Andrew Crust, conductor
James Ehnes, violin
Nicholas Wright, violin
Sibelius: Suite for Violin and Orchestra
Warlock: Capriol Suite 11'
Grieg: Holberg Suite
When a composer sits down to put a very special melody to paper, they often choose to do so in the form of a suite. Enjoy a suite celebration with musical insights from Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Associate Conductor Andrew Crust.
James Ehnes, violin
James Ehnes has established himself as one of the most sought-after violinists on the international stage. Gifted with a rare combination of stunning virtuosity, serene lyricism and an unfaltering musicality, Ehnes is a favourite guest of many of the world’s most respected conductors including Ashkenazy, Alsop, Sir Andrew Davis, Denève, Elder, Ivan Fischer, Gardner, Paavo Järvi, Mena, Noseda, Robertson and Runnicles. Ehnes’s long list of orchestras includes, amongst others, the Boston, Chicago, London, NHK and Vienna Symphony Orchestras, the Los Angeles, New York, Munich and Czech Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Cleveland, Philadelphia, Philharmonia and DSO Berlin orchestras.
Recent orchestral highlights include the MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall with Noseda, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig with Shelley, San Francisco Symphony with Janowski, Frankfurt Radio Symphony with Orozco-Estrada, London Symphony with Harding, and Munich Philharmonic with van Zweden, as well as his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Lincoln Center in spring 2019. In 2019/20, Ehnes is Artist in Residence with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, which includes performances of the Elgar Concerto with Luisi, a play/direct programme leg by Ehnes, and a chamber music programme. In 2017, Ehnes premiered the Aaron-Jay Kernis Violin Concerto with the Toronto, Seattle and Dallas Symphony Orchestras, and gave further performances of the piece with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Alongside his concerto work, James Ehnes maintains a busy recital schedule. He performs regularly at the Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Center Chicago, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Ravinia, Montreux, Chaise-Dieu, the White Nights Festival in St Petersburg, Verbier Festival, Festival de Pâques in Aix, and in 2018 he undertook a recital tour to the Far East, including performances in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. As part of the Beethoven celebrations, Ehnes has been invited to perform the complete cycle of Beethoven Sonatas at the Wigmore Hall throughout 2019/20. Elsewhere Ehnes performs the Beethoven Sonatas at Dresden Music Festival, Prague Spring Festival, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, at Aspen Music Festival (as part of a multi-year residency) and at Bravo Vail Festival during his residency week also including the Violin Concerto and Triple Concerto with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Runnicles. In 2016, Ehnes undertook a cross-Canada recital tour, performing in each of the country’s provinces and territories, to celebrate his 40th birthday.
As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with leading artists such as Andsnes, Capucon, Lortie, Lugansky, Yo-Yo Ma, Tamestit, Vogler and Yuja Wang. In 2010, he formally established the Ehnes Quartet, with whom he has performed in Europe at venues including the Wigmore Hall, Auditorium du Louvre in Paris and Théâtre du Jeu de Paume in Aix, amongst others. Ehnes is the Artistic Director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society.
Ehnes has an extensive discography and has won many awards for his recordings, including a Grammy Award (2019) for his live recording of Aaron Jay Kernis’ Violin Concerto with the Seattle Symphony and Ludovic Morlot, and a Gramophone Award for his live recording of the Elgar Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Sir Andrew Davis. His recording of the Korngold, Barber and Walton violin concertos won a Grammy Award for ‘Best Instrumental Soloist Performance’ and a JUNO award for ‘Best Classical Album of the Year’. His recording of the Paganini Caprices earned him universal praise, with Diapason writing of the disc, “Ehnes confirms the predictions of Erick Friedman, eminent student of Heifetz: ‘there is only one like him born every hundred years’.” Recent releases include sonatas by Beethoven, Debussy, Elgar and Respighi, and concertos by Walton, Britten, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Strauss, as well as the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Manze, which was released in October 2017 (Onyx Classics).
Ehnes began violin studies at the age of five, became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin aged nine, and made his orchestra debut with L’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal aged 13. He continued his studies with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School of Music and The Juilliard School, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music upon his graduation in 1997. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and in 2010 was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. Ehnes was awarded the 2017 Royal Philharmonic Society Award in the Instrumentalist category.
