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OCO 0522 Program "Reunion"

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Oakland Civic Orchestra presents REUNION Zachary Umar Durr 2021 May 15 2022 at 4 00 PM First Presbyterian Church of Oakland

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REUNION from the podium PLEASE SILENCE ALL CELL PHONES AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES BEFORE THE CONCERT BEGINS THANK YOU Grand March Entrance of the Guests from the opera Tannh user Richard Wagner 1813 1883 Arranged by Thomas J stlein Hymn to Ukraine Mykhailo Verbytskyi Academic Festival Overture Johannes Brahms 1833 1897 Zephyr in Gemini A Serenade for Two Cellos and Orchestra World Premiere Niko Umar Durr b 1995 Eamon Riley and Milo Klise Violoncellli I N T E R M I S S I O N Symphony No 7 in A Major Op 92 Ludwig van Beethoven 1770 1827 Poco Sostenuto Vivace Allegretto Presto Allegro con brio Martha Stoddard Artistic Director and Conductor Christine Brandes Associate Conductor Welcome to Reunion Oakland Civic Orchestra Spring Concert May 15 2022 Thank you for joining us for our Reunion concert the first time since the onset of the pandemic that we are together as a full symphony orchestra This is a celebration to be sure on the heels of postponements and disappointments dashed and renewed hopes In this final program of a most challenging season it is heartwarming to welcome so many people back to the orchestra and to live music and to finally bring to fruition projects we could only dream of for the past two years It is fitting to refresh our sense of the value of being together to share in music making Today we reunite to present the work of three brilliant composers Johannes Brahms Ludwig van Beethoven and our first ever Composer in Residence Niko Umar Durr We will perform two masterpieces of the orchestra canon the spirited Academic Festival Overture of Brahms Beethoven s brilliant Symphony No 7 and the full premiere of the Umar Durr Zephyr in Gemini A Serenade for Two Cellos and Orchestra We are also blessed to reunite with our two wonderful young cello soloists Milo Klise and Eamon Riley who joined us for a preview of the third movement of this work reorchestrated Covid Style translate no winds in February Brahms Academic Festival Overture composed in 1879 was offered as a gesture of gratitude for the honorary doctorate he was awarded from the University of Breslau He conducted its premiere there in 1881 Perhaps to poke fun at the stuffy academics the musical themes in the piece while clothed in rich harmony and inventive orchestration are in fact student drinking songs with bawdy irreverent lyrics traditionally sung at what amounts to fraternity dinners Fitting for a somber ceremony Perhaps not Great for a Reunion Definitely In Zephyr in Gemini 2021 Niko paints a moving often humorous tribute and eloquent musical memoir to beloved grandparents bringing a full complement of orchestral forces to

