Sunday, March 4, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.

West Middle School West Middle Avenue

Binghamton, NY 13905

“Music Lasts a Lifetime”“Music Lasts a Lifetime” Annual STMTA Concerto Competition Winners Concert

Featuring:

Emily Bartz, flute &

Amanda Schmitz, viola

Conducted by:

Dr. Jeffrey Jacobsen

Spring Concert

Saturday, May 5th, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

Sarah Jane Johnson Church 308 Main Street, Johnson City, NY

Music Program:

Hailstork - Intrada

Wagner - Siegfried Idyll

Moulds - Egloga

Kalinnikov - Symphony No. 1 in G minor

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First Friday events, too!

For more information on the BCO, please visit:

BinghamtonCommunityOrchestra.org

BCO Angels (January 2011 to present)

Major Contributors

($500 & over) Ron & Carol Miles

Barry & Joanne Peters

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Benefactors

($300 -$499) Jeff Barker & Carol Smith

Cecily O’Neil &

John Patterson

Lee & Julian Shepherd

Renee Yang

Shelemyahu & Hanna

Zacks

Patrons

($100-$299) Lynn & Allyson Aylesworth

David & Christy Banner

Norma Barsamian (In

memory of John Hagopian)

Adrienne Bennett

Linda Best

Robert & Shirley Best

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Gary & Mary Cole

Laura & Robert Crounse

Robin DeSantis

Doug & Mary Diegert

Mary A. Diegert

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Karl Frandke

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The Gregory Keeler Family

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Alicia & Karl Kuehn

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Myers

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John & Valery Nist)

Theresa O’Connell

Richard & Ellen Petrisko

Nathan Raboy

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John & Diane Runion

John Ruth

Steven Shultz

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Sponsors

($50-$99) George & Sally Akel

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Leonard Levine)

Eric Donaldson

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Karen Goodman

Steven & Laura Hine

Joanne Kieffer

Herbert & Janet Landow

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Corrine O’Leary

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John & Laura Solan

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(Up to $49) Anonymous (In memory

of L. Gay Stannard)

Kyle Brown

Norman & Dorthy Burns

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George Cowburn

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Richard Heinrich

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Dennis Leipold & Jane Shear

Joanne Maniago

Dr. & Mrs. Roger Ratchford

Leeland Roseboom

Conrad & Marilyn Ross

William & Rosemarie Snyder

Selma Spector

Stephen Stalker

Carl Stannard

Nina & Randy Stutzman

Myrna Webb

Allen & Nancy Ziebur

BCO Angels (January 2011 to present)

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The BCO wishes to thank our volunteers who donate

their time and talent in service to the orchestra. We offer many

opportunities for volunteering. If you are interested in getting

involved with the BCO, please contact any board member or

orchestra member.

In addition to our Board of Directors, we offer thanks to

our volunteer leadership as listed below:

Advertising Committee Mary Diegert & Carol Smith

Concert Recording Harold Bartz & Betsy Bartz

Grant Writer Jeff Barker

House Manager Heather Roseboom

Librarian Emily Creo

Program Committee Jonathan Lewis & Beth Lewis

Publicity Chair Rebecca Sheriff

Reception Chairs Amy Saeger & Kelsey Tombs

Stage Managers Peter Roseboom, John Ruth,

and Lynn Aylesworth

BCO Board of Directors

Laura Hine, President David Banner, Vice-President

Carol Smith, Secretary Mary Diegert, Treasurer

Jeffrey Jacobsen Nathan Raboy

Jonathan Lewis Heather Roseboom

Barry Peters Peter Roseboom

Joanne Peters Rebecca Sheriff

Thank you to the BCO Board of Directors, Binghamton

City School District, Donna Tarsia, Binghamton High School

& West Middle School Custodial Staff, Laura Hine, Joel

Smales, Melanie Valencia, Southern Tier Music Teachers As-

sociation, Holly Milano, Brenda Dawe, Nina Stutzman, Gail &

Katie Markstein.

Special thanks to Linda Best and Tamara Nist for their years

of service to the BCO’s Board of Directors. We appreciate all

of their time and effort on behalf of the orchestra!

