music at emory concert series - Arts at Emory - Emory University

music at emory
concert series
Cherry emerson memorial alumni ConCert
sunday, may 12, 2013, 1:30 p.m.
miller-ward alumni house
Cherry logan emerson Jr. was born
in 1916 and grew up in atlanta. He was
the son of cherry Logan emerson sr., the
dean of engineering at Georgia tech, and
the grandson of William Henry emerson,
Georgia tech’s first dean. as a child, emerson
was gifted at mathematics, foreshadowing
a career in science and engineering, and he
also fell in love with music, particularly the
piano, which he studied with alfredo Barili.
Despite his father’s and grandfather’s
affiliations with Georgia tech, emerson
chose instead to attend emory, earning both
a Ba (1938) and an ma (1939) in chemistry.
He went on to earn an ms in chemical engineering at mit under the tutelage
of Warren K. Lewis. During this time, emerson courted Lewis’s daughter, mary,
and the two were married in 1942.
after graduating from mit, emerson founded the emerson & cuming
company in 1948 with his partner, William cuming. the two men grew the
small Boston-based lab into a worldwide corporation before selling it in 1978.
after doing so, emerson returned to his hometown of atlanta, and he began
to engage in philanthropy. He died in 2007.
emerson is honored in a number of capacities at his alma mater of emory.
the cherry L. emerson center for scientific computation, founded in 1991,
bears his name, as does cherry Logan emerson Hall, a campus building that
houses research programs in chemistry. additionally, the cherry Logan emerson
concert Hall in the schwartz center for Performing arts was named after
emerson in honor of his generosity and his love and support of great music.
emerson also established two endowed professorships at emory university:
the mary L. emerson chair of Piano studies, named after his wife, and the
William Henry emerson chair of chemistry, named after his grandfather.

program
Legende George enescu
(1881–1955)
selections from Siete Canciones Populares Españole manuel de Falla
El Paño Moruno (1876–1946)
Nana
Canción
Polo
Derrick montgomery (2013), trumpet; elena cholakova, piano
Chevaux de bois from Ariettes oubliées claude Debussy
(1862–1918)
“Dearest mama” from The Ballad of Baby Doe Douglas moore
(1893–1969)
“Quando m’en vo” from La Bohème Giacomo Puccini
(1858–1924)
“caro nome” from Rigoletto Giuseppe Verdi
(1813–1901)
The Serpent from Songs for Leontyne Lee Hoiby
(1926–2011)
smitha Johnson (2010), soprano; elena cholakova
Wie schön ist doch die Musik (Die Schweigsame Frau) richard strauss
(1864–1949)
Si mes vers avaient des ailes reynaldo Hahn
Fêtes galantes (1874–1947)
L’Heure Exquise
“this nearly Was mine” from South Pacific richard rodgers
(1902–1979)
oscar Hammerstein
(1895–1960)
Jason Hardy (1996), bass; elena cholakova
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Featured perFormers
derrick montgomery is graduating with honors from emory this spring,
earning a Ba in music performance. since 2009, he has served as principal
trumpet of the emory Wind ensemble, the emory university symphony
orchestra, and the emory Brass Quintet, and he is a member of the atlanta
trumpet ensemble. Prior to his study at emory, montgomery was also coprincipal
trumpet of the atlanta youth Wind symphony and the emory youth symphony
orchestra, and he participated regularly in district and all-state bands.
in addition to his performance experience montgomery has served as the
trumpet instructor at Druid Hills High school and as a substitute teaching artist
for the atlanta music Project. in demand as a clinician, he has given clinics and
workshops at alan c. Pope High school, sprayberry High school, chamblee
High school, Dunwoody High school, north Gwinnett middle school, and
Dodgen middle school.
smitha Johnson is pursuing a performance diploma at the Jacobs school of
music at indiana university (iu). she is a student of robert Harrison. in her first
year at iu, she played the role of clo-clo in Franz Lehar’s The Merry Widow
and was a member of the chorus in the iu and indianapolis opera’s premiere
of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten. she also recently performed the role of conception
in L’Heure Espagnol by maurice ravel, under the direction of carol Vaness.
Johnson received an mm from ohio state university (osu), where she studied
with robin rice. While there, she participated in extensive scenes programs,
as well as covered the role of nannetta in Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff. she was
also selected as a winner of the osu concerto and aria competition and
performed Leïla’s aria “comme autrefois” from Les Pêcheurs des Perles with
the university’s symphony orchestra. she received a Ba from emory in 2010,
where she double majored in music (vocal performance) and english, with a
concentration in poetry. she studied voice with teresa Hopkin and graduated
with highest honors. Johnson is a native of Houston, texas. However, this
summer, she will be living in new york city and participating in martina arroyo’s
Prelude to Performance program. there, she will cover antonia in Les Contes
d’Hoffmann by Jacques offenbach.
of Jason hardy’s debut with new york city opera in Acis and Galatea, Opera
News remarked that the role of Polyphemus was “brilliantly played by Jason
Hardy.” in his return to new york city opera last season, he gave a highlyacclaimed
performance as Leporello in their new production of Don Giovanni.
