University Orchestra

About the Program

Fanny Mendelssohn–Hensel       
Overture in C Major       
BORN November 14, 1805, Hamburg, Germany       
DIED May 14, 1847, Berlin, Germany       
COMPOSED ca. 1832       
PUBLISHED 1994       
DURATION 10 minutes

“What you wrote to me in one of your earlier letters concerning your musical activities in relation to Felix was as well thought out as expressed. Perhaps for him music will become a profession, while for you it will always remain but an ornament; never can and should it become the foundation of your existence and daily life; . . . you have proved by your joy in the acclaim which he has won for himself, that in his situation you would be able to earn the same for yourself. Remain fast in this conviction and conduct, they are feminine and only the feminine ornaments women.” This uplifting quote is taken from a letter written by Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy to his daughter, Fanny, right before her 15^th birthday. This straight out of 19th century, but still familiar today gender bias permeated Fanny Mendelssohn’s life, and despite an exceptionally intimate relationship with her brother Felix (whose support was encouraging, but not unconditional), her compositional output was actively relegated to music for salons and parlors. Her chamber music, solo keyboard works, and songs measure up to—if not surpass— that of her male contemporaries. While she did craft several oratorios and one concert aria, her Overture in C Major is the one work by the extraordinarily talented composer for purely orchestral forces. The work opens with a slow, stately presentation by the horns, and is followed by the strings which offer the theme in fragments. A back and forth ensures before they merge and the overture is off to the races. Throughout her life, Fanny Mendelssohn was constantly diminished, not only in relation to her brother, but simply for her gender. Her overture—shimmery, joyful, and well-crafted—stands as a what-could-have-been, had she been encouraged to continue writing for these orchestral forces.

Robert Schumann       
Symphony No. 1 in B-flat Major, Spring       
BORN June 8, 1810, Zwickau, Germany       
DIED July 29, 1856, Endenich, Bonn, Germany       
COMPOSED 1841       
PREMIERED March 31, 1841. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, conducted by Felix Mendelssohn       
DURATION 30 minutes

Until his marriage to Clara Wieck in 1840, Robert Scumann’s compositional output was centered around piano repertoire and Lieder, having composed over 120 songs in 1840 alone (known as his Liederjahr). The following year, at the encouragement of his wife, he set out to write larger-scale works, and his first symphony shows the joy and optimism of this time in Robert’s life. Thanks in large part to his song writing, Schumann possessed a wide-ranging knowledge of poetry, and took inspiration from an Adolf Böttger poem entitled Frühlingsgedicht (poem of spring) as he set out on his first symphonic sojourn, which took him only four days in February to complete. This makes Schumann’s “Spring” symphony different from, say, Beethoven’s “Moonlight” sonata or Chopin’s “Raindrop” prelude, which were given their appellations by over-eager publishers hoping to entice customers. In fact, we have in Schumann’s own handwriting the descriptive titles for each of the movements: “Fruhlings-beginn” (Spring’s Awaking), “Abend” (Evening), “Frohe Gespielen,” (Merry Playmates), and “Voller Frühling” (Height of Spring). Before the first publication, however, Schumann dropped these movement titles, saying he did not want to dictate the imagination of the listeners (so, just ignore that last sentence). It’s clear Schumann was conflicted in sharing the programmatic inspiration with the public. In a letter to the conductor Wilhelm Taubert, he wrote “While playing, could you infuse your orchestra with some spring yearn-ing … I would like to have the first trumpet entry sound as if from on high, like a call to awake … then following the introduction … everywhere begins to green, a butterfly perhaps even flies up, and in the allegro, how little by little everything comes together that belongs to the spring.” Schumann concluded this request with what can only be considered as a small untruth: “But these are fantasies that come to me after completing the work.”

Notes by Mark Bilyeu

About the Artists

Gabriela Mora-Fallas

Gabriela Mora-Fallas is a Costa Rican conductor known for her energetic and passionate conducting style. She has participated in prestigious music festivals and workshops in the United States and around the world, including the American Academy of Conducting and the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors. She completed her master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting in Boston and returned to Costa Rica to actively participate in the musical scene of the country, where she was awarded the National Music Award in Conducting in 2017. Gabriela has served as guest conductor and cover conductor for the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica and as principal Artistic Conductor of the Cartago Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica. Besides her collaboration with professional ensembles, she devoted her time to collaborating with youth ensembles in Costa Rica, the United States, and El Salvador. Today Gabriela serves as co-conductor of The University of Texas University Orchestra where she continues her Doctoral studies and is a Mentee of the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship Mentoring Program.

Zongheng ZhanG

Zongheng Zhang is a second-year student pursuing his master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting with Professor Farkhad Khudyev at UT. Studied at Bard College Conservatory earning a Double Degree inn Violin and Viola performance and Psychology. From 2021-2022, Zongheng served as Concertmaster and Principal for The Orchestra Now (TON) in New York, performing under Maestro Leon Botstein at Carnegie Hall, Fisher Center, Symphony Space, and Kennedy Art Center. He was also invited back to Bard Conservatory to serve as Concertmaster for Opera Salome by Richard Strauss in March 2022. While in Bard, Zongheng studied Conducting with Harold Farberman, Tan Dun, and James Bagwell. From 2020-2021, Zongheng was invited to conduct various concerts at Bard College and got many good reviews from some music critic organizations. As a string player, Zongheng studied violin with Todd Phillips, Gil Shaham, Luis Garcia Renart, and Adele Anthony, and studied Viola with Mellisa Reardon. He won the Violin Concerto Competition at Bard College in 2019 and the Bard College Concerto competition on Viola in 2018.

Ke-Yuan Hsin

Ke-Yuan Hsin is currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Orchestral Conducting at The University of Texas at Austin, studying under professor Farkhad Khudyev. He has served as teaching assistant and assistant instructor in the University of Texas Orchestra program since 2019, when he started his Master of Music degree at the University of Texas at Austin. Ke-Yuan has worked internationally as a conductor. He has worked with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Lliria Symphony Orchestra, Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine, Orchestra Senzaspine, Williamson County Symphony Orchestra, University of Texas Symphony Orchestra, and National Chinese Orchestra of Taiwan, and received the Conducting Certificate at the National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan Academy. Ke-Yuan participated in several international conducting masterclasses and studied with Daniele Gatti, Carl St. Clair, Luciano Acocella, Jerry Junkin, Larry Rachleff, Donald Schleicher, Rodney Winther, Yan Huichang, Paul Chiang, Apo Hsu, Annie Chung, and Tsung Yeh. Ke-Yuan has been the semi-finalists in both 17th Khachaturian International Conducting Competition and the 1st edition Lliria City of Music Conducting Competition.

University Orchestra

PRINCIPALS   
1. Mendelssohn   
2. Schumann mvts. 1&2   
3. Schumann mvts. 3&4