The

Binghamton Community

Orchestra

is pleased welcome

Dr. Jeff Jacobsen as

our new Music Director.

We look forward to a long,

exciting, and fun-filled

collaboration with Dr. Jacobsen.

Welcome Jeff

David L. Banner

Registered Patent Agent

P.O. Box 8859

Endwell, NY 13762

Patent Searches, Patent Applications,

Patent Prosecution

Dear Audience:

Welcome to our annual STMTA Concerto Competition Winners Con-

cert featuring Emily Bartz performing the Chaminade Concertino for

Flute and Amanda Schmitz performing the Bloch Suite Hebriaque for

Viola. Both soloists have been working with the orchestra on a regular

basis since January and I am sure you will be impressed with the great

talent these young musicians display and delighted with the way the

orchestra accompanies them during this performance. The concert will

open with Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and close with a series of Sla-

vonic Dances by Dvořák.

We had a wonderful time at the Oakdale Mall last week, performing for

a gracious crowd which warmed our hearts with their enthusiastic ap-

plause. It was a great experience for the orchestra; exposed the shop-

pers to the Binghamton Community Orchestra; and helped to build the

awareness of this great ensemble in the eyes of the public. We look

forward to more outreach concerts in venues across the region.

Our final concert will be the first weekend of May and will feature:

Intrada by Adolphus Hailstork; Siegfried Idyll by Richard Wagner;

Égloga by R. A. Moulds (Premiere Performance); and the Symphony

No. 1 in G minor by Vassili Kalinnikov.

The Board of the Binghamton Community Orchestra has a number of

great initiatives working for next season and we have hopes of collabo-

rating with a number of local arts groups to present combined works

featuring a wide range of musical experiences for our audience mem-

bers. I am excited about the future for the BCO and look forward to

working with this incredible group of dedicated musicians.

As always, I am delighted you are here to enjoy this wonderful music

and this fantastic ensemble and look forward to many more experiences

with you and the orchestra!

Sincerely,

Jeff Jacobsen Music Director

Dr. Jeffrey Jacobsen, Conductor

Overture to Egmont, Op. 84 Ludwig van Beethoven

(1770-1827)

Rhapsodie Ernest Bloch (from Suite Hébraïque for Viola and Orchestra) (1880-1959)

Featuring: 2011 STMTA Winner Amanda Schmitz, viola

Concertino for Flute and Orchestra Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944)

Featuring: 2011 STMTA Winner Emily Bartz, flute

~intermission~

Guest Speaker Mr. Robin Linaberry

Slavonic Dances, Op. 46 Antonín Dvorák

(1841-1904)

I. Furiant

IV. Sousedská

VII. Skočná

VIII. Furiant

Funding is provided, in part, by a project grant from the United Cultural Fund, a program of the

Broome County Arts Council.

Our Conductor Dr. Jeffrey Jacobsen Dr. Jacobsen is a sought-after conductor and

clinician who has been invited to conduct orchestras at

national and international music festivals and camps. He

currently serves as Director of Orchestral Activities and

Opera at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania and has

recently been appointed as Music Director of the Bing-

hamton (NY) Community Orchestra. He has conducted

numerous All-State and All-Region Honor Orchestras in the United States and

Canada as well as professional orchestras in Europe. Dr. Jacobsen served for five

seasons as the Music Director of the Orchestra of the Pines in Nacogdoches/

Lufkin, Texas, and Director of Orchestral Activities and Opera at Stephen F. Aus-

tin State University. He founded and served as Music Director of the Blue Valley

Chamber Orchestra, a regional orchestra in the Kansas City area. Jacobsen was

affiliated with the Youth Symphony of Kansas City, initially as the Music Director

of the Symphonette and later as Music Director of the Philharmonic East Orches-

tra. He taught in public schools in Overland Park, Kansas, Boulder, Colorado and

Williamsburg, Virginia.

Dr. Jacobsen's ensembles have performed at state music conventions, and

national and international music festivals. These same ensembles consistently

earned highest ratings at competitive festivals and, at several, Dr. Jacobsen was

named outstanding director. He received the Mary Taylor Award for Excellence

in Classroom Teaching at Boulder High School and was featured twice on the

KCNC-TV's "Teachers Who Make a Difference" series. Jacobsen was the Boulder

Valley School nominee for the Sallie Mae National Teachers Award, received the

Teacher Recognition Award from the University of Kansas, and was named the

Outstanding High School Orchestra Director for the Northeast District of the Kan-

sas Music Educators Association.

