Presents

TCU Symphony Orchestra

Dr. Germán Gutiérrez, Music Director

Tuesday, March 7, 2023 7:00 pm Van Cliburn Concert Hall at TCU

Program

Concerto for Vibraphone and String Orchestra Emmanuel Séjourné

(b. 1961)
I. A piacere – Expressif et lyrique
II. Energique et agressif

Angela María Lara Cabrera, vibraphone

Mitchell Manlapig, conductor

“Di rigori armáto…” from Der Rosenkavalier Richard Strauss

(1864-1949)
“Che gelida manina…” from La Bohème Giacomo Puccini
(1858-1924)

Wonjin Choi, tenor

Concerto in C minor for Viola and Orchestra, Op. 25 York Bowen

(1884-1961)
I. Allegro assai
II. Andante
III. Allegro scherzando

Noah Bowles, viola

Dr. Germán Augusto Gutiérrez

Professor Germán Augusto Gutiérrez has served as Director of

Orchestras and Professor of Orchestral Studies at Fort Worth’s Texas
Christian University (TCU) as well as Director of TCU’s Latin
American Music Center and biennial Latin American Music Festival
since 1996. Since 2000, Dr. Gutiérrez has also served as Music Director
of the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra (FWYO).

Dr. Gutiérrez is a frequent guest conductor of professional orchestras

in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Oceania. He
recently recorded a CD with the Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra with
Daniel Binelli and Polly Ferman as soloists. Recent invitations include
the Qingdao Cosmopolitan Music Festival in China, the Fort Worth
Symphony, the Shanghai Conservatory Symphony, the Alcalá de
Henares Symphony Orchestra, in Spain; the Lebanon National
Philharmonic and the Orquesta Filarmónica of Bogotá, Colombia. In
2011, the TCU Symphony Orchestra was awarded the Carlos Gardel Musical Prize for its CD “Cantar
Latinoamericano” with Opus Cuatro as soloists. This award led to the invitation for the orchestra to perform in
May 2013 in Buenos Aires and Rosario. For the twelfth consecutive year, Dr. Gutiérrez served as guest
conductor of the Dallas Symphony’s Hispanic Festival. In 2006, he was invited to conduct the Czech National
Symphony in historic Smetana Hall as part of the 110th anniversary of Carl Orff’s birth, where he led the
orchestra in a performance of Carmina Burana. Maestro Gutiérrez has also appeared with the Argentina,
Colombia, Puerto Rico, Perú and Cuba National Symphonies. Other orchestras include the Hu Bei State
Symphony of China, and the Free State Symphony Orchestra of South Africa. Shanghai Symphony (China),
Xalapa and San Luis Potosí in Mexico, the, Auckland Philharmonic (New Zealand), Sinfónica del Teatro
Municipal de Rio de Janeiro, and Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra (Brazil), among others. In 2002, Maestro
Gutiérrez was invited to the Trentino region of Italy to conduct Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville for the
30th anniversary of the Pergine Spettacolo Aperto.

Under his baton, the TCU Symphony and the FWYO have achieved exceptional levels of recognition in Fort
Worth and abroad. Both groups have traveled on numerous international tours, obtaining enthusiastic reviews,
including repeat invitations as the featured orchestra to engagements such as the Iberoamerican Music Festival
in Puerto Rico, and the Texas Music Educators Association Convention in San Antonio. With the TCU
Symphony, Maestro Gutiérrez has also conducted the world premiere of more than fifty contemporary works.
In 2017, Maestro Gutiérrez led the FWYO on a tour of Europe that included performances at Salzburg’s
Mozarteum, Eisenstadt’s Esterházy Palace in Austria, and a concert in Prague.

Maestro Gutiérrez holds Músico Bachiller and Maestro en Música degrees from the Tolima Conservatory in
Colombia. He also received a master’s degree from Illinois State University and a doctoral degree from the
University of Northern Colorado. In recognition of his achievements, Dr. Gutierrez was included in the Hall of
Fame of Illinois State University and was invited to give the Commencement speech in May 2018. For his
involvement and dedication to TCU, Maestro Gutiérrez received the Dean’s Teaching Award (1999), the
Dean’s Award for Research and Creative Activity (2002), and the 2003 Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished
Research and Creative Activity, the highest award that the university bestows.
Mitchell Manlapig

Mitchell Manlapig is currently a graduate assistant at Texas

Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. Actively pursuing his
Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting under the tutelage
of Dr. Germán Gutiérrez, Mr. Manlapig serves as assistant
conductor and manager of the TCU Symphony Orchestra.

