Welcome and thank you for joining the Lawrence Community Orchestra for our final performance of the season. Tonight is a musical exploration of spring with pieces by Schubert and Mozart. We hope you will be transported into their visions.
Tonight is also a special evening as it is our co-music director Matt Smith’s last performance with the orchestra and we are so grateful for all he has contributed over his tenure with the group. In the same evening, we welcome our guest conductor, Creston Herron. Spring brings both beauty and change and we hope you will be as entranced by the music as we are.
We hope to see you next season as we endeavor to bring exciting programs to the Lawrence community. This year has truly been extraordinary with a wonderful performance at the Lied Center in cooperation with Terence Blanchard, an Italian foray into our roots with Baroque by Candlelight, and our first 5k in which you had to Beat Beethoven. We appreciate your continued support of our wonderful local musicians and hope you enjoy tonight’s performance!
Janet Lynn Zuk
LCO Board President
PROGRAM
Symphony No. 8 in B minor, “Unfinished” (1822)
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
- I. Allegro Moderato
- II. Andante con moto
Brief Intermission
Symphony No. 25 in G minor (1773)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
- I. Allegro con brio
- II. Andante
- III. Menuetto & Trio
- IV. Allegro
Creston Herron, guest conductor
Dr. Matthew Smith is Interim Director of Bands and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in the University of Kansas School of Music. His responsibilities include conducting the Symphonic Band and teaching graduate conducting. He has also conducted the KU Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra on several occasions. Smith has held similar positions at Indiana University, Iowa State University, Baylor University, and the University of Michigan.
Raised in Fairfax, Virginia, Smith received his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After teaching in the Maryland public schools, he completed a master's degree in music education from the University of Michigan. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting from Michigan State University. During his time in Iowa, he frequently conducted the Central Iowa Symphony.
Smith is in frequent demand as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator, and has presented clinics and research in the United States and several European countries. He has been published in The Instrumentalist, the Journal of Band Research, Alta Musica, and the Teaching Music Through Performace in Band book series. He holds memberships in a number of professional music organizations.
Creston Herron currently serves as the Director of Orchestral Activities for the University of Kansas and also serves on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Camp as the Coordinator of Orchestras. Mr. Herron previously served as the Director of Fine Arts for the Klein Independent School District, Conductor of the Shepherd School of Music Coordinator of Orchestras, Director of Orchestras at Klein High School, and the Director of Orchestras for the Yes Prep Public Schools.
Mr. Herron’s recent engagements as a guest conductor include work with Regional and All-State ensembles in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, New Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee, and throughout Texas. He has also served on the summer faculty of the AFA Summer Music Festival, Stephen F. Austin University Summer Music Camp, and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Summer Music Clinic.
As a dedicated pedagogue, Mr. Herron enjoys working with current and future educators and young performers. He has presented masterclasses and guest lectures at The Midwest Clinic, Rice University, Shepherd School of Music, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, University of Houston, Moores School of Music, Sam Houston State University, Texas Tech University, The American String Teachers Association, The League of American Orchestras, and the NAMM Believe in Music Webinar Series. He also gives professional development workshops to educators locally and nationally and is involved in judging UIL competitions and solo and ensemble contests.
Mr. Herron has enjoyed national recognition both as an educator and musician with orchestras earning multiple national titles under his direction, including being named national winner of The American Prize, Grand Champions of the ASTA National Orchestra Festival, Texas Music Educators Association State Honor Orchestra, Grand Champions of the New York Orchestra Cup and invited group at the 75th Midwest Clinic held in Chicago, Illinois. Individually he has gained recognition for his work in music education as the Teacher of the Year at Klein High School, awarded the Marjorie Keller Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award by the state board of the Texas Chapter of ASTA, and the Spec’s Charitable Award for Excellence in Music Education awarded by the Houston Symphony.
Alongside his work as an educator, Mr. Herron continues to hone his performing skills as a violinist, having collaborated with artists such as Renee Fleming, Mark O’Connor, and Rachel Barton-Pine. He has performed with Da Camera of Houston, CCM Spoleto Festival in Italy, Galveston Symphony, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Pasadena Philharmonic, Eutiner Festspiele Opera in Eutin, Germany and the Houston Latin Philharmonic.
Creston Herron is a graduate of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, where he received his B.M. in music performance, Rice University, Shepherd School of Music in Houston, TX, where he received his M.M. on scholarship as a Provost Fellow and a Brown Scholar, and recently received an M.Ed in school leadership from Sam Houston State University.