James Ehnes plays the “Marsick” Stradivarius of 1715.
Andrew Crust, conductor
Andrew Crust has developed a versatile international career as a conductor of orchestral, opera, ballet and pops programs. Currently serving as the Associate Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony in Canada, Andrew conducts a large number of subscription, pops, educational and contemporary concerts with the VSO each season. Andrew is the newly-appointed Music Director of the Lima Symphony Orchestra beginning in the 20/21, where he programs and conducts the Grand Classics, Pops and Educational series, featuring such soloists as Awadagin Pratt, Amit Peled and Kathrine Jolly.
In the current and upcoming seasons Andrew will debut with the Arkansas and Vermont Symphonies as Music Director finalist, and with the San Diego Symphony and Calgary Philharmonic as a guest conductor. Other recent engagements include performances with the Winnipeg Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Bozeman Symphony and l’Orchestre de la Francophonie in Québec. Andrew is a 2020 winner of the Solti Foundation US Career Assistance Award. In 2017 he was awarded first prize at the Accademia Chigiana by Daniele Gatti, receiving a scholarship and an invitation to guest conduct the Orchestra di Sanremo in Italy. He was a semi-finalist for the Nestlé/Salzburg Festival’s Young Conductors Award competition, and was selected by members of the Vienna Philharmonic as a winner of the Ansbacher Fellowship, with full access to all rehearsals and performances of the Salzburg Festival. Andrew is equally at ease in the pit, having conducted ballet with Ballet Memphis and the New Ballet Ensemble, and opera with Opera McGill, College Light Opera Company, Boulder Opera Company, and others. As a Pops conductor, Andrew has collaborated with such artists as Rufus Wainwright, Steven Page, Michael Bolton, Cirque de la Symphonie, and the United States Jazz Ambassadors. Andrew has also established himself as a conductor of films with orchestra. Andrew served as Assistant Conductor of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra from 2017-2019 where he conducted around forty concerts each season. He stepped in last minute for a successful subscription performance featuring Bernstein’s Serenade with violinist Charles Yang. Andrew also served as Conductor of the Memphis Youth Symphony Program. As the Assistant Conductor of the Portland Symphony Orchestra in Maine from 2016-2018, he conducted a variety of concert series, helped coordinate the orchestra’s extensive educational programs, and helped lead a program for concertgoers under 40 called “Symphony and Spirits”.
Crust was the Assistant Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of the USA (NYO-USA) in the summers of 2017 and 2018, assisting Michael Tilson Thomas on an Asian tour, as well as Giancarlo Guerrero, Marin Alsop and James Ross at Carnegie Hall and in a side-by-side performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has also served as Cover Conductor of the Kansas City Symphony, San Diego Symphony and Nashville Symphony, Assistant/Cover Conductor of the Boulder Philharmonic and Assistant Conductor of Opera McGill.
Abroad, he has led concerts with the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana in Italy, Hamburger Symphoniker at the Mendelssohn Festival in Germany, the Moravian Philharmonic in the Czech Republic and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Chile in Santiago.As an arranger/orchestrator, Andrew is currently working with Schirmer to make orchestrations of a set of Florence Price’s art songs, has orchestrated works by Alma Mahler and Prokofiev, as well as many pops and educational selections. Andrew is dedicated to exploring new ways of bringing the classical music experience into the 21st century through innovative programming and marketing, creating community-oriented and socially-sensitive concert experiences, and utilizing social media and unique venues. Andrew is a firm believer in meaningful music education, having produced and written a number of original educational programs with orchestras.
Nicholas Wright, violin
Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas Wright is a native of England. His engagements as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician have taken him to most of the major concert halls in Europe, Asia and North America. He has performed concertos with orchestras worldwide including the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Royal Oman Symphony and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. His repertoire spans works from Handel to premieres by composers such as Kelly-Marie Murphy and Jocelyn Morlock, whose works he recently recorded for the Naxos label. He made his solo debut with the York Guildhall Orchestra playing the Dvořák Romance, which was recorded for BBC Radio 3. His concerts and recordings have also been featured on CBC Radio (Canada) and Radio 4 (Hong Kong). As an orchestral musician, Nicholas has worked with the world’s most renowned conductors including Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, Valery Gergiev and Mstislav Rostropovich. He has performed extensively with the major chamber and symphony orchestras in London including the English Chamber and London Philharmonic Orchestras, and has appeared as guest concertmaster with orchestras such as the Bournemouth Symphony, BBC Concert and Ulster Orchestras. In 2003, he was appointed as the youngest member of the London Symphony Orchestra where he held the first violin sub-principal position, and in addition collaborated with film composers John Williams and Alexandre Desplat.
