Program 3

TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Gustavo Gimeno, Music Director
Wednesday,
April 24, 2024
8:00pm
Brilliant Bach
Thursday,
Jonathan Crow, leader & violin April 25, 2024
Yolanda Bruno, violin 8:00pm
Clare Semes, violin
Eri Kosaka, violin
Saturday,
Julie Ranti, flute
April 27, 2024
Leonie Wall, flute
Sarah Jeffrey, oboe 8:00pm
Andrew McCandless, trumpet
Sunday,
April 28, 2024*
Johann Sebastian Bach
Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043 3:00pm
I. Vivace *George Weston Recital Hall
II. Largo ma non tanto
III. Allegro

Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G Major,

BWV 1049 The April 24 performance
I. Allegro is generously supported by
II. Andante Blake and Belinda Goldring
III. Presto
Jonathan Crow’s
appearance is generously
Intermission
supported by John &
Claudine Bailey
Concerto for Oboe in D Minor, BWV 1059R
Reconstruction by Arnold Mehl Yolanda Bruno’s
I. Allegro appearance is generously
II. Adagio supported by Robert &
III. Presto Ellen Eisenberg

Clare Semes’s appearance

Concerto for Three Violins in D Major,
is generously supported by
BWV 1064R
Senator Nicole Eaton
Edited by Wilfried Fischer
I. Allegro
Sarah Jeffrey’s appearance
II. Adagio
is generously supported by
III. Allegro
Marion Dowds

Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, The TSO’s George Weston

BWV 1047 Recital Hall Series is
I. [Allegro] generously supported by
II. Andante Jim Fleck and Georgina
III. Allegro assai Steinsky

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Year 101: Symphony With Us

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)

Concerto for Two Violins
in D Minor, BWV 1043
Composed circa 1730 movements (fast-slow-fast), with the outer
movements in ritornello form (i.e., with
16 min alternating orchestral and solo episodes). But
here the outer movements feature unusually
FROM 1723 TO THE END OF HIS LIFE—as cantor subtle interplay between the soloists and
of the Thomasschule in Leipzig—Bach was the orchestral strings, and evolve organically
kept busy composing and performing sacred to a degree unrivalled in any contemporary
vocal music. He still welcomed opportunities concerto, whether Italian (Albinoni, Vivaldi)
to participate in secular instrumental music; or German (Telemann, Handel). In both
in 1729, despite his many other duties, he movements, the solo and orchestral
even agreed to direct a local collegium forces, in ever-changing combinations,
musicum, made up work together
of university students in the perpetual
and professionals development of
that performed motifs introduced
every Friday evening in the opening
in a coffee house ritornello and
(and occasionally first solo episode.
elsewhere around Along the way,
town). In the case Bach forges a
of the Concerto potent synthesis
for Two Violins in D of concerto
Minor, BWV 1043, and fugue: the
the manuscript music unfolds
parts that Bach used in busy imitative
in performance counterpoint, and
date from around Bach exploits his
1730–31, and there paired soloists
is no documentary to keep the
evidence to suggest contrapuntal yield
that the work was unusually high
composed any even in the leaner
earlier. (Incidentally, solo episodes—
Bach arranged this without obscuring
concerto for two the outlines of the
Johann Sebastian Bach —by Dane Thibeault
keyboards, in C prevailing ritornello
minor, around 1736, form. The soloists
for his collegium musicum.) intertwine in imitative counterpoint in the
The later dating makes sense stylistically, poignant slow movement, too, though now
too, for BWV 1043 exemplifies the Bachian against a plainer orchestral backdrop, with
concerto at its most sophisticated and the effect of a continuous stream of sinuous
progressive. As is typical of Baroque melody, like an operatic duet.
concertos on the Italian model, it has three —Program note by Kevin Bazzana

28 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Program 3 – About the Music

