2024

EASTERN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
RICH HERITAGE OLD & NEW

PROGRAM
Suite of Dances......................................................................................Florence Price
(1887 – 1953)
I. Allegretto
II. Allegretto
III. Allegro molto
Conducted by Cameron Craig, Graduate Conducting Assistant
Caro Nome che il mio cor....................................................................Giuseppe Verdi

(1813 – 1901)
From Rigoletto
Jemma Allen, Soprano solo
Ten Lasky Sen....................................................................................Bedřich Smetana

(1824 – 1884)
From The Bartered Bride
Honor Baker, Mezzo-soprano solo
Umoja...............................................................................................Valerie Coleman
(b. 1970 )
–Intermission–
Afro American Symphony.................................................................William Grant Still

(1895 – 1978)
I. Moderato assai “Longing”
II. Adagio “Sorrow”
III. Animato “Humor”
IV. Lento, con risoluzione “Aspiration”
ESO PERSONNEL
Violin I Bass Trumpet
Dr. Ji-Myung Kim Andrey Gonçalves Conner Sanders
Kaylin Richey Evan Irvin Emily Thorpe
Eva Miller Matt Chesner
Basia Latawiec Flutes
Karen Swenson Isaac Navarro Trombone
Laurel Swenson-Hultz Meysam Ghodraty Daniel Torres
Alene Maxstadt (Picc) Sam Sennet
Violin II Garrett Wright
Eun Namkung Oboe
Chronicle Nagel Aaron Wilbert Tuba
Kaity Parker Caden VanSwol
Trixie Brantley Ethan Schobernd
Emily Bales Oboe 2/English Horn Percussion
Terry Coulton Alex Drews
Judy Barford Clarinet Gary C. Reed
Leila Hanley Cheyenne Brickner
Viola Emily Dooley
Hanna Rietz Addie Willis Piano/Keyboard
Dominika Targosz Reynol Oyervides Bart Rettberg
Ruth Riegel
Elaine Fine Bassoon Vocal Soloists
Tanya Reed Jay Dawson Jemma Allen
Prof. Annie K. Mason Honor Baker
Cello
Barbara Hedlund French Horn
Mikayla Todd Daniel Mack
Bill Schultz Jay Larson
Jennifer Murphy Smith Lea Humphreys
Robert Hauser
Jeri Hughes
FOR TICKETS TO FUTURE EVENTS

Call the Doudna Fine Arts Center Box Office at 217-581-3110! The Box Office is open
Tuesday - Friday 11:00am - 5:00pm and one hour prior to every ticketed event. You can
also visit www.doudnatix.com and purchase/print your tickets at home and skip the line
all together!
PROGRAM NOTES
Suite of Dances
Florence Price (1887-1953)
Florence Price is remembered as the first black American woman to garner success as a
symphonic composer. After marriage she and her husband left the racially troubled
Arkansas for Chicago in 1927 and attended the American Conservatory of Music to
further her studies in composition.
Originally written for piano titled “Three Little Negro Dances” in 1933, the dances were
orchestrated in 1950. The three dances, “Rabbit Foot,” “Hoe Cake,” and “Ticklin’ Toes,”
are characteristic of the Southern Black folk tunes of her youth.
Caro Nome, che il mio cor...

Giuseppe Verdi (1813 – 1901)
This famous aria from Verdi’s opera, Rigoletto, is sung by Gilda, daughter of Rigoletto,
court jester to the Duke of Mantua. The beautiful young girl has been shielded from the
evils of the court by her father – above all from the eyes of the Duke, a womanizer without
scruple. Despite her father’s efforts, Gilda has encountered the Duke and fallen into ‘first
love.’ Her infatuation is the core of the opera’s tragedy, and in this aria we hear all the
pure, idealized love the innocent feels toward the heartless scoundrel. Sung in Italian.
Ten Lasky Sen

Bedřich Smetana (1824 – 1884)
Mařenka is the titular character of Smetana’s comic opera, The Bartered Bride – a work
that established the composer as the founder of Czech national music. The plot is centered
around her parents’ plans to marry her to an unknown in an arranged marriage – though
she is in love with Jenik. In the third act she believes (incorrectly) that she has been
betrayed by Jenik’s selling the rights to her marriage to another man, and she expresses
her grief and disillusionment. Turns out he was selling the rights to himself but had not
warmed Mařenka. No worries - happy ending! Sung in Czech.
PROGRAM NOTES
UMOJA: Anthem of Unity
Valerie Coleman (born 1970)
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Valerie Coleman is an African American composer and

