2017

2018
SEASON

Nicholas McGegan, conductor Friday, December 1, 2017 at 8:00PM

Sherezade Panthaki, soprano Saturday, December 2, 2017 at 8:00PM
Leann Schuering, soprano
Jay Carter, countertenor
Thomas Jöstlein and Christopher Dwyer, horns
Erin Schreiber and Melody Lee, violins
Bjorn Ranheim, cello
St. Louis Symphony Chorus
Amy Kaiser, director

VIVALDI Concerto for Strings in C major, RV 114 (c. 1718)

(1678–1741) Allegro –
Adagio – Ciaccona

VIVALDI “Gelosia, tu già rendi l’alma mia” from Ottone in villa (1713)
Sherezade Panthaki, soprano

“L’ombre, l’aure, e ancora il rio” from Ottone in villa

Sherezade Panthaki, soprano
Leann Schuering, soprano
Andrea Kaplan and Jennifer Nitchman, flutes
Erin Schreiber and Melody Lee, violins

VIVALDI “Nel profondo cieco mondo” from Orlando furioso (1727)

“Mentre dormi, amor fomenti” from L’Olimpiade (1734)
Jay Carter, countertenor

VIVALDI “In braccio de’ contenti” from Gloria ed Imeneo (1725)

Sherezade Panthaki, soprano
Jay Carter, countertenor

VIVALDI Concerto for Two Horns and Strings in F major, RV 538

Allegro
Largo
Allegro non molto
Thomas Jöstlein and Christopher Dwyer, horns

INTERMISSION

23
VIVALDI Concerto grosso in D minor, RV 565 (c. 1711)
Allegro
Adagio e spiccato – Allegro
Largo e spiccato
Allegro
Erin Schreiber, violin
Melody Lee, violin
Bjorn Ranheim, cello

VIVALDI Gloria in D major, RV 589 (c. 1715)

Gloria in excelsis Deo
Et in terra pax hominibus
Laudamus te
Gratias agimus tibi
Propter magnam gloriam
Domine Deus, Rex coelestis
Domine Fili unigenite
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei
Qui tollis peccata mundi
Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris
Quoniam tu solus sanctus
Cum Sancto Spiritu
Sherezade Panthaki, soprano
Leann Schuering, soprano
Jay Carter, countertenor
St. Louis Symphony Chorus
Amy Kaiser, director

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The 2017/2018 Classical Series is presented by World Wide Technology, The Steward Family Foundation, and
Centene Charitable Foundation.

The concert of Friday, December 1 is underwritten in part by a generous gift from Mr. and Mrs. William G. Cotner.
The concert of Friday, December 1 is dedicated in loving memory of Rosemarie Kirchhoefer.
The concert of Saturday, December 2 is underwritten in part by a generous gift from Fred* and Sara Epstein.
Nicholas McGegan is the Daniel, Mary, and Francis O’Keefe Guest Conductor.
Amy Kaiser is the AT&T Foundation Chair.
Thomas Jöstlein is the Ruth and Ed Trusheim Guest Artist.
Christopher Dwyer is the Lucy and Stanley Lopata Guest Artist.
Continuo Organ Courtesy of the Martin Ott Pipe Organ Co.
The St. Louis Symphony Chorus is underwritten in part by the Richard E. Ashburner, Jr. Endowed Fund.
Pre-Concert Conversations are sponsored by Washington University Physicians.