Brandenburg Concerto
No. 4 in G Major, BWV 1049
Composed 1721 Ludwig (1677-1734), the wealthy Margrave
of Brandenburg-Schwedt, naming him as
17 min a dedicatee. The concertos are remarkable
for their extraordinarily diverse usage of
THE BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS (BWV 1046–1051) instruments, spanning virtually the entire
were completed while Bach was in the midst range of orchestral colours available in Bach’s
of a comfortable six-year appointment in the time. Their foundational model is that of the
small town of Cöthen, Germany. He worked concerto grosso, a common Baroque form
there for Prince Leopold as Kapellmeister and in which a small group of soloists exchanges
Director of Chamber Music, and these years musical material with a larger orchestra. The
yielded an exceptional quantity and quality Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G Major is
of instrumental music. This instrumental an excellent example, featuring a standard
flourishing was no coincidence: since Bach’s strings-and-continuo orchestra underpinning
responsibilities at Cöthen did not involve sparkling solo parts led by a violin and—to
composing weekly music for the church, he use Bach’s term—two “echo flutes.” The solo
industriously set about composing daring violin part of the first and third movements
experiments for instrumental forces instead. is brilliant and flashy, but steps back in
His output during this period also included portions of the second movement to play,
the groundbreaking Sonatas and Partitas for improbably, a bass line for the two flutes’
Solo Violin (BWV 1001–1006) and the six solos. This brief yet effective orchestrational
Cello Suites (BWV 1007–1012). sleight of hand is a testament to Bach’s
In an effort to curry favour and abilities, as he manages to knit together
potentially land a new post after his stint at these three fundamentally high-register
Cöthen, Bach sent the manuscripts of the instruments in fulsome harmony.
six Brandenburg Concertos to Christian —Program note by Arlan Vriens

Concerto for Oboe in

D Minor, BWV 1059R
There are no surviving complete solo oboe
13 min concertos by Bach, but musicologists and
performers have reconstructed several
THE OBOE WAS AMONG THE MOST PREVALENT WIND candidates from works that survived in
instruments during the Baroque period, arrangements for other instruments. The
with oboists commonly appointed to Concerto for Oboe in D Minor (BWV 1059R)
prestigious positions within court orchestras. is in some senses the most archaeological of
As a solo instrument, the oboe remained these reconstructions; the remaining musical
overshadowed by the harpsichord and violin, traces, like the foundations of a long-ruined
though composers like Vivaldi—with whose city, give only partial glimpses of the original.
work Bach was very familiar—did important The first few bars of the opening movement
work to demonstrate its virtuosic potential in survive in a 1738 fragment for oboe with
solo concertos. harpsichord accompaniment, though Bach

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Year 101: Symphony With Us

used more fully developed and orchestrated composer Alessandro Marcello (1673–1747).
versions of the first and third movements in Even if the precise shape of Bach’s
a cantata dating to 1727 (BWV 35). The slow original concerto remains elusive, the
middle movement was also included in the reconstruction is no less enjoyable a
same cantata, albeit so drastically rearranged demonstration of his abilities. Of particular
that it is difficult to discern its original oboe note are the ways the poised first movement
concerto form. Alongside some speculative showcases the oboe’s melodic flexibility and
reconstructions of the middle movement range, while the third movement offers the
from this material, another common soloist opportunity for a scintillating display
approach is to borrow the middle movement of speed and relentless forward drive.
from the oboe concerto of Venetian —Program note by Arlan Vriens

Concerto for Three Violins

in D Major, BWV 1064R
as the Concerto for Three Violins is a 1970
16 min reconstruction by musicologist Wilfried
Fischer of what the earlier original work
ALTHOUGH NOBODY COULD ACCUSE BACH might have been. The dense harpsichord
of compositional laziness, he never parts have been streamlined and the key
considered himself above reusing a good has been restored from the harpsichord-
idea. Rearranging and reframing existing friendly key of C major to D major, which is
works—written by oneself or by a respected more favourable to the violin’s sound and
colleague—was a fully accepted practice of construction. The charming first movement is
his time, in part as an economical way to an elegant master class in counterpoint, with
keep up musical productivity for audiences the three filigreed soloist lines interlocking with
who expected a steady stream of new music. an active orchestral part. The more meditative
The Concerto for Three Violins (BWV second movement, with its extended harmonic
1064R) is a fascinating study in musical tensions and releases between soloists, calls
repurposing. Unlike Bach’s other violin to mind the familiar second movement of the
concertos, for which manuscripts have Concerto for Two Violins (BWV 1043). The
survived in good condition, this work concluding third movement is back to Bach’s
survived only in the form of an extensively familiar bustling counterpoint, whirring along
reworked later version, which Bach put forth like the innards of an intricate clock.
as the Concerto for Three Harpsichords —Program note by Arlan Vriens
(BWV 1064, c. 1740). The version performed

