August 17, 2005
Wednesday, 7:30 PM
Longwood Symphony Orchestra
Jonathan McPhee, conductor
Ita Wang, piano
Max Tan, violin
Program
Wagner -Overture to Tannhauser
Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 3 "Allegro Brilliant"
Ita Wang, piano
Intermission
Saint-Saens - Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28 for violin and orchestra, Max
Tan, violin
McPhee - The Seduction from DRACULA, Jimmy Chi-Wei Lo, Celeste
Gershwin - Selections from "Porgy and Bess"
Longwood Symphony Orchestra
The Longwood Symphony Orchestra was established in 1982 by members of the Harvard Medical
School community. The dual mission of the LSO is to provide opportunities for advanced
amateur musicians to strive for musical diversity and artistic excellence while supporting
health-related nonprofit organizations through public performances.
In this way, the LSO utilizes music as a healing force to bring the community together.
Thousands of people have benefited each year from LSO performances through its
"Healing Art of Music" program. Since 1991, the orchestra has helped raise over
$500,000 for the medically underserved, by performing every concert as a benefit for a
medical charity in greater Boston. Today, the orchestra is 90 members strong. The
orchestra ranks musically among the top community orchestras in Greater Boston.
The LSO performs four concerts in New England Conservatorys Jordan Hall during its
regular concert season, drawing an average of 600-700 audience members per concert. There
are two concerts in the fall and two in the spring. The orchestra also performs an open
air concert every summer at the Hatch Memorial Shell on the Esplanade.
LSO is an orchestra of musicians playing at the highest level, dedicated to community
service through music. All are artists; most are also scientists and humanists, living and
working in the greater Boston area. Over half of LSO musicians work in the health
sciences: this year, there are fifteen full-time physicians, eight research scientists,
twelve medical students, four visiting physicians from Europe, two nurses, three physical
therapists, a genetics counselor, and a chiropractor.
Guest artists of the Longwood Symphony are drawn from the rich community of
internationally recognized artists that live in and around New England. They include
violinists Lynn Chang, Irina Muresanu, and Vali Phillips; cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Clancy
Newman, sopranos Joanna Porackova and Diana McVey; baritones Mark Aliapoulios and Stephen
Salters, and pianists Dr. Richard Kogan, Hung-Kuan Chen and Randall Hodgkinson, among many
others.
LSOs Healing Art of Music program
In 1991, the LSO made a significant decision to make every concert a benefit for
Bostons medically underserved. For the LSO, collaboration with other nonprofit
organizations is central to its mission. Each collaboration allows the Beneficiary to
raise funds, using the concert as the centerpiece of a fundraising event specifically
designed by that organization. At the same time, it expands the orchestras
reputation and audience base in the community by introducing new audience members (the
Beneficiarys guests) to its concerts.
This decision followed the historic 1991 "Reverence for Life" symposium
sponsored by the Albert Schweitzer Foundation that launched Bostons Schweitzer Urban
Fellows Program. The two-day event culminated in a performance in Jordan Hall featuring
the Longwood Symphony and two musical humanists, violinist Lynn Chang and cellist Yo-Yo
Ma.
Dr. Albert Schweitzer, noted physician, organist, and Bach scholar, founded a hospital in
Gabon, Africa that he funded through concert performances. Inspired by Schweitzer and his
work, in 1991, the LSO committed itself to perform all of its concerts as benefits for
health-related charitable organizations. Since then each concert has served to benefit a
different organization in greater Boston. "The Healing Art of Music" program was
born. Prior to each season, along with deciding repertoire, the LSO Board and Music
Director approve the four beneficiary organizations for the upcoming season. Any nonprofit
organization with a medical or educational mission based in greater Boston may be
considered, and new collaborations frequently arise from suggestions by an orchestra
member or Trustee
JONATHAN MCPHEE has received critical acclaim for shaping the musical
style and direction of the Boston Ballet Orchestra. In addition to his work at Boston
Ballet, he is Music Director for Symphony by the Sea in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Mr.
McPhee has conducted such renowned dance companies as the New York City Ballet, The Royal
Ballet in London, The National Ballet of Canada, the Australian Ballet, Martha Graham
Dance Company, The Joffrey Ballet and the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Among the esteemed
orchestras he has conducted are the Hague Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, National
Philharmonic Orchestra in London, Boston Pops, and the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway.
Recent guest conducting appearances include Massenet's opera, Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame
with Opera Boston and the Australian Ballet in Sydney.
Mr. McPhee's arrangements and compositions, published by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., are in
the repertoires of ballet companies and orchestras around the world and have been recorded
by several orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra. His editions of
Stravinsky's Firebird and Rite of Spring are the only reduced orchestrations of these
works authorized by the Stravinsky Estate.Jonathan McPhee's recording of The Nutcracker
with Boston Ballet Orchestra has currently sold over 55,000 copies. He has also recorded
Tchaikovskys The Sleeping Beauty and released their latest CD, Prokofievs
Romeo & Juliet in 2004. An educational advocate for music and ballet, his work with
WCRB Classical 102.5 on "Kids Classical Hour" resulted in a 1998 Gabriel Award.
Mr. McPhee holds a B.M. and M.M. from The Juilliard School and an L.R.A.M. from the Royal
Academy of Music in London, England. Adding the directorship of the Longwood Symphony to
his other charges will further broaden Mr. McPhees artistic contributions to the
Boston community. "I have become increasingly aware of the need to give as much to
the community in which I live as possible. In years past, I have spent anywhere from 10 to
30 weeks a year guest conducting away from home. Now, more than ever, with waning funding
of the arts in our schools and elsewhere, I feel there is a real need for all of us in the
professional arts community to invest our art in our own communities on all levels."
Ita Wang, piano
Mr. Ita Wang was the first place winner of the 2005 Schubert Club Competition and is study
for his Doctoral degree at University of Minnesota under Alexander Braginsky.
Max Tan, violin
Max Tan, age 12, is a student of Mr. Lynn Chang. He lives in Connecticut with his parents
and a younger sister. He studied piano since age of 6 and began his violin just a few
years ago.
Summer Music Festival