24
VIVIDLY VIVALDI
BY RE NÉ S P E N C E R S AL L E R

TIMELINKS Born in Venice in 1678, Antonio Vivaldi was

an ordained priest, a virtuosic violinist, and an
influential music teacher. The so-called prete
1711 French settlers in rosso (Redheaded Priest) was also one of the most
Mobile, Alabama hold
the first Mardi Gras inventive and prolific composers of the Baroque
parade in America. era and wrote prodigiously in almost every
genre. In addition to some 90 operas, dozens of
1713 Jacob Bernouli’s sacred works, 4 oratorios, and about 40 secular
book on probability cantatas, he generated reams of instrumental
and combinatorics,
Ars Conjectandi, is
music, including at least 500 concertos for solo
published posthumously. instruments and orchestral groupings. With this
massive catalog of concertos, Vivaldi helped
1715 The Seventh establish the structural conventions that continue,
Ottoman-Venetian War 300 years later, to define the form: a three-move-
is fought between the ment, fast-slow-fast structure, balanced between
Republic of Venice and
the Ottoman Empire, individual virtuosity and collective unity.
ending with Venice’s After giving up his pastoral duties late in
defeat. 1706, at the age of 28, Vivaldi taught violin at a
prestigious all-girls orphanage and music school
1718 The pirate in Venice, the Ospedale della Pietà, where he
Blackbeard’s ship, Queen
Anne’s Revenge, is lost
had been giving lessons for the past three years.
off the coast of North Although he eventually retired from full-time
Carolina. teaching so that he could focus on opera commis-
sions elsewhere, he kept supplying the Pietà with
1725 Peter the Great, new material until about 1729. He spent several
who established the months in Mantua and Rome, shepherding his
Russian Empire, dies in
Saint Petersburg. operas through to production, and overseeing
still more opera premieres in Vienna and Prague
1727 Bach’s St. Matthew in the early 1730s. After burning bridges in his
Passion premieres in native Venice and squandering a hefty fortune,
Leipzig. he returned to Vienna in 1741. One month after
arrival, he succumbed to a gastrointestinal illness
1734 Handel’s Ariodante
premieres at the Royal and died on July 28, 1741, at age 63. He received
Opera House, Covent a pauper’s burial.
Garden. This all-Vivaldi program skips around both
chronologically and conceptually, interspersing
instrumental and vocal pieces. The sacred and the
secular, the dramatic and the devotional—all are
vividly represented.

25
 ANTONIO VIVALDI
Born March 4, 1678, Venice
Died July 28, 1741, Vienna

Concerto for Strings in C major, RV 114

Vivaldi’s Concerto for Strings in C major, RV 114, comes from a set of concertos
copied out by his violinist father in the 1720s. The precise date of composition is
unknown, but believed to be sometime after 1717. Choppy and propulsive, the
opening Allegro combines dotted, dancelike rhythms with inventive counterpoint.
Appended to the central movement, a dusky Adagio, is the closing Ciaccona—
Vivaldi’s take on a French form. French operas of Vivaldi’s era generally ended with
a chaconne, a series of variations over a descending repeated bass figure. Vivaldi’s
Ciaccona respects this convention, dipping into C minor and blurring the line
between coquettish and creepy. Listen for the ground bass, which anchors this
triple-meter dance, and let it remind you of the walking bass lines in blues, rock,
and soul music, still centuries away from being born.

First Performance unknown, c. 1718

Scoring harpsichord and strings
Performance Time approximately 5 minutes

“Gelosia, tu già rendi l’alma mia” and “L’ombre, l’aure,

e ancora il rio” from Ottone in villa
These selections come from Ottone in villa, which received its premiere in 1713.
Although this was Vivaldi’s first major opera, the 35-year-old composer had years
of experience composing sacred and secular music and revising other composers’
operas for a fee. Set in ancient Rome, Ottone turns a convoluted plot about
mismatched lovers into a transcendent musical occasion. Four of the five main roles
are performed by women, but only two of them are actually supposed to be female
characters, and one plays a woman who is disguised as a man. “Gelosia, tu già rendi
l’alma mia” is sung by Caio at the end of the first act. Alternating vengeful coloratura
with slower, more introspective passages, Caio rails against his faithless lover. In yet
another gender-bending complication, Caio is meant to be male; the role, originally
intended for a castrato, usually falls to a female soprano nowadays.

26
 The haunting “L’ombre, l’aure, e ancora il rio” comes at the end of Act II. Here,
Caio grieves while the offstage Tullia (disguised as a male page so she can spy on
her former lover) echoes and mocks him. Also offstage, a pair of flutes and two
“echo” violins enhance the sense of displacement and isolation.

First Performance May 17, 1713, Vincenza, Italy

Scoring 2 sopranos, 2 flutes, harpsichord, and strings
Performance Time approximately 10 minutes

“Nel profondo cieco mondo” from Orlando furioso

Based on an epic poem by Ariosto, which had already inspired Vivaldi to compose
a similar opera in 1714, Orlando furioso was completed in 1727. Its titular hero
is a knight who is driven insane by his unrequited passion for a princess. In “Nel
profondo cieco mondo,” Orlando’s technically perilous opening aria, he sings of
hope while facing down fears for the future: “Into the deep, dark world, let the fate
once merciless to my heart tumble down./ The stronger love will triumph with
the help of courage.” Like many roles in Vivaldi operas, the aria can be sung by a
countertenor, as it is here, or by a mezzo-soprano or contralto.