Brandenburg Concerto
No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047
works. Such is the case with the Brandenburg
13 min Concerto No. 2 in F Major (BWV 1047), which
likely originated as a now-lost work for
AS A SET, THE BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS are quintet. Although this concerto is notable
a clever mosaic of new composition for its exceptionally unusual combination of
interwoven with remixes of Bach’s previous violin, oboe, trumpet, and flute as soloists, it

30 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Program 3–The Artists

is the extremely demanding high trumpet part that stands out most. Not every trumpeter—
then or now—could play a part like this, leading to speculation that Bach had written that
earlier quintet material for a virtuoso trumpeter in Weissenfels, Germany, as early as 1713. The
trumpet’s conspicuous absence in the meditative second movement is not merely a kindness
to the soloist: the natural trumpet of Bach’s day, having no valves, could not play in this
movement’s minor key.
For all their musical invention, the Brandenburg Concertos were also practical career
manoeuvres for Bach. But he could scarcely have dreamed of the works’ cultural longevity
and impact: a recording of the first movement of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 was
included on the gold-plated phonograph records aboard each of the two Voyager spacecraft,
carrying Bach’s music beyond our solar system. —Program note by Arlan Vriens

Jonathan Crow, leader & violin

Jonathan Crow made his TSO solo début in September 2011.

One of Canada’s brightest talents, violinist Jonathan Crow exudes

“masterful coolness” (The Montreal Gazette) as Concertmaster
of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. A native of Prince George,
British Columbia, Crow earned his Bachelor of Music (Honours) in
performance from McGill University in 1998, at which time he joined
the Montreal Symphony Orchestra as Associate Principal Second
Violin. Between 2002 and 2006, Crow was the Concertmaster of
the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, becoming the youngest concertmaster of a major North
American orchestra. Crow continues to perform as Guest Concertmaster with orchestras
around the world, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Filarmonia de Lanaudière, and the Pernambuco
Festival Orchestra (Brazil).
Crow has performed as a soloist with most major Canadian orchestras including the
Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, the National Arts Centre and
Calgary Philharmonic Orchestras, the Victoria and Kingston Symphonies, and Orchestra
London, under the baton of such conductors as Charles Dutoit, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Sir
Andrew Davis, Peter Oundjian, Gustavo Gimeno, Kent Nagano, Mario Bernardi, and João
Carlos Martins.
An avid chamber musician, Crow has performed at many chamber music festivals in
Europe and North America and is the Artistic Director of Toronto Summer Music. He is a
founding member of the JUNO Award–winning New Orford String Quartet, a new project-
based ensemble dedicated to the promotion of standard and Canadian string quartet
repertoire. Crow is currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Toronto.
Crow has recorded for ATMA, Bridge, CBC, Oxingale, Skylark, and XXI-21 labels and is
heard frequently on Chaîne Culturelle of Radio-Canada, CBC Radio Two, and National Public
Radio, along with Radio France, Deutsche Welle, Hessischer Rundfunk and the RAI in Europe.

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Year 101: Symphony With Us

Yolanda Bruno, violin

Yolanda Bruno made her TSO solo début in February 2022.

Yolanda Bruno has won a slew of awards and competitions, has

performed as a soloist all over Europe and North America, and serves
as Associate Concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
She’s played for the Queen at Buckingham Palace and backed up the
Australian heavy-metal band Parkway Drive at a recording session in
Ottawa. Yet her most memorable musical experiences have happened
in unexpected places: playing for children in a parking lot in South East
London, giving a concert in a high-security penitentiary, and playing for
strangers on street corners and in parks, subways, airports, and hospitals. She believes deeply
in the power of music to break down barriers of all kinds—personal, cultural, and even political.
After studies at McGill and the Guildhall School in London, Bruno returned to Canada and
launched a whirlwind professional career full of musical adventures. She masterminded a Kickstarter
campaign with pianist Isabelle David to cover the costs of their first CD, The Wild Swans. It features
music by 11 women composers, spanning ten centuries, and includes several world premières.
Bruno is fascinated by music of all eras, including Baroque repertoire. She loves the
physical sensation of drawing sound from the strings, of using her bow like a paint brush, of
experiencing the way the sound resonates in a room and connects with listeners. For her,
playing on her nearly 300-year-old Domenico Montagnana violin (on generous loan from
Groupe Canimex Inc. in Drummondville, Québec) is about spinning sound and carving notes
to make them speak as words—communication that is both intimate and provocative.