Symphony No. 8 in B minor, “Unfinished”
The epitaph on Schubert’s tombstone reads: “The art of music has entombed here a rich treasure but even fairer hopes.” We all lament the “loss” of treasure that we never possessed, none perhaps more than great art that we presume may have come to pass but not for lives cut short in youth. We must remember that not all composers can live long productive lives like those enjoyed by Verdi and Strauss, for example. Often those who die young are nevertheless privileged to accomplish much, and Schubert, like Mozart, is exemplary. His short life was generally uneventful, and his personality still is somewhat lacking in vivid details for us today, but we do know that he lived and worked within a small circle of artists in various fields in Vienna. His was contemporaneous with Beethoven, but that master’s music exerted little influence upon Schubert; Haydn and Mozart were his models.
He wrote nine symphonies, but two of them have garnered the most prominence: The “Great C Major” symphony and the “Unfinished.” Many have claimed that the latter really is “finished,” (owing to its genius), and many others have actually finished it (Fools rush in . . .) by composing the missing last two movements in Schubert’s style. But, manifestly it is unfinished, but of such gripping quality and beauty that it really doesn’t matter. Ironically, it did not meet the light of day (literally) until 1865, when it was retrieved, almost as an afterthought, from an obscure personality’s desk drawer. Schubert never heard any of his symphonies played by a professional orchestra, and none of them were published in his lifetime. Yet, here is an iconic work of early Romanticism that lay undisturbed almost from the time of its composition in 1822. In many respects it manifests most of the technical characteristics (and I won’t bother you with those) of late Classical symphonies such as those of late Haydn and Mozart, and perhaps early Beethoven. The essence of this great work is more elusive: its dark and reflective tone, its stunning and novel combinations of subtle instrumental color, the characteristic and striking harmonic language—and, of course, the Schubertian melodies. Technical points pale beside these qualities—the “Unfinished” opens a new atmospheric sound world of Romanticism that is palpable beyond analysis.
--Wm. E. Runyan
© 2015 Wm. E. Runyan
Symphony No. 25 in G minor
Throughout his childhood, Mozart traveled throughout Europe with his overly zealous father, Leopold. The dad wanted to show off his wunderkind and make a lot of money. He also wanted to secure long-term employment for his son at some sort of aristocratic court.
The young Mozart’s travels enabled him to hear the new trends in music outside of his conservative hometown of Salzburg. One of those trends was the Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) style championed by Franz Joseph Haydn. It was a reaction to the cool rationalism of the Enlightenment and gave free expression to extreme emotion. Mozart tried his hand with Sturm und Drang on a trip to Italy in 1772 when he wrote the opera Lucio Silla for Milan (the audiences didn’t like it). In 1773, back in his hometown apparently for good, Mozart tried out Sturm und Drang in a symphony.
The Symphony No. 25 in G Minor is only one of two symphonies that Mozart wrote in a minor key. The opening of the first movement, with its syncopation, dramatic gestures, and plaintive oboe solo is, indeed, full of stormy emotion. A short secondary theme is light and airy; contrast is another hallmark of Sturm und Drang.
The second movement—in a major key—gives needed respite from all of the fury. Sighing melodic fragments make up the main theme of this movement, but it is not overly sad. Only briefly, in the middle of the movement, is there any real hint gloom. For the third movement, normally the lightest and cheeriest part of a symphony, a stark minor key returns. The central trio section uses only the woodwinds and horn. The style is happy, but not rambunctious. The final movement begins with the orchestra playing in unison in a hushed manner. Then, the fury of the storm returns.
©2018 John P. Varineau
LCO Personnel
Violin 1
- Kenya Patzer*, concertmaster
- Avery Parkhurst
- Nicole Limones
- Natalee Thomas
- Micah Steele
- Mallory Lysaught
Violin 2
- Russell Clark*
- Mandy Prosser
- Chelsea Troyer
- Kate Lammers
- Elaine Engstrom
- Katherine Lenz
- Erin Schramm
- Jeri Bridwell
Viola
- Alison Mayes*
- Kaitlyn Rohr
- Nick Erickson
- Melinda Flohr
- Heather Wisbey
- Laura McTavish
Cello
- Michele Bergman*
- Martha Barnhill
- Brett Lytle
- Kat Sterbenz
- Andrew Southwell
- Gavin Loesche
Bass
- Larry Rice*
- Jeff Dearinger
- J.J. Wallace
Flute
- Andy Fukasawa*
- Joy Laird
Oboe
- Chelsea Kanicsar*
- Melissa Smith
Bassoon
- Logan Bach*
- Emily Warren
Clarinet
- Larkin Sanders*
- Richie Galbreath
Horn
- Ethan Rogers*
- Jana Hitchcock
- Ella Griffin
- Hayden Pool
Trumpet
- Tyler McTavish*
- Shuyu Wang
Trombone
- Neal Purvis*
- Michael Serra
- Ellie White
Timpani
- Fofo Jackson
* = Section principal
About the LCO
Our Mission
The Lawrence Community Orchestra provides a dynamic experience where people of diverse backgrounds celebrate and appreciate orchestral music together, encouraging pride in their community.