Dr. Jacobsen received a Master of Science degree in music education

with a secondary emphasis in performance from the University of North Dakota

and a Doctorate of Music Education degree with a secondary emphasis in jazz

pedagogy from the University of Northern Colorado. Dr. Jacobsen was selected

for the American Symphony Orchestra League Donald Thulean conducting work-

shop with the Detroit Civic Orchestra. He was invited to the International Con-

ducting Workshop in the Czech Republic and has taken post-doctoral studies in

conducting at Northwestern University, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the

universities of Iowa, Illinois State and South Carolina. His instructors include

William LaRue Jones, Kirk Trevor, Mariusz Smolij, Kirk Muspratt, Tsung Yeh,

and Marvin Rabin.

As a professional musician, Dr. Jacobsen has served as principal bassist

of numerous ensembles, including the Tabor Opera Company (Denver) and the

Liberty Symphony Orchestra (Missouri). Jacobsen is currently Principal Bassist

of Millennium Orchestra and a recording artist for Naxos and ERM. He per-

formed on a regular basis in the jazz clubs of Williamsburg, Kansas City and Den-

ver, and along with other members of the ensemble, received a Grammy Award

nomination for the jazz recording "Hot IV."

Emily Bartz Emily Bartz is a home-schooled high school junior

and has been playing flute for six years. She has been an

active member of the Binghamton Youth Symphony Senior

Orchestra for three and a half years, and participates in sev-

eral competitions and recitals. She earned Honorable Men-

tion in the New York State Music Teachers Association Em-

pire State Competition, High School Instrumental Division

last fall. She has also played NYSSMA solos for a few years; last year she did

level 6 solos for piano, piccolo, and flute, earning a 98, 100, and 100 respec-

tively. Last spring, she competed in the Southern Tier Music Teachers’ Asso-

ciation High School Music Competition, where she came in first place in the

woodwinds/brass/percussion category, and tied for 1st place in the Winners’

Recital. Now she is honored to be playing a solo concerto with the Bing-

hamton Community Orchestra. Emily would like to thank her flute teacher

Nina Stutzman, BYSO director Barry Peters, family, and friends for their love

and support.

Amanda Schmitz Violist, Amanda Schmitz, a senior at Union-

Endicott High School, is pleased and excited to be perform-

ing with the BCO. Amanda’s musical accomplishments

include performing in several BCMEA All-County Orches-

tras and Area All-State Orchestras, NYASTA String Insti-

tute at Ithaca College, and the New York State Summer

School of the Arts School of Orchestral Studies at Skidmore

College and Saratoga Performing Arts Center. She has

been a long-standing member of the Binghamton Youth

Symphony Orchestra, first joining the Junior Orchestra in 2005 and then the

Senior Orchestra in 2009, and joined the Binghamton Community Orchestra

this year. She has performed in several pit orchestras for musicals at Union-

Endicott, and also at Maine-Endwell. This year’s musical will be her fifth

show. Amanda has been adjudicated in NYSSMA for several years and last

year competed in the STMTA High School Music Competition, winning a

place in the Winners’ Recital, and selected as a winner in the Concerto Com-

petition, and is now honored to perform. Amanda’s dream has been to per-

form this concerto with a full orchestra and she is very happy to realize that

dream, and to share it with her peers, teachers, family, friends and her commu-

nity.

Amanda also plays alto saxophone, and is a member of the Teen Jazz

Project and the Endicott Community Band. She has been a long-standing

member of her high school marching band and serves as woodwind captain,

music leader and treasurer, as well as a long-standing member of her high

school jazz band and concert band.

Continued >

Amanda Schmitz (cont.) She has also participated in BCMEA All-County Band and Jazz Band,

and NYSSMA for saxophone ensembles and major organization festivals with

her high school band. Amanda loves jazz just as much as classical music.