As a chamber musician Nicholas regularly takes part in series such as the Mainly Mozart Festival, Ribble Valley Festival, LSO and VSO chamber players and Vancouver’s Music on Main. He has performed in venues such as LSO St Luke’s and has collaborated with many renowned artists including Martin Roscoe and Simon Wright. Prior to his appointment as concertmaster of the VSO, he was first violinist of the critically acclaimed Vancouver based Koerner Quartet.
Nicholas received his training as a scholar at the Royal College of Music in London, studying with Itzhak Rashkovsky and Rodney Friend. In addition to winning prizes at the Royal College, Nicholas has been generously supported by grants from the Martin Musical Fund, the Craxton Memorial Fund and the Royal Overseas League. This has enabled him to study with many eminent musicians including Ruggiero Ricci and Gil Shaham. Nicholas enjoys teaching and has given many masterclasses internationally. He is on the faculty of the VSO School of Music. Nicholas plays on a violin by Stefan-Peter Greiner.
‘wonderfully judged with seemingly effortless projection of tone…..It was a triumph.‘ - The York Press
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Founded in 1919, the Grammy and Juno-award winning Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is the third largest orchestra in Canada, the largest arts organization in Western Canada, and one of the few orchestras in the world to have its own music school.
Led by Music Director Otto Tausk since 2018, the VSO performs more than 150 concerts each year, throughout Vancouver and the province of British Columbia, reaching over 270,000 people annually. On tour the VSO has performed in the United States, China, Korea and across Canada.
The orchestra presents passionate, high-quality performances of classical, popular and culturally diverse music, creating meaningful engagement with audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
Recent guest artists include Daniil Trifonov, Dawn Upshaw, James Ehnes, Adrianne Pieczonka, Gidon Kremer, Renée Fleming, Yefim Bronfman, Itzhak Perlman, Bernadette Peters, Tan Dun, and more.
For the 2020-21 season the VSO has created the innovative streaming service TheConcertHall.ca, a virtual home for a virtual season, where more than forty performances will be released throughout the season.
JEAN SIBELIUS
b. Hämeenlinna, Finland / December 8, 1865
d. Ainola, Finland / September 20, 1957
Suite for Violin and String Orchestra, Op. 117
From an early age, Jean Sibelius fancied himself a great violinist. On his 10th birthday he received his first violin as a gift from his uncle. He was enthusiastic, but largely self-taught, and didn’t have a formal lesson before he was 15. By the age of 25, he was still determined to play with the Vienna Philharmonic. However, his audition elicited a cutting response: “Mr. Sibelius, please go and compose.”
“My tragedy,” said Sibelius, “was that I wanted to be a celebrated violinist at any price. Since the age of 15 I played my violin practically from morning to night. I hated pen and ink — unfortunately I preferred an elegant violin bow. My love for the violin lasted quite long and it was a very painful awakening when I had to admit that I had begun my training for the exacting career of a virtuoso too late.“
Sibelius never lost his appreciation for the instrument and produced several scores for violin and orchestra, including his magnificent Violin Concerto, a pair of Serenades, two shorter pieces, and a series of Humoresques. It was in 1929 that Sibelius completed the three movement Suite for Violin and String Orchestra. He assigned the opus number of 117 to the manuscript, and sent it off to the publisher, Carl Fischer, in New York City. Fischer apparently responded with a polite note. “We must inform you that in view of the extremely unfortunate constellation in the music publishing field in the United States, it seems to us inadvisable at the present time to publish compositions of the high standard which you have submitted to us. The market is very unfavourable for this class of music and we are compelled to return them to you with our regrets.”