Prior to his studies at TCU, Mr. Manlapig attended the

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where he received a Master
of Music in Orchestral Conducting. During his final year of study
at UWM, he served as acting director, principal rehearsal
conductor, and
manager of the UWM Symphony. His position as acting director led him to close collaborations with esteemed
conductors, having assisted Ken-David Masur (Principal Conductor – The Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Music
Director – of Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra) and David Bloom (Co-Artistic Director – Contemporaneous
and Present Music).

During his undergraduate at Oklahoma Baptist University, Mr. Manlapig served as assistant conductor for the
OBU/Shawnee Community Orchestra. He additionally garnered conducting appearances with wind ensembles,
chamber groups, and choirs, and was selected as conductor for a full-length production of Mozart’s Die
Zauberflöte. As an acclaimed pianist, Mr. Manlapig is a two-time winner of OBU’s annual Concerto-Aria
competition. Upon earning a Bachelor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance in 2020, Mr. Manlapig also
received both the Outstanding Senior in the Division of Music and the W.P. Blake Award, the highest award
given to a senior at OBU. He also held several choir directorships throughout his time in Oklahoma.

In addition to his studies at TCU, Mr. Manlapig holds a job shadow with the assistant conductor of the Fort
Worth Symphony Orchestra, Taichi Fukumura. Mr. Manlapig has studied conducting with Dr. Germán
Gutiérrez at TCU, Dr. Jun Kim and Dr. John Climer at UWM, and with Dr. Teresa Purcell and Dr. Christopher
Mathews at OBU. He was also selected as a participant in the 2021 Chicago Conducting Masterclass with
Donald Schleicher.
Angela María Lara Cabrera
The Colombian percussionist Angela María Lara Cabrera
has been considered an outstanding musician because of her
versatility, creating a musical career that joins the symphonic
and popular percussion in different contexts. At an early age,
she began her musical studies at the Public System of Musical
Studies in her hometown, where she was trained as a
percussionist and was a member of different ensembles. Later,
she was admitted to the Conservatory of Music of the National
University of Colombia in Bogotá, where she got her Bachelor
of Music Performance in percussion with maestro Mario Sarmiento. In addition, she has received masterclasses
from internationally renowned percussionists such as Fernando Meza, Slavik Stakhov, Katarzyna Mycka,
Conrado Moya, Alejandro Ruiz, Martín Piechota, Eriko Minami, and others.

During her career, she has been a member of symphonic orchestras and bands, including the Colombian
Youth Symphonic Band in 2013 and 2015, the Youth Philharmonic Band of the Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra,
and the Colombian Youth Philharmonic in 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons, making her debut in
some of the most emblematic theaters in Colombia, Germany, Austria, and Netherlands, such as the
Konzerthaus Berlin, the Elbphilharmonie, the Musikverein in Vienna and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Finally, she has attended several festivals and competitions such as the Festival of Youth Orchestras in
Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2008, the Laboramusic Festival in Alicante, Spain in 2011, the Young Euro Classic
in its XVII and XXIII versions, the Percussion Festival of Ibague, the XIII Cartagena Music Festival, and the
Percussion Arts Society International Convention, performing at the showcase concert. Her recognitions include
the award for Best Musician in the Paipa National Band Contest, second place in the 2018 RaZam International
Percussion Competition, and being selected as a soloist in the Serie of Young Performers of Banco de la República
de Colombia in 2022. Currently, she is studying for an Artist Diploma in percussion at Texas Christian University
in the United States, after winning a full scholarship from the Bogota’s Interpretation Award.

Wonjin Choi
Wonjin Choi, Korean Tenor, is in Vocal Performance MM of Texas
Christian University with a full scholarship award. He graduated from the
Korea National University of Arts, with a Bachelor of Music, at the top of
the Department of Music. He had a successful opera debut, singing
Rodolfo in Puccini's opera La Boheme at KimSun international opera
company, in Seoul, South Korea in 2020. He had performed Ernesto in
Don Pasquale, Fadinard in Il Cappello di Paglia di Firenze, Hermosa in
The Island of Tulipatan, etc. He placed first prize in singer of the year at
the TEXOMA NATS competition in 2022 and received an
encouragement award from The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Minnesota
District Competition in 2022. Also, he received a diploma from Riccardo
Muti Academy [La Traviata] in 2016.

