Funding for this program has been provided by the FS Foundati bringing together adults of all abilities and backgrounds as they pursue passion, prosperi and purpose.

Linda and Alvaro Pascotto the Carol Franc Buck Foundation in memory of Carol Franc Buck.

Additional support provided by these funders.

The program opens with Sebelius' Finlandia, which is a type of statement pie I think it was originally compos is as a part of a seven part piece about the Finnish struggle Sebelius wrote it at a time when was striving for independence.

And it has to do with the Finns against the Russians.

When we set this program, we had that Russia was going to invade But we're opening the program with Finlandia, which is a piece of patriotism and self-determination.

So that connection is quite powe in our current world climate.

It's a fun piece to play.

The brass we have a fanfare moti that happens continually through So we're busy.

We have a lot to At the end of the piece, it has what's called the Finland It became kind of an unofficial for Finland.

It's not the national anthem, but this melody is so important that it has become almost like a national anthem there.

The Classical Tahoe Festival was founded ten years a by Joel Revzen.

Wonderful, wonderful conductor, beloved in the opera and symphon and just had this vision, along with the late and beloved Carol Buck, to create a wonderful festival f orchestral musicians from all ov the best players in the business And they created this amazing fe And then in 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic he was one of the early casualti of COVID, and our hearts were al And miraculously, the festival even happened that and I was here doing a few songs with the great Fredrica von Stad and that's when Karen Craig and other people in the festival if I might be interested in writing a piece to remember and celebrate Joel.

We were been thinking of what would be appropriate to hon and creating a piece of music in Joel's memory might be the most important thin that we could offer.

So, of course, when we went to commission a piece, the first person we thought of w because Jake had the connection They were friends.

They knew eac Because of this setting and the Joel loved it so very much and that it the festival really reflects the life and vibrancy of this ar I knew it had to somehow be about the lake and Joel's connection to the lak And so I decided on a suite that would be different moods and feelings about the lake.

Different seasons, different times, different light So the first movement, it starts falling, fan like, this descending scale.

And it's almost a long caress.

So that's where I feel that prob some kind of gesture towards som who's just departed, you know?

The inspiration was always somet to honor Joel and celebrate his and his influence on this festiv on all our lives, because he was and I really felt him with me the entire time.

And I hope you'll feel him in th because he's deeply embedded in The piece itself is interestingly beautiful.

There are some very, very distinct moments where I'm like, That's Joel, like right there in that moment, thats Joel.

The first movement was very ethe and was like sort of mornings on you know, with a sort of mist over the wat I can hear the, the, just the gentle calmness that was his overall spirit.

I wanted it to be reflective, fun, tender, touching, moody.

And I, I did not I purposely did not label each m Like sometimes a composer will l exactly what each movement is.

I purposely did not because I want the audience, the to bring their own impression to They think about the lake, they hear this music, and it can a very personal resonance and meaning for them.

Everybody in the orchestra was commenting on not only how beautiful the piece but how it really brought though and memories of times working with Joel.

Honestly, everything we play her I think of Joel.

It's really amazing what he crea The final movement is there's a form called a tarantel which starts off slow, and it's that starts to go faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster And I think that was just super And Joel was a super fun person, and he was always so upbeat and and just showing a lot of love to everybody and to the music.

So I thought that was a great wa to end the piece.

It was authentic.

It was from the heart.

And it kind of hits all the marks of of what Joel br The orchestra.

Jake did a great job, and it represented a really wond It was cathartic for the orchest for the board, for the staff, for the au but also for Jake.

It was challenging to do somethi that was purely orchestral, but Joel was with me every step.

Well, for me, Rhapsody in Blue is like a piece that I composed.

I love this piece.

There was this guy, Paul Whitema and he had a band in New York.

There were a lot of different ba at that time Artie Shaw, Benny G and Paul Whiteman commissioned George Gershwin to write a piece for a particular concert.

I think that was just sort of re experimental music of the era.

Gershwin acquiesced five weeks before the performanc so he was on a train from New Yo to Boston.

Like the repetitive noises of th actually gave him the idea for the different themes of the It's really fun.

I actually probably know it better than my own concerto.

It starts out with a clarinet so and that has its own little stor because he wrote a trill and then a long scale up into th and during one of the rehearsals of the premiere for the premiere the clarinetist fooled around and he added a little schmear to And Gershwin said, I like that, keep it.

And so that became the way to play it.

So the way that he wrote it.

But what ended up was... Funding for this program has been provided by the FS Foundati bringing together adults of all abilities and backgrounds as they pursue passion, prosperi and purpose.

Linda and Alvaro Pascotto the Carol Franc Buck Foundation in memory of Carol Franc Buck.

Additional support provided by these funders.