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from the podium 2 our guest performers the task Stretching our personnel to the max Niko calls for contrabassoon bass clarinet homemade chimes an ocean drum glockenspiel piano much other percussion full brass and of course two virtuosic soloists The orchestration suggests that Niko has spent a lot of time looking at Shostakovich and Mahler and yet we find a freshness that is all Umar Durr and Niko has reunited all of OCO to pull it off What could be a more fitting way to end our season than to perform Beethoven s mesmerizing Symphony No 7 This symphonic masterpiece from 1811 12 has everything an infectious rhythmic drive and energy sublime and yearning melody huge unbuttoned humor and exacting musical organization that reveals at every unexpected turn of phrase an unrelenting genius Beethoven s craft is so meticulously realized one moment utterly outrageous with orchestral brilliance that it defies the imagination then so heartbreakingly beautiful and tender as to draw one to tears With everything history has taught us about Beethoven it is still hard for this author to fathom how he ever imagined this piece into existence In fact so much has been written about the Seventh Symphony perhaps it is best for us to let the music speak for itself and simply consider the composer s own words A most excellent symphony While Brahms and Beethoven are household names to classical music lovers around the world Umar Durr is a profoundly gifted and skilled composer known mostly to us and some SF Bay Area folks who explore new music In championing Niko s orchestral works the OCO has endeavored to bring a wider audience to this music as well as provide a laboratory to further refine the craft of orchestral composition Please refer to the composers notes for a deeper look into Zephyr in Gemini Martha Stoddard Milo Klise is a cellist from Berkeley CA He currently is a member of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and a piano trio Previously Milo was assistant principal cellist in the Oakland Youth Symphony Orchestra for two seasons For the past three summers he was a member of the Sphinx Performance Academy at both The Juilliard School and Curtis Institute of Music twice He toured China and Canada with his orchestra and string ensemble Milo has performed in Master Classes with Peter Wiley Astrid Schween Bonnie Hampton Karlos Rodrigez Thomas Mesa as well as The Dover Quartet The Telegraph Quartet The Alexander String Quartet The Catalyst Quartet and others He was selected to play in the Junior Bach Festival four times was chosen for the SF Bay Area Youth Honors Orchestra and invited to the Arnosen Cello Festival His esteemed teachers are Cathy Allen Aird Sebastien Gringas Eugene Sor Jill Brindel and David Goldblatt He proudly attended The Crowden School where his love of chamber music was ignited Please refer to reference links provided for further study of Beethoven and Brahms Beethoven Symphony No 7 Gerald Schwartz on Brahms Academic Festival Overture Academic Festival Overture Eamon Riley is an 18 year old cellist and graduate of the Crowden School from Berkeley California studying with Sergei Riabtchenko He has won or placed in several solo competitions In November 2018 he performed the SaintSa ns Cello Concerto in A minor with the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra OSYO as first prize winner of the concerto competition he also performed at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall as a first prize winner of the American Prot g International Music Competition and was second prize winner at the DVC HNU Young Artists String Competition In addition he has soloed in the Junior Bach Festival Eamon also enjoys chamber music and was a semi finalist for two years in the Galante Prize Competition at SF State In January 2019 year he performed in the world premiere of Lemuria a piece by composer Clarice Assad for the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble He is currently a member of the San Francisco Youth Orchestra Eamon also has performed with numerous chamber groups working with many musicians such as Heghine Boloyan Eugene Chukhlov Bonnie Hampton Robert Howard Jeff Ladeur Pei Ling Lin Joseph Maile Tanya Tomkins and Eric Zivian As a soloist Eamon has worked with Tanya Anisimova Igor Gavrish Bonnie Hampton and Tanya Tomkins as well as with his primary teacher Sergei Riabtchenko

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our composer in residence Niko Umar Durr b 1995 is a composerviolinist based in the East SF Bay Area Their first violin lessons began at age 6 and an almost rabid desire for composition followed not long after lead to formal lessons at age 10 with local composer and pianist Molly Axtmann in conjunction with an education at The Crowden School Niko has had work performed by Left Coast Chamber Ensemble as well as various faculty and students associated with The Crowden School and Oakland School for the Arts Niko was one of the inaugural students for the John Adams Young Composers Program at Crowden s Community Music Center through which they studied under Martha Stoddard as well as John Adams himself During this time Niko was also director of music for Harmonikos a kind of composer performer s forum organized by fellow Crowden alumni In 2021 Oakland Civic Orchestra announced Niko as Composer in Residence Niko has performed with Young People s Symphony Orchestra YPSO in Berkeley Bay Area Rainbow Symphony BARS in San Francisco and Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra BCSO at Berklee College of Music in Boston MA in addition to various one off chamber ensembles or bands for various events as a musician for hire Check out our website Interested in becoming a member of the orchestra Contact us through our website see link below Please visit the Oakland Civic Orchestra s website for the latest news on upcoming concerts and projects You can also find links to videos from our previous concerts and watch us in our very own documentary https www oaklandcivicorchestra com about our conductors Martha Stoddard has held the position of Artistic Director of the Oakland Civic Orchestra since 1997 With her work centered in the heart of the Bay Area she is also the conductor of the Piedmont Chamber Orchestra and served as Guest Music Director for the Community Women s Orchestra s 2022 reopening concert She is the newly appointed Conductor and Music Director of the Holy Names University Community Orchestra and is a longtime Associate Conductor for the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra in San Francisco She regularly performs on flute with the Handel Opera Project and Opus Oakland Stoddard has repeatedly been named semi finalist and finalist in recent American Prize competitions both as conductor and composer and is a four time recipient of the AscapPlus Awards in composition She holds music degrees from Humboldt State University and San Francisco State University and also studied conducting in courses around the USA in Europe and in Russia A dedicated educator in recent years she also served as the first Resident Conductor for Enriching Lives through Music in San Rafael and held the position of Program Director for the John Adams Young Composers Program at the Crowden Music Center Ms Stoddard held the position of Director of Instrumental Music at Lick Wilmerding High School from 1991 2021 where she also served a six year term as Chair of the Performing Arts Department Ms Stoddard is published by Tetractys in London UK and formerly by Shadow Tree Music Publishing and appears on numerous recordings as flutist and conductor She loves the outdoors and enjoys swimming hiking and cycling and is an avid tennis player who enjoys competitive league play throughout the Bay Area Associate Conductor Christine Brandes has long been held in high esteem as a professional singer of concert and operatic repertoire she has increasingly felt drawn to the podium Through her position as head of the Voice and Opera area at SF State University she has conducted fully staged productions of Handel Strauss Mozart and Menotti Her first professional engagement was a production of Rameau s Achante et C phise Sympathy with Victory Hall Opera in Charlottesville Virginia to which she returned in the Fall of 2019 for Haydn s Armide Ms Brandes made her professional west coast debut in 2019 conducting Gluck s Orfeo and Euridice for West Edge Opera and will return in July of 2022 to conduct Julius Caesar A noted specialist in baroque performance practice she is the director of the University Baroque Ensemble at UC Berkeley To read more about Ms Brandes please visit christine brandes