First Performance November 1727, Venice

Scoring countertenor, harpsichord, and strings
Performance Time approximately 4 minutes

“Mentre dormi, amor fomenti” from L’Olimpiade

“Mentre dormi, amor fomenti” comes from L’Olimpiade, Vivaldi’s 1734 setting of an
Olympics-themed libretto by Pietro Metastasio. In this Act I aria, Licida, the prince
of Crete—in love with one woman but promised to another—sings a deceptively
simple lullaby. “Mentre dormi” represents the Baroque aria at its most luminous and
affecting: “While you sleep, may love grow in you..../ May the stream flow more
gently; may even the slightest breeze stop blowing.”

First Performance February 17, 1734, Venice

Scoring countertenor, corno da caccia (horn), harpsichord, and strings
Performance Time approximately 6 minutes

27
“In braccio de’ contenti” from Gloria ed Imeneo
“In braccio de’ contenti” comes from Gloria ed Imeneo, one of three serenades that
Vivaldi composed in the 1720s for assorted French aristocrats. Gloria ed Imeneo
isn’t the original title, which is unknown because the first few pages of the manu-
script, including the opening sinfonia, are missing. The work was commissioned to
celebrate the wedding of Louis XV to the Polish princess Maria Leszczynska. In the
spirit of such serenades, it was first performed outdoors, at the French Embassy in
Venice, on the evening of September 12, 1725. The excerpted duet, which closes
the hour-long serenade, spreads the final layer of ganache on the wedding cake:
Imeneo (or Hymen, the god of marriage) and La Gloria (the personification of
kingly glory) keep one-upping each other in fulsome praise for the royal couple.

First Performance September 12, 1725, Venice

Scoring soprano, countertenor, harpsichord, and strings
Performance Time approximately 3 minutes

Concerto for Two Horns and Strings in F major, RV 538

Baroque horn concertos often called for a range that could not easily be played
by a single hornist on the natural horns of the era, which lacked the valves that
allow modern horns to play more notes. To address this problem, Vivaldi and his
contemporaries composed for two or more horns. Both of Vivaldi’s two surviving
double-horn concertos are in the key of F major. The opening Allegro juggles
hunting calls and virtuosic fanfares. The central Largo, in D minor, lets the cello
sing an aching aria while the horns sit out the slow movement. (This was a
common practice, since natural horns weren’t suited to the minor key.) The two
horns return for the closing Allegro non molto.

First Performance unknown

Scoring 2 solo horns, harpsichord, and strings
Performance Time approximately 7 minutes

28
Concerto grosso in D minor, RV 565
The Concerto grosso in D minor, RV 565, is the eleventh of a dozen concertos
for stringed instruments compiled in Vivaldi’s L’estro armonico (The Harmonic
Inspiration), first published in Amsterdam in 1711. Cast in four compact move-
ments, RV 565 is scored for a standard trio sonata complement of two violins and
a cello, supplemented by a string orchestra and, holding down the figured bass
line, an organ. It begins with the two violins playing in unison over a jagged cello
backdrop. The violins settle into a melody, which the cello takes up, and soon
everything erupts into a full-fledged, four-part fugue. Pastoral and melancholy, the
Largo initiates a gently rocking siciliano rhythm (in 12/8 meter). Vivaldi further
specified that the Adagio and Largo should be performed spiccato, a technique that
involves bouncing the bow off the strings. In the finale, the cello keeps veering
off the continuo’s path, bent on its own virtuosic adventures. Shortly after Vivaldi
published this concerto, J.S. Bach transcribed it for pipe organ.