Our Vision
The Lawrence Community Orchestra will be a catalyst in elevating the artistic and cultural scene in Lawrence.
The LCO Board
MUSIC DIRECTORS
- Rachel Dirks
- Matthew Smith
OFFICERS
- Janet Lynn Zuk, President
- Lee Anne Thompson, Vice President
- Joan Huber, Treasurer
- Lois Orth-Lopes, Secretary
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
- Alison Watkins
BOARD
- Ric Steele
- Kat Sterbenz
- Janella Williams
- Heather Wisbey
Where We've Been; Where We Are Going
The Lawrence Community Orchestra was born when Dr. Vernon Branson built a harpsichord for his wife Jessie after they were inspired by a chamber music concert at London’s St. Martin-in-the-Fields in 1970. Jessie invited a few string and wind musicians to play in her home. That group became the Lawrence Chamber Players, giving their first concert on April 30, 1972. Since then, the orchestra, which took the name Lawrence Chamber Orchestra in 1998, has performed under the direction of Charles Hoag, George Boberg, Daniel Politoske, Juan LaManna, Eric Williams, Steven McDonald, and several others.
Until its dissolution in 2011 the Kansas Arts Commission was a regular supporter of the orchestra. With the loss of those funds it became clear that the orchestra, as then constituted, was no longer sustainable. In 2013 the board decided to reorganize. Our Mother’s Day concert in May 2014, introduced the reorganized orchestra featuring new music directors, many new musicians who hail from Lawrence, a larger ensemble, a broader repertoire, and plans for more frequent concerts. These changes remain in evidence in today’s concert. Throughout the orchestra’s fifty-year history, however, what has not changed is the continuing commitment to the goals of those who gathered in Jessie Branson’s living room 50 years ago: to provide fine music for the enjoyment both of those who perform it and those who come to hear it.
LCO Contact Information
info@lawrenceorchestra.org
Support the LCO
Contributors
The Lawrence Community Orchestra is grateful to these individuals and businesses who have contributed in the period January 1, 2023 - April 27, 2024. Thank you!
BENEFACTORS
- Marilyn Epp
- Marilyn and LaVerne Epp
- Dick and Sue Himes
- Steve Lopes and Lois Orth-Lopes
- Oliver and Rebecca Finney
PATRONS
- Diana Ice
- Allan and Louise Hanson
- Joan Huber
- Office Helpline
SUSTAINERS
- Joyce Castle
- Kim Manz
- Janice Nicklaus
- John and Christina Varberg
- Lee and Tandy Reussner
- Michele Bergman and Amos Hargrave
- Lee Anne Thompson
SUBSCRIBERS
- David and Mary Kate Ambler
- Robert and Lynn Basow
- Catherine Campbell
- Jeff and Beth Dearinger
- Elaine Engstrom
- Kelly and Todd Foos
- Robert and Rebecca Foster
- Vince and Jane Gnojek
- John Holtz
- Lesley Ketzel
- Carol and David Kyner
- Paul R. Jordan
- Alison Langham
- Linda and John Lungstrum
- Robert and Anita Markley
- Renee Patzer
- John and Valerie Roper
- Ric and Carol Steele
- John and Patricia Solbach
- D. Jerrye and Tim Van Leer
SUPPORTERS
- Lawrence and Lynne Bodle
- Mary Head
- Michael Hemme
- Stuart Johnson and Lyne Tumlinson
- Judy and Larry Hathaway
- Amy Kelly
- E. Denise Machell
- Donald and Alice Ann Johnston
- Mary Matthews
- Larry and Linda Maxey
- Jeremy Osbern
- Edward Rockhold
- Katharine and Richard Schowen
- Njeri L Shomari
- Celia and Robert Smith
- George and Terry Smith
- Blair Tarr
- Laura VanSickle-Deavours
- Barbara L Watkins
- Susan E Weimer