Outside of music, Amanda is a member of the Spanish Club and Key Club,

and is hosting her 2nd exchange student from Korea, learning the Korean lan-

guage and sharing a cultural exchange.

Amanda wishes to thank the BCO for allowing her to work and per-

form with them, as she will miss everyone when she goes to college next year.

She wishes to attend the School of Music at Ithaca College with a dual major

in music performance and education. She would like to especially thank her

parents, grandparents, and teachers Laura Hine and Shari Rivenburg for all of

their help and support.

Robin Linaberry

Mr. Robin Linaberry has thirty years’ teaching ex-

perience, directing bands and jazz bands at every level from

elementary to adult. As Director of Bands at Maine-Endwell

Senior High School (NY), Mr. Linaberry’s bands have earned

superior ratings and accolades locally as well as in perfor-

mances and competitions throughout the east coast and Cana-

da. Mr. Linaberry is the Conductor and Music Director of

The Southern Tier Concert Band, a professional-level wind

band based in the Binghamton, NY area.

With advanced degrees in Conducting, he is in great demand as a

guest conductor of festival honor bands and has served as an adjunct professor

at Ithaca College (Brass Choir), Binghamton University (Wind Ensemble) and

Broome Community College (Low Brass). He has been a conductor for the

Signature Band and Choir Camps, and has served for nearly a decade as a

Head Director and band conductor for the American Music Abroad “Red

Tour”, taking exceptional American teen musicians to Europe each summer

for concert performances. With AMA, he has lead music performances in

France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland and

Italy. For nearly twenty years, he was the vocalist & electric bass player for

popular jazz groups in the Southern Tier of New York. He is a frequent author

of articles in music education journals, and is the recipient of numerous

awards and honors. He served as the national Band Mentor in MENC’S “Ask

The Mentor” program, and is now serving as a National Band Association Mentor.

Robin lives in Owego, NY with his wife Patty, an outstanding teacher

who is also his best friend and the love of his life. They have two wonderful

adult children, and two very spoiled Papillon dogs.

Flute

Beth Wiemann, Principal

Heather Kriesel

Betsy Bartz

Oboe Kathleen Karlsen, Principal

King Wiemann

Clarinet

Carol Smith, Principal

Sean Denninger

Bassoon

Dana Gleason, Principal

Robin Hashey

French Horn

Beth Lewis, Principal

Jeff Barker

Kris Bertram

David Banner

Trumpet

Michael Steidle, Principal

Robert Crissman

John Ruth

Jonathan Sorber

Trombone

Steven Hine, Principal

Raymond Avery

Dana Tirrell

Tuba

Loren Small

Timpani

Nate Palmer

Percussion

Andrew Hahn

Chris Mydeki

Adi Sagar

Violin I

Douglas Diegert, Concertmaster

Peter Roseboom

Maria Sanphy

Joan Hickey

Kent Stannard

Michelle Swan

Amy Saeger

Kelsey Tombs

Violin II

Linda Best, Principal

Tamara Nist

Marian Sanphy

Lynn Aylesworth

Renee Hewett

Jennifer Reyes

Betty Bayles

Viola

Laura Hine, Principal

Mary Diegert

Shelley Zacks

Amanda Schmitz

Cello

Ruth Fisher, Principal

Emily Creo

Joni Cermak

Alicia Kuehn

Cecily O’Neil

Marianne Myers

Bass

Elizabeth Bartlett, Principal

Tom Strilka

Tim Roossien

Julian Shepherd

Keyboard

Nathan Raboy

Program Notes

Overture to Egmont, Op. 84 Ludwig van Beethoven

Defiance of tyranny was a principle of supreme importance to Bee-

thoven and a subject that gives explosive power to Goethe’s tragedy Eg-

mont. Beethoven’s admiration for Goethe bordered on worship, so it is no

wonder that when the Vienna theater invited Beethoven to contribute the

incidental music for a revival of Egmont, he responded with one of his most

eloquent scores. It includes nine numbers, of which the Overture is the

most stirring.