First Performance c. 1711

Scoring organ and strings
Performance Time approximately 9 minutes

Gloria in D major, RV 589

Gloria in D major, RV 589, Vivaldi’s most significant sacred work, was prob-
ably composed sometime after 1713 and before 1717, when Vivaldi retired from
full-time teaching at the Ospedale della Pietà. The score was clearly intended for
performance by the orphanage’s gifted chorus. At this stage of his career, Vivaldi
was transitioning from full-time violin master to a composer of both sacred and
secular music.
In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Gloria text is a hymn of praise used as
the second part of the Ordinary of the Latin Mass, after the Kyrie. It begins with
the words of the angels, as recounted in the Gospel of Luke: “Glory to God in
the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.” The score disappeared after
Vivaldi’s death and was rediscovered in the late 1920s, along with another Gloria
in D major that’s less famous but almost as good. (He wrote at least three settings of
the text, but only two survive.) Since the first modern performance of RV 589, in
1939, this iteration of the Gloria hymn has resonated with audiences in ways that
Vivaldi never imagined. At least 100 recordings of it exist, and it has graced several
film soundtracks, including the Academy Award–winning Shine, about the concert
pianist David Helfgott.
Because there were no male choristers at the Pio Ospedale della Pietà, Vivaldi
originally scored all the parts for female singers. He supplemented the typical
Baroque orchestra of strings and basso continuo (often an organ) with oboe and

29
trumpet. The piece is in twelve sections, each distinguished by a different musical
setting. Eight of the numbers are composed for the entire chorus; the remaining
four feature soloists, singing either alone or with other performers.

Section by Section The opening number, “Gloria in excelsis Deo,” establishes

the triumphant key of D major with exuberant leaping octaves and momentum-
building repetitions. Behind all the bombast, a crackling energy propels the music
forward, buffeted by bursts of winds and bright choral flourishes. In contrast, “Et
in terra pax hominibus” is smudged with chromatic shadows. Then “Laudamus te,”
featuring two sopranos and an instrumental refrain, doles out more lyrical exalta-
tion. After two choral numbers, the solemn “Gratias agimus tibi” and the contra-
puntal “Propter magnam gloriam,” the only solo soprano aria unfolds: “Domine
Deus, Rex coelestis.” For this slow and rapturous ode to the almighty, the soprano
is joined by a solo oboe. The rhythmically tricky seventh number, “Domine Fili
unigenite,” goes to the chorus. It’s followed by the sumptuous minor-key Adagio
“Domine Deus, Agnus Dei,” for countertenor (originally contralto) and chorus, the
only setting in the cycle where the chorus joins the solo singer, in responsorial style.
After another choral interlude, the fleet and urgent “Qui tollis peccata mundi,”
the countertenor sings his only true solo, the church aria “Qui sedes ad dexteram
Patris.” This piece resurrects material from the first movement and helps prepare
listeners for the climactic conclusion. The whole chorus returns for the final
two numbers, “Quoniam tu solus sanctus,” a simplified version of the “Gloria in
Excelsis,” and “Cum Sancto Spiritu,” which culminates in a majestic double-fugue.

René Spencer Saller is a writer and music critic living in St. Louis. She has also written for the Dallas
Symphony, Illinois Times, Riverfront Times, and Boston Phoenix.

First Performance c. 1715

First SLSO Performance May 25, 1984, Catherine Comet conducting
Most Recent SLSO Performance December 6, 1998, David Loebel conducting
Scoring 2 sopranos, countertenor, chorus, 1 oboe, 1 bassoon, 1 trumpet, organ, and strings
Performance Time approximately 27 minutes

30
 NICHOLAS MCGEGAN
Daniel, Mary, and Francis O’Keefe Guest Conductor.
This season marks Nicholas McGegan’s 32nd
year as music director of Philharmonia Baroque
Orchestra and Chorale and he is also principal
guest conductor of the Pasadena Symphony.
Best known as a Baroque and Classical
specialist, McGegan’s approach— intelligent,
infused with joy, and never dogmatic — has
led to appearances with many of the world’s
ST EVE SH ER MAN

major orchestras. At home in opera houses,

McGegan shone new light on close to twenty
Handel operas as the artistic director and
Nicholas McGegan most recently appeared conductor at the Göttingen Handel Festival and
with the SLSO in October 2016.
the Mozart canon as principal guest conductor
at Scottish Opera in the 1990s. At the same time, he was principal conductor of the
Drottningholm Opera in Sweden.

SHEREZADE PANTHAKI
An acknowledged star in the early-music field,
Sherezade Panthaki has ongoing collaborations
with leading early music interpreters including
Nicholas McGegan, Simon Carrington, the
late John Scott, Matthew Halls, and Masaaki
Suzuki, with whom she made her New York
Philharmonic debut. Panthaki’s 2017–18
season features performances of Vivaldi’s Gloria
with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the
Hollywood Bowl, the Milwaukee Symphony,
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Music of the
Baroque, her return to Ars Lyrica, Pasadena
Symphony Orchestra, Orlando Philharmonic,
and a U.S. Christmas Oratorio tour with Bach Collegium Japan.