GRAMMY-nominated flutist, named Performance Today’s 2020 “Classical Woman of the
Year” and highlighted in the “Top 35 Women Composers” by The Washington Post.
In its original form, Umoja, the Swahili word for Unity and the first principle of the African
Diaspora holiday Kwanzaa, was composed as a simple song for women’s choir. It
embodied a sense of ‘tribal unity, through the feel of a drum circle, the sharing of history
through traditional “call and response” form and the repetition of a simple melody.
“Listen my people,
Children of ALL
It’s time for Unity
Hear the Winds Call.
Oh a-hum, a-hum Nkosi ah…
Oh a-hum, a-hum Nkosi ah…”
It was rearranged into a woodwind quintet during the genesis of Coleman’s chamber
music ensemble, Imani Winds, with the intent of providing an anthem that celebrated the
diverse heritages of the ensemble itself.
Almost two decades later from the original, the orchestral version brings an expansion
and sophistication to the short and sweet melody, beginning with sustained ethereal
passages that float and shift from a bowed vibraphone, supporting the introduction of
the melody by solo violin. Here the melody is sweetly singing in its simplest form with
an earnest reminiscent of Appalachian style music. From there, the melody dances and
weaves throughout the instrument families, interrupted by dissonant viewpoints led by the
brass and percussion sections, which represent the clash of injustices, racism and hate
that threatens to gain a foothold in the world today. Spiky textures turn into an aggressive
exchange between upper woodwinds and percussion, before a return to the melody as a
gentle reminder of kindness and humanity. Through the brass led ensemble, the journey
ends with a bold call of unity that harkens back to the original anthem.
“This version honors the simple melody that ever was but is now a full exploration into
themeaning of freedom and unity. Now more than ever, Umoja has to ring as a strong
and beautiful anthem for the world we live in today.” (Valerie Coleman)
PROGRAM NOTES
Afro-American Symphony (Symphony No. 1 in A flat)
William Grant Still (1895-1978)
William Grant Still was an African American composer of nearly two hundred works,
including ballets, symphonies, chamber ensembles, and choral works. His first symphony,
“Afro-American Symphony,” was originally composed in 1930, and revised in 1969.
The work is in traditional symphonic form, incorporating blues progressions and rhythms
characteristic of African American music of the time. Themes and organization are
rhapsodic in character, resulting in a highly emotional work. Still composed it in just
three months, during a time when he had no work, based on sketches made previously in
1924. Still commented: “I seek in the ‘Afro-American Symphony’ to portray ... the sons of
the soil, who still retain so many of the traits peculiar to their African forebears...”
The symphony was inspired by a series of poems written by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-
1906) whose parents were former slaves during the American Civil War. (In his notebook
Still gave subtitles to the movements, indicated here in parentheses.)
I. Moderato assai (“Longing”)

“All my life long twell de night has pas’
Let de wo’k come ez it will,
So dat I fin’ you, my honey, at last’,
Somewhaih des ovah de hill.”
II. Adagio (“Sorrow”)

“It’s moughty tiahsome layin’ ‘roun’
Dis sorrer-laden earfly groun’,
An’ oftentimes I thinks, thinks I
‘Twould be a sweet t’ing des to die
An’ go ‘long home.”
III. Animato (“Humor”)

“An’ we’ll shout ouah halleluyahs,
On dat might reck’nin’ da.”
PROGRAM NOTES
IV. Lento, con risoluzione (“Aspiration”)
“Be proud, my Race, in mind and soul.
Thy name is writ on Glory’s scroll
In characters of fire.
High mid the clouds of Fame’s bright sky
Thy banner’s blazoned folds now fly,
And truth shall lift them higher.”
Upon the completion of his first symphony Still commented, “He who develops his God-
given gifts with view to aiding humanity, manifests truth.”
Program notes by Cameron Craig
JEMMA ALLEN
Jemma is a senior vocal performance and vocal music education double major. Jemma
has been a musician for most of their life. They started piano lessons at the age of two
and instantly fell in love with music. Jemma was born and raised in Charlotte, North Car-
olina but has called Illinois home for seven years now. They plan on pursuing a master’s
degree in vocal performance upon graduation at Eastern Illinois University.
FRIENDS OF DOUDNA
Concourse Level
Doug & Joann Meyer
Mary Lou Hubbard
Don Dawson
Severson Family
Tim & Melanie Mills
Dvorak Level
Michael & Barbara Watts
Stacy Lynn
D O U D N A S TA F F
Doudna Crew Doudna Front of House
Hannah Wellbaum - GA June Giffin
Piper Rhoads Laura Severson
Estela Guzman Makayla McPhedran
Zak Wagner Abbey Vollmer
Honor Baker Caylee Conway
Christian Hopper Emily Ritter
Connor Mellott Jay Dawson
Karrin Estes Gage Matthews
Andrew Powell Ethan Schobernd
Maelee Greenwood Corbin Cox
Taylor Ratliff Isabella Gullotta
Caden VanSwol Peyton Hayes
Molly Neff

2024

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EASTERN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

RICH HERITAGE OLD & NEW

Conducted by Cameron Craig, Graduate Conducting Assistant

Caro Nome che il mio cor....................................................................Giuseppe Verdi

Ten Lasky Sen....................................................................................Bedřich Smetana

Afro American Symphony.................................................................William Grant Still

FOR TICKETS TO FUTURE EVENTS

Caro Nome, che il mio cor...

Ten Lasky Sen

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Valerie Coleman is an African American composer and

I. Moderato assai (“Longing”)

II. Adagio (“Sorrow”)

III. Animato (“Humor”)

Program notes by Cameron Craig

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