The reason for the publisher’s reluctance may have been purely financial – remember the great stock market crash occurred in October of that year – but Sibelius was understandably rattled by the refusal. He is said to have had a nervous disposition to begin with. He was prone to bouts of depression, was frequently in debt, and suffered from chronic alcoholism. With his confidence rattled, the overly self-critical composer marked the score with the words “Sketch. Not to be Published,” and set it aside. Years later, Sibelius filled a laundry basket with his manuscripts, carried them into the kitchen of his country home and fed them, page by page, into the stove. Fortunately, the Suite was spared that fiery fate. It re-emerged in the 1980s, was premiered by soloist John Storgårds on the 125th anniversary of the composer’s birth, and finally published in 1995. The movement titles are indicative of the pastoral and charming nature of this Suite.
Program Note: Matthew Baird.
PETER WARLOCK
b. October 30, 1894 / London, UK
d. December 17, 1930 / London, UK
Capriol Suite
A sixteenth century treatise on French dance forms was the inspiration for Peter Warlock’s best-known work, the Capriol Suite. Peter Warlock was the pseudonym adopted by Philip Heseltine, a modestly successful composer and music critic. Warlock’s pacifism, interest in the occult and fascination for Elizabethan music made him an odd man out in mainstream musical circles in London in the early 20th century. He was an early exponent of the scholarly study of music from the Renaissance, writing, ”music is neither old nor modern: it is either good or bad music, and the date at which it was written has no significance whatever. Dates and periods are of interest only to the student of musical history. All old music was modern once, and much more of the music of yesterday already sounds more old-fashioned than works which were written three centuries ago. All good music, whatever its date, is ageless - as alive and significant today as it was when it was written.”
In 1925, Warlock contributed the musical transcriptions for a book on French dances from Arbeau's Orchésographie (1588). Warlock also provided the preface on the tunes and dance styles of the period, many of which he went on to adapt for his own work Capriol Suite. The “Capriol” of the title refers to one of the principal characters in Arbeau’s dance treatise. And so we are presented with the gliding steps of the Basse Danse, a stately Pavane, an energetic Tordion, a lively country round dance known as a Bransle, the relaxed Pieds-en l’air and the noisy clash of a sword dance in Mattachins.
Program note: Matthew Baird
EDVARD GRIEG
b. June 15, 1843 / Bergen, Norway
d. September 4, 1907 / Bergen, Norway
Fra Holberg Tid
The Holberg Suite, originally named “From Holberg’s Time”, was written by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg in 1884 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Ludvig Holberg. This popular string ensemble work comprises of five movements, each representing a style of Baroque dance from the 17th and the 18th centuries.
Since Grieg and Holberg shared their hometown of Bergen, Norway, (albeit, their birth dates separated by 159 years) it was only natural that Grieg felt close to Holberg. Born in 1684, Holberg was a man of many talents: he wrote many literary works on topics such as history, philosophy, and law. He also made a successful career as a comedy writer, producing many theatrical works containing social commentaries and satires, earning the epithet “the Molière of the North.” He lived during the age of enlightenment, a movement that explored ideas such as religion, reason, and nature to further improve humanity. Notable composers from Holberg’s time include Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Philipp Telemann, and George Frideric Handel, all of whom wrote music in the Baroque style. A variety of popular French Baroque dances, such as Sarabande, Gavotte, Musette, and Rigaudon, are portrayed in the suite.
The Holberg Suite is an early example of neoclassicism – a style of composition that later became popular in the 20th century among composers as diverse Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Ravel and Villa-Lobos. In contrast to late-romantic works that attempted to break out of established conventions, neoclassical compositions were built upon the musical styles and forms of the past. While many works from the romantic era were created as programmatic music – music that tells a particular story - neoclassical works were created as absolute music – music that does not associate itself with a particular narrative.
Although Grieg follows the style of Baroque music, his own voice is apparent in the score. He was a central figure in the rise of musical nationalism during the 19th century, establishing his national identity through compositions that reflected the musical traditions of Norway. In the Gavotte, he uses a drone, where the cello part plays a steady open chord while others play the melody, a technique he used often to portray Norwegian dance music. The final movement, Rigaudon, starts with a playful violin-viola duet that resembles the Hardanger folk fiddle playing of his homeland.