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milo eamon and niko memories Back from China milo eamon and niko memories Marty and Niko

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new oco merchandise Now available OCO Logo Merchandise at Redbubble Enjoy choosing from a variety of items with the OCO Logo emblazened in black or white and donate to OCO at the same time 20 of the price of each item goes to OCO The link to the store is on ourwebsite at www oaklandcivicorchestra com or visit TheOCOstore directly at Redbubble TheOCOstore Check out the OCO website for season updates future performances and more information on upcoming YouTube video uploads including selections from today s concert event www oaklandcivicorchestra com

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program notes 1 Niko Umar Durr Burlesk from Zephyr in Gemini Serenade for Two Cellos and Orchestra When Martha Stoddard and I were first discussing my residency with Oakland Civic Orchestra back in early 2020 she suggested I write two new pieces to be premiered in the then upcoming season First a fanfare for brass Merritt which was performed at our season opener this past year Then a concerto for 2 cellos and orchestra to be co commissioned and premiered by fellow Crowden School alums Eamon Riley and Milo Klise Needless to say nature had other plans and the compositions among other things were postponed indefinitely at the time Despite this unexpected deadline extension as well as a sudden influx of resources and even support finding any motivation to compose was difficult During the initial lockdown and in the year or so afterward I ended up spending most of my non working time locating and studying scores to pieces I d never truly dove into before either because of their length and density or simple ignorance Examples of the former would be Mahler 9 and Olivier Messeian s early orchestral work like L Ascension and Turangalila Symphonie The latter would have to be Janacek s Sinfonietta All of this while waiting for word from Martha whether we could meet and rehearse again As fate would have it in June of 2021 my grandmother passed away just a few days shy of her 79th birthday Margrit Seidl Umar along with my grandfather Rachmat Matt Umar who passed in 2009 were near constant presences in early life of my cousins my brother and myself and a good amount of us are lucky to have core memories associated with both of them In my case every other musical path that I ve taken could more than likely be traced back to my time being babysat by my grandparents When I wasn t banging on the Chickering Baby Grand that once decorated the back corner of their condo I would thumb through their CD and tape collections and listen to all different kinds of music varying from compilations of classical music to Best of Billy Idol to their wedding song Elvis Presley s Can t Help Falling In Love on their state of the art combination cassette tape 6 CD stereo system to whatever music my grandfather would pirate off of various early 2000 s internet download sites and either burn onto CD or play directly off his hi tech Windows 98 running desktop I knew at once that the piece needed to be about transition Not just that of my grandparents from Here to There but that of my soloists as they are both upperclassmen in high school about to transition into college life Because of all this I strongly felt that this Serenade needed to be less solemn in tone than my chamber requiem Thanksgiving written in 2010 after the passing of Rachmat This is in no small part because 2022 would have been their 60th year married together and all signs point to them being reunited again just in time I didn t come to this realization until their actual anniversary which as fate would have it was this past February 15 The Umar family held a memorial in July following Margrit s passing The service program notes 2 itself took place in Elk Grove and afterward some of us went to Lake Tahoe to hold a memorial service and mini family reunion The beach we settled at was somewhere near Zephyr Cove and I vaguely remember discussing astrology with one or some of my cousins coming to the realization that Margrit and Rachmat s birthdays placed them both in Gemini which according to popular astrology theories could indicate that they were both romantically and personally compatible with each other Meditating on this as well as the two soloists being the same instrument it only made sense that not only the title be Zephyr in Gemini but that this would be the subject for the double concerto that I was commissioned In preparation for this Serenade I ve utilized various note naming and pitch classification methods to create small melodic motifs that I could use to create a harmonic foundation I took