LEANN SCHUERING
Coloratura soprano Leann Schuering’s stage
credits include Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos,
Zerlina in Don Giovanni, the Queen of the Night
in Die Zauberflöte, and Susanna in Le nozze
di Figaro. She has performed with the Toledo
Symphony Orchestra, the Great Lakes Chamber
Orchestra, Adrian Symphony Orchestra, and
others. Her concert repertoire includes Brahms’
HASS AN P H OTO GRAP H Y

Ein deutsches Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, and

multiple works by Handel, including Messiah and
Solomon. She is a two-time district winner of the
Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
and a third prize recipient at the regional level.

31
 JAY CARTER
Countertenor Jay Carter has gained recognition
as one of America’s finest. A frequent collabo-
rator with period and modern ensembles,
Carter is recognized as a leading interpreter of
late Baroque repertoire. Recent appearances
include Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the
American Bach Soloists and the Choir of St.
Thomas Church, Handel’s Messiah with the
National Symphony and Philharmonia Baroque
Orchestra, Handel’s Saul with Musica Vocale
and the Kansas City Baroque Consortium,
Handel’s Jeptha with Ars Lyrica, and the North
American Premiere of John Tavener’s Lament for
Jerusalem with the Choral Arts Society of Washington.

THOMAS JÖSTLEIN
Ruth and Ed Trusheim Guest Artist
Thomas Jöstlein, associate principal horn
with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra since
2010, enjoys an active and varied musical life.
From 2007–09, Jöstlein was the New York
Philharmonic’s assistant principal horn, playing
all positions, including associate principal and
third horn. Previously, he held positions with the
Honolulu, Omaha, Richmond, and Kansas City
symphony orchestras, and performed in summer
festivals in Oregon, Ohio, Colorado, and North
Carolina. An active soloist, Jöstlein won first
prize in the professional division of the American
Horn Competition and the grand prize at the Hugo Kauder Music Competition at Yale
University, earning a recital at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City.

CHRISTOPHER DWYER
Lucy and Stanley Lopata Guest Artist
Christopher Dwyer is the second horn player
for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Sun
Valley Summer Symphony, and the Colorado
Music Festival Orchestra. He was previously a
member of the Jacksonville and New Mexico
Symphony Orchestras. He has participated
in Deutsche Grammophon studio recording
projects with both the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra under Pierre Boulez and with
the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick
Nezét-Séguin. Additionally, he has frequently
performed as a guest with the Cleveland
Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, IRIS Orchestra, and the Malaysian
Philharmonic.

32
 ERIN SCHREIBER
Violinist Erin Schreiber joined the St.
Louis Symphony Orchestra as Assistant
Concertmaster in 2008, at the age of 20.
She has appeared in recital throughout the
United States, as well as in London, Sweden,
Italy, and Germany. Schreiber has collabo-
rated with artists including baritone Thomas
Hampson and pianist John Novacek, and has
toured with jazz legend Chris Botti. She made
her SLSO solo debut with Berio’s Corale (on
Sequenza VIII) in 2011 and played Vaughan
Williams’s The Lark Ascending for the opening
weekend of 2014.

MELODY LEE
This is Vancouver-born violinist Melody Lee’s
fifth year playing with the St. Louis Symphony
Orchestra. She has appeared as soloist with the
Colburn Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony
Orchestra, and the Vancouver Youth Symphony
Orchestra, and has been concertmaster of the
Colburn Orchestra as well as associate concert-
master at the Young Musicians Foundation
Debut Orchestra in Los Angeles. Last season
she performed Joan Tower’s Second String Force
for solo violin in the SLSO’s Equal Play concert
series, which highlights female composers.

BJORN RANHEIM
Cellist Bjorn Ranheim was appointed to the
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in 2005
and is a member of the Sun Valley Summer
Symphony in Idaho. He served as principal
cellist with the Colorado Music Festival from
2006–2015 and has performed and toured
with the orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore,
Cleveland, and Detroit. Ranheim has appeared
as soloist on multiple occasions with the
SLSO and Colorado Music Festival, and in the
spring of 2011, appeared on A Prairie Home
Companion with Garrison Keillor, performing
alongside jazz vocalist Erin Bode. Ranheim
is also a founding member of the 442s, an acoustic string ensemble that pursues
innovative, genre-defying music making and collaborations.