Program Note: Rei Ikeda
Andrew Crust, conductor
James Ehnes, violin
Nicholas Wright, violin
Sibelius: Suite for Violin and Orchestra
Warlock: Capriol Suite 11'
Grieg: Holberg Suite
When a composer sits down to put a very special melody to paper, they often choose to do so in the form of a suite. Enjoy a suite celebration with musical insights from Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Associate Conductor Andrew Crust.
James Ehnes, violin
James Ehnes has established himself as one of the most sought-after violinists on the international stage. Gifted with a rare combination of stunning virtuosity, serene lyricism and an unfaltering musicality, Ehnes is a favourite guest of many of the world’s most respected conductors including Ashkenazy, Alsop, Sir Andrew Davis, Denève, Elder, Ivan Fischer, Gardner, Paavo Järvi, Mena, Noseda, Robertson and Runnicles. Ehnes’s long list of orchestras includes, amongst others, the Boston, Chicago, London, NHK and Vienna Symphony Orchestras, the Los Angeles, New York, Munich and Czech Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Cleveland, Philadelphia, Philharmonia and DSO Berlin orchestras.
Recent orchestral highlights include the MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall with Noseda, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig with Shelley, San Francisco Symphony with Janowski, Frankfurt Radio Symphony with Orozco-Estrada, London Symphony with Harding, and Munich Philharmonic with van Zweden, as well as his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Lincoln Center in spring 2019. In 2019/20, Ehnes is Artist in Residence with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, which includes performances of the Elgar Concerto with Luisi, a play/direct programme leg by Ehnes, and a chamber music programme. In 2017, Ehnes premiered the Aaron-Jay Kernis Violin Concerto with the Toronto, Seattle and Dallas Symphony Orchestras, and gave further performances of the piece with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Alongside his concerto work, James Ehnes maintains a busy recital schedule. He performs regularly at the Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Center Chicago, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Ravinia, Montreux, Chaise-Dieu, the White Nights Festival in St Petersburg, Verbier Festival, Festival de Pâques in Aix, and in 2018 he undertook a recital tour to the Far East, including performances in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. As part of the Beethoven celebrations, Ehnes has been invited to perform the complete cycle of Beethoven Sonatas at the Wigmore Hall throughout 2019/20. Elsewhere Ehnes performs the Beethoven Sonatas at Dresden Music Festival, Prague Spring Festival, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, at Aspen Music Festival (as part of a multi-year residency) and at Bravo Vail Festival during his residency week also including the Violin Concerto and Triple Concerto with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Runnicles. In 2016, Ehnes undertook a cross-Canada recital tour, performing in each of the country’s provinces and territories, to celebrate his 40th birthday.
As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with leading artists such as Andsnes, Capucon, Lortie, Lugansky, Yo-Yo Ma, Tamestit, Vogler and Yuja Wang. In 2010, he formally established the Ehnes Quartet, with whom he has performed in Europe at venues including the Wigmore Hall, Auditorium du Louvre in Paris and Théâtre du Jeu de Paume in Aix, amongst others. Ehnes is the Artistic Director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society.
Ehnes has an extensive discography and has won many awards for his recordings, including a Grammy Award (2019) for his live recording of Aaron Jay Kernis’ Violin Concerto with the Seattle Symphony and Ludovic Morlot, and a Gramophone Award for his live recording of the Elgar Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Sir Andrew Davis. His recording of the Korngold, Barber and Walton violin concertos won a Grammy Award for ‘Best Instrumental Soloist Performance’ and a JUNO award for ‘Best Classical Album of the Year’. His recording of the Paganini Caprices earned him universal praise, with Diapason writing of the disc, “Ehnes confirms the predictions of Erick Friedman, eminent student of Heifetz: ‘there is only one like him born every hundred years’.” Recent releases include sonatas by Beethoven, Debussy, Elgar and Respighi, and concertos by Walton, Britten, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Strauss, as well as the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Manze, which was released in October 2017 (Onyx Classics).
Ehnes began violin studies at the age of five, became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin aged nine, and made his orchestra debut with L’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal aged 13. He continued his studies with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School of Music and The Juilliard School, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music upon his graduation in 1997. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and in 2010 was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. Ehnes was awarded the 2017 Royal Philharmonic Society Award in the Instrumentalist category.