the last 2 digits of my grandparents birth years 1939 1942 combined them and turned the numbers into scale degrees creating a 4 note motif that bookends the entire piece I also converted Margrit and Rachmat s names into their own 7 note motifs utilizing a combination of traditional solf ge German note names Cello 1 always plays Margrit s motif and Cello 2 always plays Rachmat s motif but neither cellist plays the other s motif This is despite sharing most of the other melodic material and even switching lines at several points throughout the work This casting is not accidental as several points of the piece are simply just musical retellings of memories I have and stories I ve heard Zephyr in Gemini is in 3 movements attacca without pause Prelude opens with four chords based on the birth year motif as both cellos state their respective name motifs The soloists converse over an orchestral nebula which comes to a head as their wedding song is hinted at The movement ends with a restatement of the opening 7 bars and the sound of distant ocean waves leading into Ballade is a microcosmic retelling of their somewhat parallel lives up to when they met Both grew up during and after World War II in countries totally wrecked by it Germany and Indonesia and as a result were surrounded by death from an early age all implied by militaristic bombast interspersed with lullabic Dies Irae death chant quotes The music repeats itself with the cellos switching roles the second time around After a brief transition Cello 1 and principal Viola duet while Cello 2 plays Rachmat s motif ascending The movement ends with a musical portrait of their wedding which fades into Burlesk is the Finale of the entire work which is heavily inspired by the music my grandmother would listen to while cooking or otherwise stubbornly doing housework against the health advice of practically everybody around her This could be anything from Bavarian Polka to Klezmer to ABBA it would be blasting full volume on her headphones bleeding out for anyone within an arm s length to hear The movement finishes off with a restatement of a theme played in the very first movement of the piece followed by an ecstatic coda Niko Umar Durr

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SAVE THE DATES OCO 2022 2023 SEASON Planning for our 2022 2023 30th Anniversary Concert Season is underway OCT 23 PROGRAM 1 at 4 PM JAN 22 PROGRAM 2 at 4 PM APRIL 30 PROGRAM 3 at 4 PM Watch website for complete program details coming soon PLEASE JOIN US Pops Out of the Box Summer Music Celebration Join us for a free fun family oriented Inaugural Summer Musical Celebration JULY 02 2022 12 00 1 30 PM Studio One Art Center 365 45th Street Oakland in the Front Courtyard Bring a lawn chair pack a picnic and enjoy some live music Interested musicians should visit our website for information on how to get involved www oaklandcivicorchestra com Our Inaugural Summer Session is a great time to get acquainted Rehearsals on June 15 18 22 25 29 and Concert on July 2 at Studio One musicians Today s concert is brought to you by the Oakland Civic Orchestra Association and the Oakland Parks and Recreation Department and is performed by members of the Oakland Civic Orchestra The Oakland Civic Orchestra was founded in 1992 and is a volunteer community orchestra bringing together musicians of all ages and backgrounds to share in the joy and magic of music making For more information about joining the orchestra or about our current season please visit our website at https www oaklandcivicorchestra com You can also find concert information and current news about the orchestra on Facebook Search for the Oakland Civic Orchestra and like us today VIOLIN 1 Christina Walton Concertmaster Priyanka Altman Asst Prinicipal Niko Umar Durr Margaret Wu Harmony Lee Helen Tam Jeremy Marley Susan White VIOLIN 2 Gar Wei Lee Principal Anne Nesbet Lynn La Tram Le Nguyen Nancy Ragle Amy Gordon Katie Worden Maureen Park VIOLA Thomas Chow Princpal Sara Rusch Giles Hooker Cody Kim Dorothy Lee VIOLONCELLO Virgil Rhodius Principal Diane Louie Beth Kim Heidi Williamson Shannon Bowman Christopher Karachale Kate Lauer Bryce Mendelsohn CONTRABASS Carol DeArment Principal Sandy Schniewind Mackenzie Conkling FLUTE Susanne Rublein Cathy DeVos PICCOLO Kelsey Seymour FRENCH HORN Alex Strachan Principal Alex Stepans Carol Yarbrough Daniel Bao OBOE Kathy Conner Veronica Gunn TRUMPET Cindy Collins Tom DaSilva Roger Dainer CLARINET Marcelo Meira Danielle Napoleon Tom Berkelman TROMBONE Max Walker Jereld Wing George Gaebler BASS CLARINET Tom Berkelman TUBA Francis Upton BASSOON Adam Williams Alexandra Paloscz TIMPANI PERCUSSION Nancy Geimer Jessica Wan Lena Bohrer Julianna di Miceli Newton CONTRABASSOON Barbara Jones PIANO Debra Temple Guest Musician