Clare Semes, violin

Clare Semes made her TSO solo début in January 2018.

Clare Semes currently serves as Associate Concertmaster of the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Before moving to Canada in 2017, she
was a fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. Originally
from the Philadelphia area, Semes received her Bachelor and Master
of Music degrees from The Juilliard School where she studied with
Donald Weilerstein, Ronald Copes, and Laurie Smukler.
In addition to having served as Concertmaster of the New World
Symphony, she has served as Concertmaster of The Juilliard Orchestra
and the Verbier Festival Orchestra, and continues to perform with the Verbier Festival Chamber
Orchestra in Switzerland and around the world. She has performed as a soloist with numerous
orchestras in the United States and Asia, with one highlight being an all-featured program with
the Shanghai Philharmonic alongside her three sisters (all of whom are professional musicians).
At the onset of the pandemic, Semes formed a flute-and-violin duo called Sonority
Sisters with her TSO colleague, Kelly Zimba Lukić. The duo’s self-organized community
performances and outreach in the city of Toronto have garnered significant press, including
dedicated articles and media appearances for/in the Toronto Star, Global News, Breakfast
Television, CBC Toronto, CityNews Toronto, CTV Your Morning, and blogTO. In her spare time,
Semes enjoys long-distance running and spending time with her labradoodle, Theo, and
husband, Jeffrey Beecher (TSO Principal Double Bass).

32 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Program 3–The Artists

Eri Kosaka, violin

Eri Kosaka made her TSO solo début in October 2016.

Eri Hattori Kosaka joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2012

and became Principal Second Violin in 2022. Prior to her current
position, Kosaka was a member of the Kansas City Symphony for two
seasons and a violin fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami
Beach, where she was a rotating concertmaster.
Growing up in Tokyo, Japan, Kosaka started playing the violin at
age 6 and took lessons with Akiko Tatsumi, with whom she studied
for more than ten years. While she lived in San Diego, she studied
with Michael Tseitlin. After graduating from Toho High School of Music and Toho Gakuen
College of Music in Japan, she was awarded a scholarship from the Yamaha Foundation to
study abroad. Kosaka graduated with a Master of Music and Graduate Diploma from the New
England Conservatory where she studied with Miriam Fried. She has participated in festivals
and music academies across the US, Japan, and Europe, including the Aspen and Sarasota
Music Festivals in the US, the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, Schleswig-Holstein Festival
in Germany, Salzburg Music Academy in Austria, and the Courchevel International Music
Academy in France.
As a soloist, she has performed with the San Diego Symphony, Janáček Philharmonic
Orchestra, and Central Aichi Symphony Orchestra, and has won awards at the Japan Mozart
Competition, New Classic Audition in Japan, and the All Japan Student Music Competition.

Julie Ranti, flute

Julie Ranti made her TSO solo début in April 1995.

Associate Principal Flute Julie Ranti joined the Toronto Symphony

Orchestra in 1985, and was its youngest member at the time at
age 24. She grew up in Montreal in a musical family: her father was
Principal Trumpet of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, her
mother a harpist, and her brother Richard is a Boston Symphony
Orchestra bassoonist. Ranti began her flute studies with Jeanne
Baxtresser in Montreal, then attended The Juilliard School where she
studied with Julius Baker and Samuel Baron. Prior to joining the TSO,
Ranti was engaged by the Hamilton Philharmonic, The National Ballet of Canada, and the
Canadian Opera Company.
Ranti is an active chamber musician and founding member of the Bach Consort. She
maintains a teaching studio, coaches the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra flute section,
is on faculty at the National Music Camp, and has taught at the National Youth Orchestra of
Canada. The mother of two adult children—one a professional symphonic musician—she
lives near High Park with her husband and dog, trying to keep fit and engaging in culinary
experiments and cultural adventures.

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Year 101: Symphony With Us

Leonie Wall, flute

Leonie Wall made her TSO solo début in February 2022.