James Ehnes plays the “Marsick” Stradivarius of 1715.
Andrew Crust, conductor
Andrew Crust has developed a versatile international career as a conductor of orchestral, opera, ballet and pops programs. Currently serving as the Associate Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony in Canada, Andrew conducts a large number of subscription, pops, educational and contemporary concerts with the VSO each season. Andrew is the newly-appointed Music Director of the Lima Symphony Orchestra beginning in the 20/21, where he programs and conducts the Grand Classics, Pops and Educational series, featuring such soloists as Awadagin Pratt, Amit Peled and Kathrine Jolly.
In the current and upcoming seasons Andrew will debut with the Arkansas and Vermont Symphonies as Music Director finalist, and with the San Diego Symphony and Calgary Philharmonic as a guest conductor. Other recent engagements include performances with the Winnipeg Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Bozeman Symphony and l’Orchestre de la Francophonie in Québec. Andrew is a 2020 winner of the Solti Foundation US Career Assistance Award. In 2017 he was awarded first prize at the Accademia Chigiana by Daniele Gatti, receiving a scholarship and an invitation to guest conduct the Orchestra di Sanremo in Italy. He was a semi-finalist for the Nestlé/Salzburg Festival’s Young Conductors Award competition, and was selected by members of the Vienna Philharmonic as a winner of the Ansbacher Fellowship, with full access to all rehearsals and performances of the Salzburg Festival. Andrew is equally at ease in the pit, having conducted ballet with Ballet Memphis and the New Ballet Ensemble, and opera with Opera McGill, College Light Opera Company, Boulder Opera Company, and others. As a Pops conductor, Andrew has collaborated with such artists as Rufus Wainwright, Steven Page, Michael Bolton, Cirque de la Symphonie, and the United States Jazz Ambassadors. Andrew has also established himself as a conductor of films with orchestra. Andrew served as Assistant Conductor of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra from 2017-2019 where he conducted around forty concerts each season. He stepped in last minute for a successful subscription performance featuring Bernstein’s Serenade with violinist Charles Yang. Andrew also served as Conductor of the Memphis Youth Symphony Program. As the Assistant Conductor of the Portland Symphony Orchestra in Maine from 2016-2018, he conducted a variety of concert series, helped coordinate the orchestra’s extensive educational programs, and helped lead a program for concertgoers under 40 called “Symphony and Spirits”.
Crust was the Assistant Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of the USA (NYO-USA) in the summers of 2017 and 2018, assisting Michael Tilson Thomas on an Asian tour, as well as Giancarlo Guerrero, Marin Alsop and James Ross at Carnegie Hall and in a side-by-side performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has also served as Cover Conductor of the Kansas City Symphony, San Diego Symphony and Nashville Symphony, Assistant/Cover Conductor of the Boulder Philharmonic and Assistant Conductor of Opera McGill.
Abroad, he has led concerts with the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana in Italy, Hamburger Symphoniker at the Mendelssohn Festival in Germany, the Moravian Philharmonic in the Czech Republic and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Chile in Santiago.As an arranger/orchestrator, Andrew is currently working with Schirmer to make orchestrations of a set of Florence Price’s art songs, has orchestrated works by Alma Mahler and Prokofiev, as well as many pops and educational selections. Andrew is dedicated to exploring new ways of bringing the classical music experience into the 21st century through innovative programming and marketing, creating community-oriented and socially-sensitive concert experiences, and utilizing social media and unique venues. Andrew is a firm believer in meaningful music education, having produced and written a number of original educational programs with orchestras.
Nicholas Wright, violin
Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas Wright is a native of England. His engagements as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician have taken him to most of the major concert halls in Europe, Asia and North America. He has performed concertos with orchestras worldwide including the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Royal Oman Symphony and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. His repertoire spans works from Handel to premieres by composers such as Kelly-Marie Murphy and Jocelyn Morlock, whose works he recently recorded for the Naxos label. He made his solo debut with the York Guildhall Orchestra playing the Dvořák Romance, which was recorded for BBC Radio 3. His concerts and recordings have also been featured on CBC Radio (Canada) and Radio 4 (Hong Kong). As an orchestral musician, Nicholas has worked with the world’s most renowned conductors including Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, Valery Gergiev and Mstislav Rostropovich. He has performed extensively with the major chamber and symphony orchestras in London including the English Chamber and London Philharmonic Orchestras, and has appeared as guest concertmaster with orchestras such as the Bournemouth Symphony, BBC Concert and Ulster Orchestras. In 2003, he was appointed as the youngest member of the London Symphony Orchestra where he held the first violin sub-principal position, and in addition collaborated with film composers John Williams and Alexandre Desplat.