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donate acknowledgments THANK YOU The Oakland Civic Orchestra is excited to announce the Oakland Civic Orchestra Association OCOA our newly formed nonprofit public benefit corporation OCOA is now able to accept tax deductible donations for the benefit of the orchestra OCOA will support operational needs such as sheet music instrument rentals licensing fees and allow the orchestra to expand special projects such as commissioning original compositions We would greatly appreciate your help to make sure the orchestra not only survives the current pandemic but grows in its service to a community that needs music more than ever If you have the PayPal app on your mobile device please scan the QR Code below to donate directly or check out our website Support page at https www oaklandcivicorchestra com support html We also gladly accept checks and they can be made payable to Oakland Civic Orchestra Association Please mail to OCOA c o Daniel Bao 1106 Park Avenue 5 Alameda CA 94501 Thanks for your support of OCO Jereld Wing Anna Umar Sarah Klise Nancy Ragle Bret Andrews Dorothy Lee Katie Murphy Judy Norton Tim Erickson Virgil Rhodius Christina Walton Jason Gillenwater Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation Studio One Art Center Lick Wilmerding High School First Presbyterian Church of Oakland and church staff Chris Weber Victor Carrillo Nina Hernandez Carol DeArment video and photography Oakland Civic Orchestra Association Board Members Lila MacDonald Chair Carol DeArment Secretary Daniel Bao Treasurer Christopher Karachale At Large Wendy Shiraki At Large Alex Strachan At Large Margaret Wu At Large

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thank you donors A Big Thank You to our Generous Donors To join our growing list of supporters please visit our OCO website or check out the PayPal page in this program Anonymous Priyanka Altman Daniel Bao Nancy Bush Thomas Chow Carol DeArment William Finzer George Gaebler Nancy Geimer Nina Hwang Christopher Karachale Dorothy Lee Nellie Lee Malinda Lennihan Pamela Louie Lennis Lyon Lila McDonald Judith Norton Nancy Ragle Roger Raphael John Schroder Wendy Shiraki Nicola Skidmore Martha Stoddard Alex Strachan Judy Strachan Howard Strassner Deborah Walker Title VI COMPLIANCE AGAINST DISCRIMINATION 43CFR 17 6 B Federal and City of Oakland regulations strictly prohibit unlawful discrimination on the bases of race color gender national origin age sexual orientation or AIDS and ARC Any person who believes he or she has been discriminated against in any program activity or facility operated by the City of Oakland Office of Parks and Recreation should write to the Director of Parks and Recreation at 1520 Lakeside Drive Oakland CA 94612 4598 or call 510 238 3092 INCLUSIVE STATEMENT The City of Oakland Office of Parks and Recreation OPR is fully committed to compliance with provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act Please direct all inquiries concerning program and disability accommodations to the OPR Inclusive Recreation Coordinator at 510 615 5755 or smeans oaklandnet com TDD callers please dial 510 615 5883

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