Voices of Women October 5, 2024

Repertoire

Changing Faces

• Fresh Face
• Face Lift!
• Blue in the Face
• Face the Music
• Face Off

Alyssa Morris

City Beautiful

Ingrid Stölzel

Heidi Gluck, Singer and Songwriter

Better Homes and Garden

Heidi Gluck

Orchestration by Alan Bell

Little Green

Joni Mitchell

Orchestration by Alan & Andrew Bell

Planes Fly Low

Heidi Gluck

Orchestration by Andrew Bell

Sponsored by the John Varberg Family in Honor of Linda Varberg

Intermission

Symphony No. 1 in E Minor

• Allegro ma non troppo
• Largo, maestoso
• Juba Dance: Allegro
• Finale: Presto

Florence Price (1887 – 1953)

PROGRAM NOTES

Alyssa Morris (b. 1984) has delighted audiences around the world with her “exceptional” and “soulful” musicianship (Fanfare.) American Record Guide describes her playing as “stunning,” exhibiting “unmistakable…virtuosity.” Alyssa serves as Associate Professor of Oboe and Music Theory at Kansas State University, and as the principal oboist of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of the Smoky Valley, and a member of AGLOW Trio. She has appeared as a soloist in venues throughout the United States, Scandinavia, the British Isles, and Western Europe. She performed as a concerto soloist at the Kennedy Center, and with the Topeka Symphony in a performance of her original concerto Dreamscape. Alyssa was a recitalist at the 2014, 2016, and 2018 International Double Reed Conventions in New York City, Columbus, Georgia, and Granada, Spain, and a featured performer at the 2021 Virtual International Double Reed Symposium. Alyssa has been a featured performer and composer on National Public Radio’s program “Performance Today,” and live on Kansas Public Radio’s program “Classical Music in the Morning.”

As a composer, Alyssa’s chamber music is performed extensively around the world. Alyssa was a recipient of an International Barlow Composition Commission, and she was the Composer-In-Residence for the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra’s 2020-2021 season. Her music has been presented at several International Double Reed Conventions, the Japan Double Reed Society Convention, the National Flute Association Convention, the National Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest, and the Society of Composers Inc. National Convention.

Alyssa has been commissioned to write music for the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, the U.S. Air Force Woodwind Quintet, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, Dr. Mark Ostoich (University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music), the Sundance Trio (Brigham Young University), and Carolyn Hove (principal English horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic), to name a few.

Alyssa earned her BM and MM degrees in oboe performance at Brigham Young University, where she studied with Dr. Geralyn Giovannetti. She earned her DMA in oboe performance with a cognate in composition at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she studied with Dr. Mark Ostoich, Dwight Parry, and Lon Bussell. She lives in Kansas with her husband and two children. They enjoy exploring the beautiful midwestern prairies together.

Composer Ingrid Stölzel (b.1971) has been described as having “a gift for melody” (San Francisco Classical Voice) and creating work that is “richly introspective” (BBC Music Magazine) and “downright beautiful” (American Record Guide). Equally at home writing for orchestra, choir, wind ensemble and chamber ensembles, her exquisitely crafted compositions are united in the belief that music can create profound emotional connections with the listener.

A melodist at heart, Stölzel’s compositions have been commissioned and performed by leading ensembles and soloists across the globe, including the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, American Wild Ensemble, Volti San Francisco, NAVO, Boston New Music Initiative, Juventas New Music Ensemble, New Morse Code, pianists Eunmi Ko, Yi-Yang Chen and Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Stanislav Ioudenitch, to name a few. Her works have been performed in some of the world’s most revered concert halls and festivals, including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Kennedy Center, Seoul Arts Center, Thailand International Composition Festival, Beijing Modern Music Festival (China), Vox Feminae Festival (Israel), Dot the Line Festival (South Korea), Ritornello Chamber Music Festival (Canada), and many festivals in the United States such as the Festival of New Music at Florida State, Festival of New American Music, Bowling Green State University New Music Festival, and SoundOn Festival of Modern Music.

Stölzel is the recipient of numerous international composition prizes, among them recently the Winds Composition Contest Saxony, Accademia Musica Arte Teatro Competition, the Suzanne and Lee Ettelson Composer’s Award, Red Note Composition Competition, the Robert Avalon International Competition for Composers, and the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra Competition. Her music has received support from New Music USA, National Endowment for the Arts, Mid-America Arts Alliance, Meet the Composer, and Women’s Philharmonic.

Stölzel was born and raised in Germany and moved to the United States in 1991. She holds a DMA in composition from the University of Missouri, Conservatory of Music and Dance in Kansas City and a Master of Music in Composition from the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. Stölzel is Associate Professor of Composition at the University of Kansas School of Music. Before joining the University of Kansas School of Music, she served as Director of the International Center for Music at Park University.

Florence Beatrice Price (1887 – 1953) was an American classical composer, pianist, organist and music teacher. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price was educated at the New England Conservatory of Music, completing a four-year degree in piano and organ in only three years. She was an active musician and composer in Chicago from 1927 until her death in 1953. Price is noted as the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra — Symphony No. 1 in E Minor by the Chicago Symphony. Price composed over 300 works: four symphonies, four concertos, as well as choral works, art songs, chamber music and music for solo instruments. In 2009, a substantial collection of her works and papers was found in her abandoned summer home in South Chicago.

Price’s training at the New England Conservatory by George Chadwick familiarized her with the compositional style of Antonín Dvořák. This Czech composer had set the standard for American-style symphonic texture by taking inspiration from African American spirituals and Native American folk song, most famously in his Symphony No. 9 “From the New World.” Price’s teacher, Chadwick, was a member of the “Boston Six” cohort of American nationalist composers who continued to develop what became the quintessential American orchestral sound of the early twentieth century. He encouraged Price to explore the use of spirituals and other African American musical idioms in her compositions. Price seemed particularly fond of the Juba dance, which appeared not only in her first but also her third symphonies.