As a chamber musician Nicholas regularly takes part in series such as the Mainly Mozart Festival, Ribble Valley Festival, LSO and VSO chamber players and Vancouver’s Music on Main. He has performed in venues such as LSO St Luke’s and has collaborated with many renowned artists including Martin Roscoe and Simon Wright. Prior to his appointment as concertmaster of the VSO, he was first violinist of the critically acclaimed Vancouver based Koerner Quartet.
Nicholas received his training as a scholar at the Royal College of Music in London, studying with Itzhak Rashkovsky and Rodney Friend. In addition to winning prizes at the Royal College, Nicholas has been generously supported by grants from the Martin Musical Fund, the Craxton Memorial Fund and the Royal Overseas League. This has enabled him to study with many eminent musicians including Ruggiero Ricci and Gil Shaham. Nicholas enjoys teaching and has given many masterclasses internationally. He is on the faculty of the VSO School of Music. Nicholas plays on a violin by Stefan-Peter Greiner.
‘wonderfully judged with seemingly effortless projection of tone…..It was a triumph.‘ - The York Press
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Founded in 1919, the Grammy and Juno-award winning Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is the third largest orchestra in Canada, the largest arts organization in Western Canada, and one of the few orchestras in the world to have its own music school.
Led by Music Director Otto Tausk since 2018, the VSO performs more than 150 concerts each year, throughout Vancouver and the province of British Columbia, reaching over 270,000 people annually. On tour the VSO has performed in the United States, China, Korea and across Canada.
The orchestra presents passionate, high-quality performances of classical, popular and culturally diverse music, creating meaningful engagement with audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
Recent guest artists include Daniil Trifonov, Dawn Upshaw, James Ehnes, Adrianne Pieczonka, Gidon Kremer, Renée Fleming, Yefim Bronfman, Itzhak Perlman, Bernadette Peters, Tan Dun, and more.
For the 2020-21 season the VSO has created the innovative streaming service TheConcertHall.ca, a virtual home for a virtual season, where more than forty performances will be released throughout the season.
JEAN SIBELIUS
b. Hämeenlinna, Finland / December 8, 1865
d. Ainola, Finland / September 20, 1957
Suite for Violin and String Orchestra, Op. 117
From an early age, Jean Sibelius fancied himself a great violinist. On his 10th birthday he received his first violin as a gift from his uncle. He was enthusiastic, but largely self-taught, and didn’t have a formal lesson before he was 15. By the age of 25, he was still determined to play with the Vienna Philharmonic. However, his audition elicited a cutting response: “Mr. Sibelius, please go and compose.”
“My tragedy,” said Sibelius, “was that I wanted to be a celebrated violinist at any price. Since the age of 15 I played my violin practically from morning to night. I hated pen and ink — unfortunately I preferred an elegant violin bow. My love for the violin lasted quite long and it was a very painful awakening when I had to admit that I had begun my training for the exacting career of a virtuoso too late.“
Sibelius never lost his appreciation for the instrument and produced several scores for violin and orchestra, including his magnificent Violin Concerto, a pair of Serenades, two shorter pieces, and a series of Humoresques. It was in 1929 that Sibelius completed the three movement Suite for Violin and String Orchestra. He assigned the opus number of 117 to the manuscript, and sent it off to the publisher, Carl Fischer, in New York City. Fischer apparently responded with a polite note. “We must inform you that in view of the extremely unfortunate constellation in the music publishing field in the United States, it seems to us inadvisable at the present time to publish compositions of the high standard which you have submitted to us. The market is very unfavourable for this class of music and we are compelled to return them to you with our regrets.”