This season, he looks forward to performing as Governor in Bernstein’s

operetta Candide with The Rapides Symphony Orchestra in Alexandria, Louisiana. He will perform as Tamino
from Die Zauberflöte by W. A. Mozart, and Sailor from Dido and Aeneas by H. Purcell in TCU Opera.
Noah Bowles
Noah Bowles is a second-year graduate student at Texas Christian
University and a student of Dr. Misha Galaganov. He began playing the
viola at age 8 in his elementary orchestra program, and began taking
lessons at age 11. Before arriving at TCU for his undergraduate studies,
he established himself as a name in the Oklahoma high school viola
scene, earning a spot in the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute Symphony
Orchestra for all four years of high school, earning principal viola for
both North Central Honors Orchestra for all four years, and principal
viola of the OkMEA All-State Symphony Orchestra from 10th-12th
grade, the only years he was allowed to audition. Additionally, he was a
three-time winner of the Viola Division of the Oklahoma City Orchestra
League’s Buttram Competition, Senior Concerto Competition winner as a
member of the Oklahoma Youth Orchestra, and a soloist at the Summit
Music Festival at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York.

Noah has a passion for performing living and under-represented composers’ works. In his solo recitals at
TCU, he has performed works by multiple women, including Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata, and two
movements of Jennifer Higdon’s Grammy-winning Viola Concerto. He hopes to be able to perform modern
classical music by under-represented composers as a staple of his repertoire in the future while helping to find
ways to support new composers entering the work field.

In addition to the viola, he has expanded his studies to include jazz singing due to his involvement in TCU’s
Purple, White and Blues Vocal Jazz Ensemble, directed by Dr. Amy Stewart. He received an Outstanding
Soloist award from the Kansas City Jazz Summit, as the jazz ensemble performed for the online conference and
was judged by the world-renowned New York Voices last Spring. He has the desire to incorporate as much of
his musical spheres into his career as possible and looks forward to collaborating with all kinds of musicians
and artists. He recently graduated from Texas Christian University in 2021 with his Bachelor’s of Music in
Viola Performance, graduating with honors, and will be graduating in May 2023 with his Master’s in Music in
Viola Performance. He currently serves as Co-Principal Viola of the McKinney Philharmonic and violist in the
Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra.
Violin I Double Bass Horn
Samuel Rolim* Brazil Tommy Pusateri San Antonio, TX James Brandt League City, TX
Karah Cruse Roanoke, TX Peidong Li Tianjin, China Megan Kraus Arlington, TX
Lucas Raulino Brazil Iván Yael Talancón Flores Mexico Emily Martin Cortez, CO
Allie Siegwald Kansas City, KS Blaine Bryan Fort Worth, TX Joshua Wheeler Edmond, OK
Henry Haas Dallas, TX Kaleb Comstock San Antonio, TX
Joao Pérez Puerto Rico Jack Montesinos Austin, TX
Alexia Wixom Fort Worth, TX Chengjin Tian Shanghai, China Trumpet
Joey Tullis Fort Worth, TX Hannah Baer New Braunfels, TX
Preston Robertson Fort Worth, TX Michael Strobel. Colleyville, TX
Crystal Hernandez Newport Beach, CA Piccolo
Chase Morrison Argyle, TX Alexandra Langley Lindsay, TX
Paige Jackson Plano, TX Trombone
Xander Byrd Prosper, TX
Violin II David Clary Pflugerville, TX
Lev Ryadchenko Russia Flute
Elijah Vn-Hao Ong Arlington, TX Ethan Dempsey Porter, TX
Daniel Compton Frisco, TX Nikkie Galindo Midland, TX Bass Trombone
Rima Abram Coppell, TX Alexandra Langley Lindsay, TX Brendan Roth Thibodaux, LA
Andres Bravo Canedo La Par, Bolivia Paige Jackson Plano, TX
Juan Pablo de León Mexico
Eden Agabs Summit, NJ Tuba
Mia Vu Rockwall, TX Oboe Collin Elmore Irving, TX
Alexis Lizama Katy, TX Samantha Ely Crowley, TX
Amanda Ochranek Southlake, TX Lauren Hanifan The Colony, TX
Gloria Viera Irving, TX Katie Lilley Fort Worth, TX Timpani/Percussion
Isaac Chiang Flower Mound, TX
Josh Foust Muscle Shoals, AL
Viola Clarinet Eric Goodheer Abilene, TX
Hope Ward Tallahassee, FL Tania Betancourt Colombia Luke Hammond Austin, TX
Lyndsey Walker Arlington, TX Demitri Halasa Arlington, TX Andréa Phillips Watauga, TX
Jacob Burk Hurst, TX Lucas Lynn Houston, TX Austin Probst Frisco, TX
Elissa Hengst Boone, NC Diego A. Torres Reyes Bogota, Colombia Gabe Sanchez McAllen, TX
Christian Ruelas San Antonio, TX
Holly LeMoine Fort Worth, TX
Bassoon Harp
Matt Assis Garland, TX Augusta Walsh. Frisco, TX
Cello Dorian Holley Hurst, TX
Giuliano Bucheli San Antonio, TX
Max Healy San Antonio, TX
Emily Torkelson. Dousman, WI Contrabassoon
Grady O’Gara San Roman, CA Robert Rudolph North Richland Hills, TX
Alejandra Ramirez Carrollton, TX
Natalie Benefield Fort Worth, TX
Edna Rincón Colombia
Alexander J. Jaime Frisco, TX
Riley Kee Tomball, TX