Like Beethoven’s three “Leonore” overtures, his Egmont Overture

forecasts the essence of the action to come and to feel the full impact of the

Overture it is almost essential to have seen or, at least, read the drama it

introduces. Goethe’s Egmont recounts the sixteenth-century military subju-

gation of the Netherlands by the Spanish Duke of Alva; it shows their be-

trayal, their agony, the seeds of their growing defiance, a dream of victory,

and ends with a call to revolution.

Beethoven’s Overture opens with heavily accented chords in an

ominous F minor. Is it only coincidence that their rhythm is that of an an-

cient Spanish dance, the saraband, slowed down to a threatening pace? If

Beethoven intended such an association, the chords might refer to the vin-

dictive Duke of Alva. But we might be taking things too literally.

More lyric phrases follow. An innocent little melodic offshoot

grows in importance by sheer repetition until suddenly, as we plunge into

the main section of the Overture, our innocent little offshoot has become a

sweeping, plunging phrase in the cellos – a thematic leader and herald of

revolt. This theme builds to a great climax for full orchestra. Its forward

drive culminates in a commanding, quick version of the chords which open

the Overture. There is the briefest sort of symphonic development before

the return of the main themes.

Suddenly the headlong pace of the orchestra is arrested. There is a

tiny pause of terror. The orchestra, drained of color and motion, fades al-

most to silence. Then, out the depths of – defeat? of weakness? of despair?

– out of the depths of the orchestra, almost inaudibly at first, we hear a

fresh excitement spread among the instruments, swelling irresistibly, with

mounting confidence and power, to unmistakable fanfares of victory; of

rejoicing.

Concertino for Flute and Orchestra Cecile Chaminade

The third of four surviving children, Chaminade received her ear-

liest musical instruction from her mother, a pianist and singer. Her first

pieces date from the mid-1860s. Because of paternal opposition to her en-

rolling at the Paris Conservatory, she studied privately with members of its

faculty. In the early 1880s Chaminade began to compose in earnest, and

works such as the First Piano Trio, Op.11 (1880) and the Orchestral Suite,

Op.20 (1881) were well received. She wrote a comic opera, La Sévillane,

which had a private performance in 1882. Other major works of the dec-

ade were the ballet Callirhoë , Op.37 (1888); the popular Concertstück,

Op.40 for piano and orchestra; and Les amazones, a dramatic symphony,

given on the same performance (1888). After 1890, with the notable ex-

ception of the Concertino, Op.107, commissioned by the Paris Conservato-

ry (1902), and her only Piano Sonata (Op.21, 1895), Chaminade composed

mainly character pieces and art songs. This music became very popular,

especially in England and the United States, and Chaminade helped to pro-

mote sales through extensive concert tours. From 1892 she performed reg-

ularly in England and became a welcome guest of Queen Victoria.

Meanwhile, enthusiasm grew in the USA, largely through the

many Chaminade clubs formed around 1900. In the fall of 1908, she

agreed to make the arduous journey here and appeared in 12 cities, from

Boston to St Louis. With the exception of the concert at Philadelphia’s

Academy of Music in early November, which featured the Concertstück,

the program consisted of piano pieces and art songs. The tour was a finan-

cial, but not critical, success. Prestigious awards began to come her way,

culminating in admission to the Légiond’Honneur in 1913 – the first time it

was granted to a female composer. While her compositional activity even-

tually subsided because of World War I and deteriorating health,

Chaminade made several recordings, many of them piano rolls, between

1901 and 1914. In later years she was tended by her niece, Antoinette Lo-

rel, who attempted to promote Chaminade’s music after her death in 1944.

The Concertino, performed today by 2011 STMTA Winner Emily

Bartz, has remained a staple of the flute repertory; while it is a large-scale

work and thus represents a relatively small part of her output, the piece still

provides a sense of the elegance and attractiveness of Chaminade’s music.

Rhapsodie Ernest Bloch (from Suite Hébraïque for Viola and Orchestra)

Swiss-born Ernest Bloch was a violinist and composer strongly

influenced by late 19th-century German, French and Russian styles. With

maturity and the development of his own compositional voice, however,

Bloch began to compose works powerfully expressing his Jewish faith and

identity; these included settings of several Psalms, the symphony Israel,

the work Schelomo, and a Hebraic rhapsody for cello and orchestra. He

moved to the United States in 1916, acquiring American citizenship in

1924 and holding several important teaching appointments over the years.