The reason for the publisher’s reluctance may have been purely financial – remember the great stock market crash occurred in October of that year – but Sibelius was understandably rattled by the refusal. He is said to have had a nervous disposition to begin with. He was prone to bouts of depression, was frequently in debt, and suffered from chronic alcoholism. With his confidence rattled, the overly self-critical composer marked the score with the words “Sketch. Not to be Published,” and set it aside. Years later, Sibelius filled a laundry basket with his manuscripts, carried them into the kitchen of his country home and fed them, page by page, into the stove. Fortunately, the Suite was spared that fiery fate. It re-emerged in the 1980s, was premiered by soloist John Storgårds on the 125th anniversary of the composer’s birth, and finally published in 1995. The movement titles are indicative of the pastoral and charming nature of this Suite.
Program Note: Matthew Baird.
PETER WARLOCK
b. October 30, 1894 / London, UK
d. December 17, 1930 / London, UK
Capriol Suite
A sixteenth century treatise on French dance forms was the inspiration for Peter Warlock’s best-known work, the Capriol Suite. Peter Warlock was the pseudonym adopted by Philip Heseltine, a modestly successful composer and music critic. Warlock’s pacifism, interest in the occult and fascination for Elizabethan music made him an odd man out in mainstream musical circles in London in the early 20th century. He was an early exponent of the scholarly study of music from the Renaissance, writing, ”music is neither old nor modern: it is either good or bad music, and the date at which it was written has no significance whatever. Dates and periods are of interest only to the student of musical history. All old music was modern once, and much more of the music of yesterday already sounds more old-fashioned than works which were written three centuries ago. All good music, whatever its date, is ageless - as alive and significant today as it was when it was written.”
In 1925, Warlock contributed the musical transcriptions for a book on French dances from Arbeau's Orchésographie (1588). Warlock also provided the preface on the tunes and dance styles of the period, many of which he went on to adapt for his own work Capriol Suite. The “Capriol” of the title refers to one of the principal characters in Arbeau’s dance treatise. And so we are presented with the gliding steps of the Basse Danse, a stately Pavane, an energetic Tordion, a lively country round dance known as a Bransle, the relaxed Pieds-en l’air and the noisy clash of a sword dance in Mattachins.
Program note: Matthew Baird
EDVARD GRIEG
b. June 15, 1843 / Bergen, Norway
d. September 4, 1907 / Bergen, Norway
Fra Holberg Tid
The Holberg Suite, originally named “From Holberg’s Time”, was written by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg in 1884 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Ludvig Holberg. This popular string ensemble work comprises of five movements, each representing a style of Baroque dance from the 17th and the 18th centuries.
Since Grieg and Holberg shared their hometown of Bergen, Norway, (albeit, their birth dates separated by 159 years) it was only natural that Grieg felt close to Holberg. Born in 1684, Holberg was a man of many talents: he wrote many literary works on topics such as history, philosophy, and law. He also made a successful career as a comedy writer, producing many theatrical works containing social commentaries and satires, earning the epithet “the Molière of the North.” He lived during the age of enlightenment, a movement that explored ideas such as religion, reason, and nature to further improve humanity. Notable composers from Holberg’s time include Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Philipp Telemann, and George Frideric Handel, all of whom wrote music in the Baroque style. A variety of popular French Baroque dances, such as Sarabande, Gavotte, Musette, and Rigaudon, are portrayed in the suite.
The Holberg Suite is an early example of neoclassicism – a style of composition that later became popular in the 20th century among composers as diverse Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Ravel and Villa-Lobos. In contrast to late-romantic works that attempted to break out of established conventions, neoclassical compositions were built upon the musical styles and forms of the past. While many works from the romantic era were created as programmatic music – music that tells a particular story - neoclassical works were created as absolute music – music that does not associate itself with a particular narrative.
Although Grieg follows the style of Baroque music, his own voice is apparent in the score. He was a central figure in the rise of musical nationalism during the 19th century, establishing his national identity through compositions that reflected the musical traditions of Norway. In the Gavotte, he uses a drone, where the cello part plays a steady open chord while others play the melody, a technique he used often to portray Norwegian dance music. The final movement, Rigaudon, starts with a playful violin-viola duet that resembles the Hardanger folk fiddle playing of his homeland.
Program Note: Rei Ikeda