*Concertmaster
Program Notes

Séjourné – Concerto for Vibraphone and String Orchestra

Emmanuel Séjourné was born in 1961 in Limoges, France, and began his musical training on violin
and piano at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg. At age fifteen he enrolled in a percussion course to learn
keyboard percussion but the instructor, Jean Batigne, insisted he begins with drums. The youthful
Séjourné challenged his professor, so Batigne gave him a score to play. Having won awards in piano, of
course, he could read a score, so Batigne declared, “You will study drums because I believe it is
necessary; do what you want with the keyboard instruments.” Batigne introduced Séjourné to
contemporary music and the art of improvisation—a technique he uses when composing. He remained
in Batigne’s studio for several years stating, “Later, the best lessons I had with Batigne happened at the
café...between technical classes, he taught me about music, about musical life.” As a teacher himself,
Séjourné stresses versatility, encouraging students to explore multiple instruments and styles of music.
He states his teaching philosophy in pragmatic terms. “As a teacher, from the moment I have
students…my goal is for them to eat. That they have fun doing what they do, of course, but they also must
eat.”

In 1984, Séjourné joined the Conservatoire percussion faculty and began composing. An early work
achieving wide recognition was the incidental music for the play La Légende Des Siècles based on Victor
Hugo’s epic poem, for which Séjourné received the Best Music for Drama award at the 1985 Avignon
Festival. His compositions are influenced by a combination of musical styles: the European classical
tradition, jazz, rock, and elements from non-western music. Although an active performer, he states, “I
admit that I prefer composing to playing, it gives me more satisfaction. I feel more pride for achievements
that come out of my imagination than those that come out of know-how.”

Concerto for Vibraphone and String Orchestra, composed in 1999, was commissioned by the Vibraphone
International Competition and premiered by the Orchestra of the Auvergne with the composer on
vibraphone. Three versions of this concerto exist one for vibraphone and piano, a second arranged and
premiered in 2002 for vibraphone and five percussionists, and the original version with string orchestra
performed tonight. Characteristics in this piece commonly heard in Séjourné’s music are the accented
rhythms of the second movement and the first movement’s hypnotic ostinato in the strings—reminiscent
of non-western cultures—which supports an opening vibraphone melody played with two double bass
bows.

Strauss - “Di rigori armáto…” from Der Rosenkavalier

Richard Strauss collaborated with the respected author Hugo von Hofmannsthal to create the
immediately popular comic opera, Der Rosenkavalier, which premiered on January 26, 1911, at the Royal
Opera House in Dresden. Within the year, it was performed throughout Europe, including Vienna, Milan
(in Italian), and Prague (in Czech), and by 1913 had reached London and New York City. Most
performances received acclaim and praise; however, the Milanese premiere at La Scala was booed—the
musical elite considered its many waltzes appropriate only for dancing and ill-suited for opera. Der
Rosenkavlier is the most common Strauss opera performed today. The plot is a love story. Princess von
Werdenberg is having an affair with the youth Octavian, Count Rofrano (sung by a mezzo-soprano). The
Princess volunteers Octavian to bear the silver “engagement rose” on behalf of her older, boorish cousin
Baron Ochs, who is engaged to young Sophie, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. When Octavian and
Sophie meet, they fall in love, setting up the plot to thwart Ochs’ engagement. The Princess supports
Octavian and Sophie, who become engaged.
 The aria Di rigori armato il seno has no bearing on the opera’s plot progression; it appears near the
beginning of Act I as an excuse to include an Italian tenor aria. The Princess is holding her morning
reception in a palace room populated with servants, dressmakers, hairdressers, supplicants wanting
royal favors, and an Italian tenor who has come to entertain the princess. The orchestration for this aria
is less full than most of the opera and employs primarily bass instruments—cellos and bassoons—while
the majority of the treble-range instruments drop out, leaving only the horns and a dozen measures of
violin. This bass accompaniment places the tenor’s tessitura at the top of the soundscape. Only when the
tenor reaches his final held note do the flutes and violins return in force and soar above him.

