Overture Jan/Feb 2022 | Page 23

PROGRAM NOTES

TCHAIKOVSKY MANFRED SYMPHONY

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Robert Trevino
Robert Trevino has rapidly emerged as one of the most exciting American conductors performing today and one of the most in-demand talents of the younger generation . He serves as the Music Director of the Basque National Orchestra , Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI , and Artistic Advisor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra .
After signing a multi-year recording contract with the leading classical label , Ondine , Trevino recorded a widely praised complete Beethoven symphonies cycle with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra and an album of Ravel orchestral works with the Basque National Orchestra . His latest album Americascapes is a selection of overlooked American masterpieces with the Basque National Orchestra .
After serving as Associate Conductor for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and New York City Opera , Trevino burst into the international spotlight at the Bolshoi Theatre in December 2013 , leading a new production of Verdi ’ s Don Carlo at short notice .
In recent seasons Trevino ’ s engagements have included the London Symphony Orchestra , Munich Philharmonic Orchestra , London Philharmonic , Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich , Vienna Symphony , Helsinki Philharmonic , Cleveland Orchestra , and San Francisco Symphony .
Robert Trevino has worked closely with many leading composers , including John
Adams , Philip Glass , Sofia Gubaidulina , Jennifer Higdon , and André Previn . His many education projects include a residency at the Royal Academy of Music .
Wordsmith
Anthony Parker better known as “ Wordsmith ” is a Baltimore-based songwriter , performer , entrepreneur , and philanthropist . Wordsmith makes hip-hop with a strong motivational message . His mission is to entertain and educate through a message of purpose while providing clean , quality , marketable “ Music for the Masses .” Philanthropy has always been a major part of Wordsmith ’ s core values , and he has partnered with Project PLASE Homeless Shelter in Baltimore and Kids Connection Haiti . As of 2020 , Wordsmith officially opened his nonprofit , Rise with a Purpose , Inc .
In 2009 , Wordsmith opened his independent label NU Revolution Entertainment . He has released five albums over his career , is a Grammy Voting Member , and his album Perspective Jukebox was named Best Rap / Hip-Hop Album at the 16th Independent Music Awards .
A chance meeting with BSO VP and Chief Operating Officer Tonya McBride Robles brought an opportunity to write a new narration for Saint-Saëns ’ Carnival of the Animals with the BSO , which was the beginning of a fruitful relationship resulting in officially joining the organization as Artistic Partner in 2020 .
Robert Trevino
Wordsmith
Experience the
Performance Again A livestream of this performance is available for a limited time . A BSO Sessions episode , featuring an interview with Robert Trevino , will be released on February 2 and will be available through the 2021 – 22 season .
Hakan Rojder
FROM THE PODIUM
by Robert Trevino
Being a conductor , I encounter people from all parts of the world — people from different generations , different ethnicities , different religious beliefs . What I come away with is this unifying idea that musicians are empathetic people , constantly seeking to understand another point of view or another person ’ s set of desires . Different places have different social norms and such , but when you get right down to it , people are people . As Maya Angelou said , “ I am a human being ; nothing human can be alien to me .”
When I was approached about coming to Baltimore , I was very happy to learn that it was a priority for the orchestra to include living composers , and also to support local talent and to get close to people who are important to society now . My job as a conductor , first and foremost , is to be an advocate for the composer , and I ' m very happy to work with someone so meaningful to the Baltimore public in James Lee III .
I am an opera conductor as well , that ’ s where I got my start . Strauss and
Tchaikovsky were both opera conductors and composers , and what these two composers had in common was an acute awareness of dramatic art and the highs and lows of human emotion . When I listened to Strauss ’ Don Juan for the first time and I got to the big culmination at the end , I imagined that that is the euphoria of falling in love — not just a little bit in love , but radically in love . Strauss uses that intoxicating type of feeling to send you to the absolute depths of despair afterwards . For everybody who is looking for the bad guy to get his justified punishment in the end , there is poetic justice in how Don Juan is destroyed by his behavior .
In the Manfred Symphony , Tchaikovsky deals with the guilt that Manfred felt , guilt so powerful that he wishes not to die , but to never have existed . It is not without pain , that ’ s for sure , and I think that ’ s an emotion that anyone can understand . It is maybe one of his best pieces of music , and I absolutely love it . It ’ s really difficult , so you need a top-notch orchestra to pull it off !
JAN-FEB 2022 / OVERTURE 21