33
 AMY KAISER
AT&T Foundation Chair
Director of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus
since 1995, Amy Kaiser has prepared the
chorus for performances with music directors
David Robertson, Hans Vonk, and Leonard
Slatkin. She has also conducted performances
with the chorus and the St. Louis Symphony
Orchestra at Powell Hall and the St. Louis
Cathedral Basilica in repertoire including
Handel’s Messiah and works by Vivaldi, Haydn,
Mozart, and Schubert. Guest conductor with
Chicago’s Grant Park Festival and the Berkshire
Choral Festival, Kaiser conducted over fifty
performances with the Metropolitan Opera Guild and worked with many regional
orchestras. Formerly Music Director of the Dessoff Choirs and conductor at New
York’s 92nd Street Y, Kaiser was Director of Choral Music at the Mannes College of
Music and taught conducting at Manhattan School of Music.

YOU TAKE IT FROM HERE

BY RE NÉ S P E N C E R S AL L E R

Vivaldi: Voice of the Baroque

by H.C. Robbins Landon
University of Chicago Press, 1993
Many details from Vivaldi’s life remain cloaked in mystery, but H.C. Robbins
Landon presents a surprisingly comprehensive portrait of the composer. Enriched
with illustrations of 18th-century Venice, Landon’s concise, accessible, and
insightful biography draws on newly translated letters and other documentation.

Vivaldi (Master Musicians Series)

by Michael Talbot
Oxford University Press, 2000
This succinct and engaging biography discusses the sociocultural and
historical aspects of Vivaldi’s musical life while providing a thorough (but not
hypertechnical) analysis of the work itself. Baroque music authority Michael
Talbot admires his subject but doesn’t overlook his personal failings. This is a fine
place to start learning more about the rise and fall of the Red Priest of Venice.

The Vivaldi Compendium

by Michael Talbot
Boydell, 2011
This helpful volume is one part research tool, one part capsule biography,
one part dictionary—and likely to satisfy any questions you might have
about Vivaldi’s life and his enormous body of work. Editor Michael Talbot is a
prominent scholar of Baroque music, as well as Emeritus Professor of Music at
the University of Liverpool. Although most of the 750 entries are quite concise
and the book is on the slender side, the excellentbibliography offers a wealth of
credible sources for further investigation.
34
ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY CHORUS 2017–2018
Amy Kaiser Kerry H. Jenkins
Director Adam Kosberg
Christina Kruger
Leon Burke III Carson Landry
Assistant Director Jilliann Law
Gregory C. Lundberg
Gail Hintz Gina Malone
Accompanist Patrick Mattia
Garrett Ott
Susan D. Patterson Susan D. Patterson
Manager Matt Pentecost
David Pierce
Sharon Abada Sarah Price
Tracy Baker Amy E. W. Prince
Margaret Boeckman Shelly Ragan
Joy Boland Kate Reimann
Keith Boyer Gregory J. Riddle
Robyn Danielle Brandon Nathan Tulloch Ruggles
Daniel P. Brodsky Paul N. Runnion
Leon Burke III Mark Saunders
Cherstin Byers Leann Schuering
Maureen A. Carlson Nick Spector
Victoria Carmichael Adam Stefo
Mark P. Cereghino Michelle D. Taylor
Timothy A. Cole Daniel Terry
Derek Dahlke Byron E. Thornton
Laurel Ellison Dantas Natanja Tomich
Heather Fehl Diane Toomey
Alan Florendo Philip Touchette
Alan Freed DeWayne Trainer
Mark Freiman David R. Truman
Megan E. Glass Robert Valentine
Philip Greenwood Samantha Dane Wagner
Steven Grigsby Keith Wehmeier
James Haessig Nicole Weiss
Sue Harrington Ruth Wood-Steed
Ellen Henschen Susan Donahue Yates
Heather Humphrey

35
THE LEGACY OF
ROSEMARIE KIRCHHOEFER
Donor Spotlight
The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s concert on Friday, December 1, is dedicated in loving
memory of Rosemarie Kirchhoefer. Her lifelong love of music and the orchestra is recalled
by her nephews, Joseph G. Gleich and James G. Gleich.