Puccini - “Che gelida manina…” from La Bohème

La Bohème is an early verismo opera by Giacomo Puccini and librettists, Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi
Illica. Based on Henry Murger’s novel Scènes de la vie de bohème, the opera’s story is reminiscent of
Puccini’s own Milan conservatory days when “a lavish banquet was soup, cheese, and a half-liter of wine.”
Immediately popular with the public, La Bohème’s story reflects the real-life (perhaps slightly over-
dramatized) of lower-class society. Illica’s libretto departs from the rigidly poetic meter typical of Italian
opera up to this time, following a style closer to prose. As a joke, Giacosa called it, “illicasillabi” ( “Illica-
syllables”), but there is no doubt it better suits the new verismo style. La Bohème premiered in Turin in
1896 with Arturo Toscanini conducting.

Che gelida manina is heard in Act I. The opera opens with Rodolfo and two of his three artisan
roommates, shivering in their garret. When the fourth enters with wood, food, and money, three
roommates leave to celebrate, leaving Rodolfo. Opening the door to a timid knock, he meets Mimi seeking
a light for her candle. Mimi has a coughing fit, drops her key, and Rodolfo’s candle also goes out, leaving
the room pitch-dark. Rodolfo silently finds her key but continues crawling about the floor pretending to
search. He finds Mimi’s ice-cold hand and as he warms it introduces himself, singing che gelida manina
(“Your tiny hand is frozen”). This aria introduces two motives that Puccini associates with Rodolfo, its
opening motive, and the motive at the climax of the aria, Talor dal mio forziere…“Two beautiful eyes have
robbed the jewels from my strongbox.” The Talor dal mio motive represents their love. It reoccurs in the
following love duet and returns in Act III in the violins.

Bowen – Concerto in C minor for Viola and Orchestra, Op. 25

Lionel Tertis premiered York Bowen’s Viola Concerto in C Minor op. 25 on March 26, 1908, at a
London Philharmonic Society concert. Composed a year earlier, specifically for Tertis, the concerto
received generally positive reviews. It is in the Romantic style with first and third movements in modified
sonata form. Both movements introduce new thematic material in their recapitulations. The solo part
displays the full range of the viola, from the low C3 string to the A string’s A-flat 6, with harmonics that
extend the range to G7. The popularity of the Romantic style waned in England after World War I;
however, Bowen’s composing language remained Romantic, reflecting his stated preference for tonality
and melody.
Although his music continued to be performed, by the end of his career it was considered old-
fashioned. Bowen was also a professional pianist, and sufficiently proficient on viola, organ, and horn to
perform in public. During World War I he played horn in the Scots Guards regimental band, serving in
France.
Anecdotal evidence suggests he could play with some competence in virtually every orchestral
instrument, which underpinned his idiomatic writing for the orchestra.
Every movement of this concerto opens and closes in C minor, but each also modulates throughout,
visiting over ten keys by the end of the final movement. The opening Allegro assai introduces a
foreboding syncopated theme in the viola, echoed in the horns, and followed by a gentle, more lyrical
melody. Two additional themes are introduced later but the initial one prevails throughout this
movement. The second movement opens with a mysterious phrase in the orchestra that has only a
tenuous association with C minor and a brief flute solo recalling Debussy’s writing for the instrument in
Prélude a l’après-midi d’un faune. Bowen admired the music of both Debussy and Ravel. The third
movement contains the only cadenza of the concerto, an unusual placement for a single cadenza. This
concerto is technically demanding and requires stamina; the solo part contains many double-stops,
including octaves, and only five minutes of rest for the soloist in this thirty-five-minute work.

Program notes written by

Heidi I. Irgens