Berkeley Symphony "Literary Soundscapes" Program

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Are Your Investments in Tunewith Your Goals and Values?Marc Roth, Partner at Atlas Capital Advisors LLC,is a longtime subscriber and supporter ofBerkeley Symphony and Music in the Schools.Let Us Help You Achieve Your Goals.38 Keyes Avenue, Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94129415.354.2400 marc@atlasca.com www.atlasca.comBerkeley SymphonyLegacy SocietyJoining the Legacy Society is an investment in the future ofBerkeley Symphony.Berkeley Symphony’s Legacy Society is a group of committed supporterswho ensure the future of your Symphony. By joining the Legacy Societyand including Berkeley Symphony in your estate planning, you reap therewards of substantial tax benefits today and Berkeley Symphony receivesinvaluable financial stability in the future. Legacy Society members havethe satisfaction of knowing that, through their gift, they are leaving alegacy that provides music for generations to come.Pledge any portion of your legacy to keep Berkeley Symphony playing forthe next 50 years.Contact Legacy@berkeleysymphony.orgfor more information or call (510) 841-280018 March 23, 2024
workers’ story at its heart—about a bunchof ballplayers being taken advantage of notonly by management but by a system thatwas set up to hold them down.”Phan suggested that a good source forthe new commission would be the poetryof Walt Whitman, who had made thetopic of America at a crossroads a centralconcern in his work. Puckett foundthe 1855 poem “There Was a Child WentForth” particularly suitable, though heslightly adapted it to account for changesin sensibility between a 19th-centurytext and a 21st-century audience. (Whitmanlater included the poem as part ofthe “Autumn Rivulets” section of the 1881edition of Leaves of Grass.) “The text followsthe everyday wanderings of a childas they notice and incorporate the worldaround them into their being,” writes thecomposer in his preface to the score. “Themusic taps into a melancholic nostalgia forchildhood, belonging—or not fully belonging—toa family, and the spirit of wantingto become an individual.”Puckett recalls being struck by theresemblances he noticed with JamesAgee’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, theprose-poem that Samuel Barber set somemorably for voice and orchestra in 1947.That similarity, he says, “dictated not onlywhat I started hearing musically but theorchestration.” Puckett therefore scoredThere Was a Child Went Forth for thesame instrumental forces.A brief side note: Founded in 1798, theUnited States Marine Band became knownas “The President’s Own” in 1801 thanks toits regular history of performances at theWhite House. According to Puckett, FirstLady Dolley Madison took a special interestin the band and had it expanded intoa chamber orchestra by adding a smallnumber of string players—“limited to howmany could fit on the White House stage.”Whereas Puckett views Agee’s text asconveying “a rather pessimistic view of thenarrator being at a crossroads in his life,”he points out that “Whitman’s poem usesa lot of the same literary devices but has avery optimistic tone to my ear.” ThroughoutThere Was a Child Went Forth, “thelistener is invited to join the child on theirgrowth, self-discovery, and self-realizationjourney.”What to listen forPuckett provides these comments: “Themusic’s contemplative and introspectivemood reflects the child’s journey of selfdiscoveryand exploration in the poem.The orchestra provides a rich harmonicbackdrop for the tenor’s voice, whichsoars above the textured accompaniment.Throughout the piece, the melody is transformedthrough a series of variations,reflecting the evolving nature of the child’sexperiences.”Laura KarpmanBorn on March 1, 1959, in Los Angeles;currently resides in Playa del Rey,CaliforniaAsk Your Mama:12 Moods for Jazz,Parts One and ThreeComposed: 2008First performance: March 16, 2009, atCarnegie Hall, with Jessye Norman,Cassandra Wilson, The Roots, and theMarch 23, 2024 19
Page 1 and 2: Joseph Young / Music DirectorLitera
Page 3 and 4: Berkeley Symphony 23/24 Season5 Mes
Page 5 and 6: Message from the Music Directorphot
Page 7 and 8: The OrchestraTromboneTom Hornig, Pr
Page 9 and 10: Hometelligent is a local full-servi
Page 11 and 12: 23/24 Season SponsorsBerkeley Symph
Page 13 and 14: Ad Index: Support Businesses that S
Page 15 and 16: Today’s ProgramJoseph Young Condu
Page 17: Program NotesJoel PuckettBorn in At
Page 21 and 22: Orchestra of St. Luke’s led by Ge
Page 23 and 24: musical thought. In Ask Your Mama I
Page 25 and 26: Your perfect escapeshouldnʼt take
Page 27 and 28: March 23, 2024 27
Page 29 and 30: Music Director Joseph Youngphoto by
Page 31 and 32: Composer & Guest Artist Biosphoto b
Page 33 and 34: photo by Dimitry LoiseauA 2018 reci
Page 35 and 36: Summer Festival 2023. Nearing the e
Page 37 and 38: Equally at home performing on stage
Page 39 and 40: About Berkeley Symphonyphoto by Bur
Page 41 and 42: MUSIC IN THE SCHOOLSSPONSORSGifts r
Page 43 and 44: Your Catholic Schoolin BerkeleyThe
Page 45 and 46: Annual SupportThank you to the foll
Page 47 and 48: Sandra BernardRuth BotchanRagna Boy
Page 49 and 50: BERKELEY SYMPHONYLEGACY SOCIETYLega
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Berkeley Symphony "Literary Soundscapes" Program

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