During this time Bloch continued to write deeply spiritual compositions

influenced by the Bible and Jewish liturgical texts (including Avodath Ha-

kodesh, based on texts from the Reform Jewish Prayer Book). The Suite

Hébraïque is among these later pieces. It has three movements

(Rhapsodie, Processional, and Affirmation), and today you will hear 2011

STMTA Winner Amanda Schmitz play the Rhapsodie.

Although Ernest Bloch has been described in various encyclopedi-

as and dictionaries as a “Jewish” composer, and, although his fame today

rests largely upon a smattering of compositions with distinctly Judaic asso-

ciations, an analysis of the musician’s total output indicates the so-called

“Jewish” works represent a small facet of his art. Be that as it may, this

body of musical literature established for its creator an international reputa-

tion and did much to set in motion the course he was to follow as a major

creative artist.

During the final decade of his life, in which period Bloch com-

posed largely abstract works, the Suite Hébraïque for viola (or violin) and

orchestra emerged, the outcome of a six-day “Blochfest” in Chicago held

in 1950. This celebration of the artist’s 70th year included a luncheon giv-

en in his honor by the Covenant Club. The Suite Hébraïque was written in

appreciation to the Jewish organization; it received its first performance in

January of 1953 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Although the

themes, with characteristic augmented seconds, have Hebraic allusions, it

would be nearly impossible to define specific sources for them. The scor-

ing for viola or violin is a practical consideration. The orchestration with-

out piccolo, English horn, tuba, trombone, celesta or piano, is in keeping

with the rather light style of the piece. The brief cadenza, which appears in

the opening Rhapsodie, contains the basic folk-like material with which the

movement is permeated.

Slavonic Dances, Op. 46 Antonín Dvorák

Antonín Dvorák's first set of Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, was the music that finally launched his fame beyond the borders of his native Bo-hemia. Behind their success is a heartwarming story of one great musical master taking time to help another. By the mid-1870s, Johannes Brahms was securely established as one of Europe's leading composers and, along with Edouard Hanslick, the well-known critic, was serving on a committee to award stipends to talented but undiscovered composers living in outly-ing provinces of the Austrian Empire. Since the present-day Czech Repub-lic was then a dependency of Austria, Dvorák was one of the candidates. Deeply impressed by his music, Brahms went to his own publisher, the prestigious Simrock of Berlin, and urged the firm to take on the young Czech composer. Moreover, Brahms used his considerable clout to secure performances for Dvorák's music. Thus began another illustrious career and a devoted friendship between the two men that lasted until Brahms' death.

Simrock had recently reaped substantial profits from Brahms' Hun-

garian Dances for piano four-hands. In 1878, the firm asked Dvorák to

create a similar set, based on his own native dance traditions. The Czech

responded with the eight Slavonic Dances of Op. 46, arranging them for

orchestra as well as piano duet. They were such a success that Simrock

asked for more. With his career now in full swing, Dvorák did not fulfill

this request until 1886 when he composed the eight Slavonic Dances, Op.

72, a set of more sophisticated concert dances, several steps removed from

their folk origins. But it is the robust dances of Op. 46, orchestrated in

bright primary colors, which have remained the most popular to this day.

Propelled by the rhythmic patterns and characters of traditional Czech folk

dances, they show Dvorák's superb melodic gift at its best.

Though they may sound like genuine folk tunes, all the melodies in

the Slavonic Dances are Dvorák’s own inventions. And despite their un-

complicated surface appeal, these dances are actually quite complex and

sophisticated in their construction. Each dance consists of two or more

dance themes of contrasting mood and character and using different keys,

modes (major and minor being freely mixed) and tempos. The basic form

resembles that of a rondo, with alternating refrain and episodes.

The opening and closing dances of the set –No. 1 and No. 8 – are

irresistibly high-spirited dances in the style of the Furiant, the boldest

Czech folk dance. Though they are written in triple meter, listen for the

complex cross-rhythms suggesting a duple meter; a characteristic of the

Furiant. No. 4 is a stately dance in triple meter known as the sousedská; its

companion dance is more mischievous, with clucking-hen effects. Open-

ing with a wry oboe-bassoon duet, No. 7 is a skocná, characterized by a

flexible tempo that keeps running down, then speeding up again.