From an early age, Rosemarie expressed an

interest in music and voice, which was cultivated
by her parents. She attended the Notre Dame
School of Music, where she regularly landed
significant singing roles in the school plays. After
graduating, she went on to Saint Louis University
where she received certification in management.
While her formal education resulted in securing a
supervisor’s position with Southwestern Bell Co.,
Rosemarie continued to cultivate her passion for
music by singing with church choirs and soloing
for weddings and special events for more than
three decades.
Eventually, Rosemarie gave up her career for Rosemarie Kirchhoefer
married life with Albert (“Al”), but she considered
herself fortunate to share a rich and full life with a man who shared her passion
for music, dance, the arts and travel. Their broad interests resulted in active roles
at many of St. Louis’ most recognizable civic organizations, with the SLSO at the
forefront. Rosemarie and Al also joined and then later formed Square and Round
Dancing clubs. During the week, they danced, and on the weekends, they sang or
attended the symphony.
After Al’s early passing from Alzheimer’s, the SLSO took on added significance
for Rosemarie. She often attended special choral concerts and holiday events,
bringing her friends or godchildren along. In her retirement years Rosemarie spent
almost two decades singing and entertaining seniors in retirement communities.
She and Al were able to leave large bequests to several local civic organizations.
A symphony supporter for more than forty years, Rosemarie was convinced that
the SLSO was an organization capable of informing, delighting, and educating
more than just the present generation. A kind and determined woman with a
strong work ethic and the desire to give back to her community, Rosemarie’s
generosity is now helping to change the future for the SLSO.

36
 2017
2018
SEASON

Lee Musiker, conductor Sunday, December 3, 2017 at 7:00PM

Leslie Odom, Jr., vocalist
Michael Mitchell, piano
Steven Walker, guitar
Orlando le Fleming, bass
Senfu Stoney, percussion
John Davis, drums

An Evening with Leslie Odom, Jr.

Program will be announced from the stage.

There will be one intermission.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This concert is supported by Washington University in St. Louis McDonnell International Scholars Academy.

37
 LESLIE ODOM, JR.
Multifaceted performer Leslie Odom, Jr.
completed his run on Broadway starring
as Aaron Burr in the original cast of the
blockbuster hit musical, Hamilton, a role that
earned him the 2016 Tony Award for lead actor
in a musical. He is also a Grammy Award-
winner as a principal soloist on Hamilton:
Original Broadway Cast Recording, which won
the 2016 award for best musical theater album.
Odom, Jr. made his Broadway debut at the
age of 17 in Rent before heading to Carnegie
Mellon University’s prestigious School of
Drama, where he graduated with honors. He
is the recipient of a 2002 Princess Grace Award for Acting, which is dedicated to
identifying emerging talent in theater, dance, and film.
On the small screen, Odom, Jr. is best known for his portrayal of Sam
Strickland in the NBC musical series Smash and his recurring role as Reverend
Curtis Scott on Law & Order: SVU. He has also appeared in episodes of Gotham,
Person of Interest, Grey’s Anatomy, House of Lies, Vanished, and CSI: Miami. On the
big screen, he starred in the 2012 film Red Tails, opposite Terrence Howard, Cuba
Gooding Jr., and David Oyelowo.
Odom’s debut solo album, Leslie Odom, Jr., was released in June 2016 on
S-Curve Records and quickly rose to number one on the Billboard and iTunes
jazz charts.
Look for him in Kenneth Branagh’s reimaging of Agatha Christie’s Murder on
the Orient Express, now in theaters, featuring an all-star cast including Johnny Depp,
Penelope Cruz, and Dame Judi Dench. Odom, Jr. was raised in Philadelphia, and
currently resides in New York.

LEE MUSIKER
Grammy and Emmy Award-winning
conductor, pianist, arranger, orchestrator,
and composer Lee Musiker has established
a distinguished and multifaceted career as
both soloist and collaborator with the premier
artists in the classical, operatic, Broadway,
jazz, and pop music genres. He has conducted
the New York Philharmonic; the Baltimore,
Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu,
STEV E J SH ER MAN

Houston, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and

National symphony orchestras; and was music
director and principal conductor of the Palm
Beach Pops for the 2014–15 season. Other
conducting credits include the Jazz at Lincoln Center, Count Basie, Duke Ellington,
and Henry Mancini Institute orchestras, and music director and conductor for the
Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.

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