He is highly involved with the Jumpstart program at The Colburn School, where he mentors the conservatory students while they are honing their teaching skills. He has volunteered for OrchKids through the Baltimore Symphony, Youth Orchestras of Los Angeles (YOLA) through the LA Philharmonic, and while touring with the LA Philharmonic taught a master class in Venezuela’s “El Sistema”. Ryan was asked to speak at a lecture series for Bard College Conservatory of Music students via the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
To watch the pre-concert video, click here.

BUY TICKETS

Free Chamber Music - HSO Wind Quintet
2025-09-14 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Second Reformed Church Zeeland, 225 E. Central Avenue, Zeeland, MI, 49464, United States
HSO Wind Quintet (Rebecca VanDeWalker, Flute; Caitlin Kramer, Oboe; Gary June, Clarinet; Kerrissa Silverthorne, Bassoon; Greg Bassett, Horn)

Beach, Pastorale

Ewazen, Roaring Fork

Barber, Summer Music

Coleman, Umoja

The HSO Wind Quintet presents a program of American Landscapes: music of composers Amy Beach and Eric Ewazen evokes the calm of a New Hampshire forest and the grandeur of the Roaring Fork River in Colorado. The program concludes in Michigan, with a piece commissioned and premiered in the state: Samuel Barber’s famous Summer Music.
Attendance is FREE. Please RSVP using this link: https://forms.office.com/r/GXFWzvq5VS
HSO is a non-profit so please consider using the following links to donate to the Second Reformed Church and the Holland Symphony Orchestra.