Leonie Wall joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra as Second

Flute in September 2004. Winner of the 2004 New York Flute
Club Competition, she is a former student of Timothy Hutchins at
McGill University (BMus) and Jeanne Baxtresser at the New England
Conservatory of Music in Boston. In 2001/02, Wall served a one-year
term as Principal Flute of the Orchestre des Grands Ballets Canadiens
de Montréal, with whom she also recorded the Gabriel Thibodeau
adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s La Dame de Pique (Analekta, 2002). She
has toured as Principal Flute with Les Violons du Roy, and was for several years Principal Flute
of Eric Paetkau’s g27 (group of 27) Toronto chamber orchestra. She has been an invited artist
at the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Niagara International Chamber Music
Festival, Concerts aux Îles du Bic, and the Festival classique des Hautes-Laurentides.
Wall has appeared on both CBC Radio and Société Radio-Canada and is the recipient of
numerous prizes and scholarships from the Canadian Music Competition and the National Arts
Centre Orchestra Bursary Competition. Wall is very active with the TSO’s education programs
and is committed to bringing classical music into the classrooms of elementary schoolchildren.
She has performed many shows for young Toronto students with the TSO Woodwind Trio
under the Preludes program, and participated yearly in the TSO’s highly popular Adopt-a-Player
program. On New Year’s Day of 2009, Wall reached her goal of summiting Mount Kilimanjaro,
the highest peak in Africa, at 19,340 feet (5,898 metres), an experience she will never forget.

Sarah Jeffrey, oboe

Sarah Jeffrey made her TSO solo début in September 2007.

Hailed by critics for her “exquisite solo work” (The Globe and Mail),
“luscious tone” (Toronto Star), and sensitive musicianship, Sarah Jeffrey
is Principal Oboe of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. A regular soloist
with the TSO, Jeffrey has also appeared as soloist with numerous
orchestras across Canada, performing works by Bach, Mozart,
Vaughan Williams, Marcello, Haydn, and Mozetich. She is also an active
recitalist and chamber musician, making frequent guest appearances
with the Amici Chamber Ensemble, the ARC Ensemble, and Trio Arkel.
A devoted performer of new music, Jeffrey has commissioned several chamber works,
including Chaconne for Oboe, Horn, and Piano by Erik Ross, and Rhapsody by Ronald
Royer. Jeffrey is a recipient of the Ontario Arts Council’s Chalmers Award for Creativity and
Excellence in the Arts and teaches regularly at Canada’s finest music schools. A passionate
and devoted teacher, Jeffrey is on faculty at The Glenn Gould School of The Royal
Conservatory and at the University of Toronto and spends her summers with the National
Youth Orchestra of Canada and Orford Musique. She can be heard discussing the finer points
of the oboe on CBC Radio, both as a performer and as a guest on several podcasts. Jeffrey
shares her life with her husband, TSO Horn Gabriel Radford, their two children, Evelyn and
Aidan, and Jack the cat. In her spare time, Jeffrey enjoys travelling, cooking, swimming in
cold lakes, hiking, and, of course, the art of reed making.

34 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Program 3 – The Artists

Andrew McCandless, trumpet

Andrew McCandless made his TSO solo début in September 1999.

Andrew McCandless was appointed Principal Trumpet of the Toronto

Symphony Orchestra in 1999 and has established himself as a prominent
brass player in the orchestral world. Since his first professional position
at the age of 20 with the Savannah Symphony, McCandless has held the
position of Principal Trumpet with many notable orchestras including
the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and
the Sun Valley Music Festival, in which he still performs today.
As Principal Trumpet with the TSO, McCandless is regularly
featured as a soloist. In 2010, he performed the world première of Songs of the
Paradise Saloon, a trumpet concerto written specifically for him by Bramwell Tovey and
commissioned by the TSO. He appears as a guest artist and chamber musician throughout
North America, having performed with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin
Chamber Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Regina Symphony Orchestra, Calgary
Philharmonic Orchestra, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
McCandless began playing the trumpet at the age of 9 while studying at the Youth
Performing Arts School in his native Louisville, Kentucky. He continued his studies at Boston
University and the Eastman School of Music. As a junior in college, McCandless began playing
with the Savannah Symphony as Co-Principal Trumpet. Today, he continues to be involved
in classical music education. McCandless is on faculty at The Royal Conservatory, teaches
privately, and has given master classes throughout North America including at the Eastman
School of Music, University of Calgary, University of Toronto, and Northwestern University.
McCandless is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

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May 1 & 2
Gustavo Gimeno, conductor
Emily D’Angelo, mezzo-soprano

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Emily D’Angelo
joined with Spotlight Artist Emily mezzo-soprano
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