After its premier in 1933, Price’s Symphony No. 1 was performed infrequently. What might have contributed to this neglect is the fact that the Symphony was not published until 2008; all previous performances relied on manuscripts and photostats. Price’s Symphony has recently enjoyed new popularity among American orchestras. In 2019 the Symphony (or excerpts of the Symphony) were performed seventy-one times by orchestras across the country, including the National Symphony Orchestra.

Heidi Lynne Gluck is a Canadian-born singer-songwriter who calls Lawrence, Kansas home. She is a versatile multi-instrumentalist, playing bass, keys, vocals, guitar, accordion and lap steel.

Heidi has collaborated live and in studio with dozens of musicians, including Tom Brousseau, John C Reilly, Juliana Hatfield, Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s, The Roseline, Lily and Madeleine, and many more.

She’s been featured on The Moth, The Great American Folk Show, The Mystery Hour and NPR live sessions. Her songs have been placed in film and tv, including Tig Notaro’s hit show, ‘One Mississippi’.

She has recorded three albums. Her most recent was released in 2024, called ‘Migrate Or Die.’

Linda Varberg

(1960-2015)

Beloved and admired wife, mother, sister, daughter, aunt, and friend Linda Rose (Farhart) Varberg was born on May 9, 1960 in Stanley, North Dakota. She married John Bruce Varberg on June 6, 1981 in Ross, North Dakota. A graduate of Stanley High School, she attended the University of North Dakota and earned a B.S. in Business Administration in 1982. At the University of Kansas, she went on to earn an M.B.A. in Human Resources in 1986 and completed a year of coursework toward a Master’s in Social Welfare in 1989. She served as Assistant Director for Administration at the Applied English Center at KU until 1996. She completed her coursework and was certified in Therapeutic Massage at Johnson County Community College in 2001 and for several years had a massage therapy practice in Lawrence. Linda worked with the Education Outreach Program at the Community Mercantile until she was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2011. She was a volunteer massage therapist with the Parkinson’s Disease Support Group and Douglas County VNA & Hospice Care.

WILLOW DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CENTER

The Lawrence Community Orchestra is proud to partner with the Willow Domestic Violence Center for this concert. The Willow serves all survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. The Willow is a safe space to regroup and rebuild for all survivors. From shelter and safety planning to new housing, transportation, and employment, the Willow offers referrals and services to survivors, as well as educational opportunities for our communities.

LETTER FROM THE LCO BOARD PRESIDENT

Welcome and thank you for joining the Lawrence Community Orchestra for a special performance to celebrate the Voices of Women through music and through our community. Musically tonight we will explore those voices through composers Alyssa Morris, Ingrid Stolzel, and Florence Price, and with a special performance by Lawrence adoptee, Heidi Gluck performing two of her original works and a piece by Joni Mitchell adapted for Orchestra.

Tonight, we are very pleased to recognize a special voice and friend of the Lawrence Community Orchestra, Linda Varberg. Throughout her life, Linda and her husband John supported the LCO in numerous ways. We honor her for the work she did in the Lawrence community, and on behalf of the LCO.

Music always creates a shared community and it is a privilege to raise the voices of women in the month that seeks to bring awareness to Domestic Violence. Please feel free to learn more about another local organization, the Willow Center Domestic Violence Center, who has a table with information in the Narthex.

You will also notice we have some wonderful artwork on display from some delightful artists at the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence sharing their vision of what makes Lawrence so wonderful.

As always, we are grateful to your continued support of our wonderful local musicians. This season is going to be something special and we look forward to sharing with you all that it has to offer. Enjoy the evening and the Voices of Women.

Janet Lynn Zuk, LCO board president

BOYS & GIRLS CLUB ART EXHIBIT

Inspired by Ingrid Stölzel's piece "City Beautiful," the Lawrence Community Orchestra invited Boys & Girls Club kids to create pictures about what they love about Lawrence. The young artists expressed their feelings about their community in art on exhibit in the Narthex.

LCO Personnel

Violin 1

• Kenya Patzer**
• Nick Ericks
• Elena Kolbrek
• Natalee Thomas
• Mallory Lysaught
• Micah Hull

Violin 2

• Russell Clark*
• Bridget O’Neill
• Nicole Limones
• Chelsea Troyer
• Katherine Lenz
• Elaine Engstrom
• Emma McGinnis

Viola

• Alison Mayes*
• Blair Williams
• Kaitlyn Rohr
• Laura McTavish
• Heather Wisbey
• Melinda Flohr

Cello

• Michele Bergman*
• Martha Barnhill
• Mariah Barnett
• Brett Lyttle
• Kat Sterbenz
• Ansley Floyd

Bass

• Larry Rice*
• Breta Bloomberg
• Kiana Jackson

Flute

• Annie Davidson*
• Andy Fukasawa

Oboe

• Emily Foltz*
• Chelsea Kanicsar

Clarinet

• Larkin Sanders*
• Richie Galbreath

Bassoon

• Logan Bach*
• Mackie Thomas

Horn

• Brooklynne McGonagle*
• Jana Hitchcock
• Ethan Rogers
• Robert Dinsdale

Trumpet

• Tyler McTavish*
• Jared Cote
• Oscar Haro

Trombone

• Neal Purvis*
• Mike Serra
• PJ Kelley

Tuba

• Dave Swanson

Timpani

• Fofo Jackson

Percussion

• Colin Watgen
• Jessie Solorzano

Piano

• Connor Jones

**Concert Master

*Section Principal