Hardy’s recent operatic engagements include the title role in Le nozze di
Figaro with michigan opera theater, madison opera, opera cleveland, opera
omaha, and opera Birmingham; Don alfonso in Così fan Tutte; the speaker in
Die Zauberflöte with the atlanta opera; and cadmus/somnus in Semele with
Florentine opera. He was also seen in recital under the auspices of the marilyn
Horne Foundation and in concert for Verdi’s Requiem in Prague and Haydn’s
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Creation in montreal with the Berkshire choral Festival, and for stravinsky’s
Les Noces with the new york city Ballet and the Los angeles Philharmonic.
upcoming engagements include the roles of Grandpa George/mr. Beauregard
in The Golden Ticket with the atlanta opera, Leporello with Portland opera, and
Figaro with arizona opera. in summer 2013, Hardy will make his Glimmerglass
opera debut in Verdi’s Un giorno di Regno as Baron Kelbar.
Hardy has also been seen as Leporello with orlando opera and connecticut
opera; colline with nashville opera, Berkshire opera, and Palm Beach opera;
Don magnifico in La cenerentola with connecticut opera and Wolf trap
opera; Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia and sparafucile in Rigoletto, with opera
Birmingham; Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore with cleveland opera and Wolf
trap opera; 5th Jew in Salome with Baltimore opera; Don alfonso in Così fan
Tutte and Frank in Die Fledermaus with the merola opera Program of the san
Francisco opera; an opera gala with opéra de montréal; as well as Judge turpin
in Sweeney Todd with Wolf trap opera. other roles have included Bottom in
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, nick shadow in The Rake’s Progress, uberto in
La serva padrona, crespel in The Tales of Hoffmann, and the count in Manon.
Hardy has also sung the role of Parsons under the baton of maestro Lorin
maazel in the preproduction recording of his opera, 1984.
Hardy was a regional finalist in the metropolitan opera national council
auditions, a national finalist for the Lyric opera of chicago center for american
artists, grand prize winner of both the Florida Grand opera competition and
the Heinz rehfuss singing actor competition, and a winner in the Liederkranz
Foundation, Palm Beach opera, Fort Worth opera, opera Birmingham,
connecticut opera, and the oratorio society of new york vocal competitions.
He is also the recipient of a sullivan Foundation career Grant.
on the concert platform, Hardy has given numerous performances at
carnegie Hall, including mozart’s Requiem and Ein Deutches Requiem by
Brahms, both under the baton of John rutter. concert highlights also include
debuts at the Kennedy center and avery Fisher Hall, and appearances with
the Los angeles Philharmonic, national symphony orchestra, national chorale,
new york choral society, new york city Ballet, Pacific symphony, Kansas city
symphony, the richmond symphony, and the Baltimore symphony orchestra.
other performances have included Bach’s Magnificat and St. John Passion, as
well as The Creation, Mass in C Minor, Messiah, Judas Maccabaeus, L’Enfance
du Christ, Dona Nobis Pacem, Verdi’s Requiem, Fauré’s Requiem, stravinsky’s
Pulcinella, and Beethoven’s ninth symphony.
in recital, Hardy performed song repertoire and vocal chamber works
ranging from Purcell to Prokofiev at the prestigious marlboro music Festival.
He has presented recitals nationwide under the auspices of the marilyn
Horne Foundation, including a debut recital at carnegie’s Weill Hall, where
he performed the world premiere of John musto’s viva sweet love. Hardy has
released his first solo cD, titled Youth and Love, available at itunes and several
other online vendors.
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elena Cholakova was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where she made her debut
with the Plovdiv symphony orchestra, playing shostakovich’s second Piano
concerto. an active performer, cholakova has given recitals at the Liszt
academy; the us embassy in Budapest, Bulgaria Hall, and sofia conservatory
in sofia, Bulgaria; museum of unification in Plovdiv, Bulgaria; aosta concert
Hall in italy; Fellbach musicschulle in Germany; as well as numerous concert
halls around the united states. most recently she presented a lecture recital at
the third World Piano conference in novi sad, serbia.
cholakova has toured the united states as a member of the american
chamber music society. Her performances have been broadcast live on WFmt
in chicago and on Bulgarian television and radio stations. cholakova is the
recipient of the rislov Foundation scholarship of the university of michigan,
given to musicians nationwide for their high achievements in the field of music.
an active chamber musician, cholakova gave the Bulgarian debut of malcolm
arnold’s sonata for Viola and Piano and has also collaborated with members
of the orchestre de la suisse romande, atlanta symphony orchestra, Detroit
symphony orchestra, sofia soloists chamber orchestra, and the chicago
saxophone Quartet.
cholakova has an mmus and Dmus from northwestern university and is
on the faculty of emory university. Her primary teachers include James Giles,
ursula oppens, and roland and almita Vamos.
arts at emory Box office/audience information
404.727.5050 • arts.emory.edu
in Consideration for other members of the audience, please turn off all pagers and phones.
Photographs and recordings may not be made during a performance without advance permission.
the Cough drops in the lobby are courtesy of margery and robert mcKay.
ushers are members of music at emory Volunteers and alpha Phi omega, a national service and
social fraternity. call 404.727.6640 for information about ushering.
frequently updated event and program information available online at arts.emory.edu.
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