History of the Binghamton Community Orchestra

Following the transition of the Binghamton Symphony from a lo-

cal, mixed-professional ensemble to a regional, professional orchestra,

many local residents and musicians yearned for the opportunity to play

orchestral music. “A great longing and an urgent need. . .” was the expres-

sion attributed to violinist and BCO founder John Hagopian, but felt by

many in our community who took the initiative to recruit the players, a

conductor, and rehearsal space to turn the yearning into a reality.

So it was at the time of our humble 1983 beginnings. John

Hagopian, Lori Cyr (clarinet), Dave Banner (French horn), and Tony DiO-

rio (clarinet) were among the early organizers. Other long-time players

from the original seasons include Betsy Bartz (flute and piccolo), Carol

Smith (clarinet), Dana Thompson Gleason (bassoon), Del Cobleigh

(trumpet), Joan Hickey, Jan Loso, and Betty Bayles (violins), and Arthur

Washell, Adrienne Bennett, Laura House, and Shelly Zacks (violas), and

Ted Ronsvalle (bass). Beloved conductor of the Binghamton Youth Sym-

phony, Bernie Shifrin, agreed to serve as interim conductor until a music

director could be hired. Soon the orchestra and Asher Raboy found one

another, and began to plan an ambitious concert season that included

George Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F and Johannes Brahms Serenade

No. 1 in D major.

Some of the most wonderful experiences of any family or commu-

nity group involve welcoming newcomers, and saying goodbye to those

who leave are among the most difficult. Sadly, John Hagopian, Jan Loso,

Tony DiOrio, Arthur Washell, Laura House, and Doug Osterhoudt

(trombone) have passed away. Other members have moved to different

areas, retired, or taken temporary leave for family or professional responsi-

bilities. Nonetheless, the orchestra has been blessed throughout its history

with gifted and dedicated music directors, exceptional soloists, and our

faithful instrumentalists. Asher Raboy was followed by interim conductors

Nathan Raboy (his brother) and David Montgomery. Our next music di-

rector, Fitzroy Stewart, returned from Germany to Broome County with his

wife Ghislaine (violin) and led us through several seasons. Later, Dr. Tim-

othy Perry and Cayenna Ponchione served, to be followed by our current

music director, Dr. Jeffrey Jacobsen. In each case, the orchestra rose to its

challenges, and each music director has led with inspiration, grace, and

good humor.

The BCO continues to welcome new players and develop new rep-

ertoire. In addition to our formal concert season, we offer run-out perfor-

mances to senior centers and rural areas. We are grateful for the support

of our community, our families and friends for helping to continue the best

tradition of music performed for the love of it!

The Southern Tier Music Teachers’ Association was formed

in 1995 as a tax-deductible charitable organization. It was created to

assist the community of private music teachers residing in the Bing-

hamton area, by providing organizational support and a variety of

learning and performance opportunities for music students. STMTA

activities enhance and augment those musical experiences already

available through private studios and school music programs. An

annual High School Music Competition has been held for twelve

years. Winners are chosen each year to perform with the Bing-

hamton Community Orchestra in the following year’s season.

STMTA also provides outreach to students with need through

Summer Enrichment Scholarships. These scholarships give financial

aid for students to attend music camps or take private music lessons

during the summer. Any student may participate in the High School

Music Competition or apply for a Summer Enrichment Scholarship,

regardless of whether he or she studies with an STMTA teacher.

For more information about STMTA, please visit:

This year’s Winners’ Recital

of the High School Music Competition

will take place on Sunday, April 1st at 7:30 p.m.

in Casadesus Hall at Binghamton University

The BCO would like to thank the STMTA

for this partnership of providing wonderful young soloists

with a quality orchestral experience!

www.STMTA.org

Southern Tier Music Teachers’ Association

Advertising revenue funds a significant portion of the BCO’s activities and has

helped us present quality orchestral experiences since 1984.

To return the favor, the BCO would like

to invite you to show your support to these fine establishments.

Needless to say, PLEASE let them

know that you saw their ad in the BCO program!