2026 Winter Series Concerts

"Ancestors"
Notes on the Program

SYSO’s program notes are written by Maggie Molloy, a radio host and music journalist based in Seattle. Maggie hosts the Midday Show on Classical KING FM 98.1 and is also the curator and host of Second Inversion, a weekly radio show dedicated to contemporary and experimental music.

No work of art exists in a vacuum. Each composer is influenced in one way or another by the artists and creators who came before them. Whether it’s a folk song from the hills of Bohemia, an anthem from the streets of Cuba, or a ritual spring dance from a distant, mythical tribe, today’s program is all about honoring our musical inheritance. In this concert, we celebrate how sound shapes, inspires, and connects us—across generations, across history, and across the world.

Prelude String
MY Southeast
Symphonette
Junior
Debut
Youth

Prelude String Orchestra

José White Lafitte – La Bella Cubana (The Beautiful Cuban Woman) (arr. Robert Debbaut)

From his Afro-Cuban roots on the beautiful Bay of Matanzas to the grand conservatories of Paris and Rio de Janeiro, Joseph (José) White Lafitte’s musical career took him far from the island of Cuba he called home—but he always kept a little bit of the music with him.

La Bella Cubana (The Beautiful Cuban Woman) is composed in the style of a habanera, an infectious Cuban dance form that quickly crossed the pond to 19th-century Europe. Like many of his pieces, he composed this sultry tune to perform on his own instrument; it was originally scored for two violins. Robert Debbaut’s arrangement expands the habanera’s intoxicating melodies across the entire orchestra in a celebration of the rhythms, flavors, and folklore of Cuba. It’s music that’s vibrant, charismatic, and full of life.

Yukiko Nishimura – Orchid

Great teachers are like gardeners—they plant and nourish the seeds that grow through future generations. And it was a truly great teacher who inspired Yukiko Nishimura to compose Orchid.

Atsutada Otaka was her trusted composition teacher and mentor. When he wasn’t planting musical seeds, in his free time his hobby was growing orchids in the greenhouse in his backyard. Yukiko Nishimura draws on these images, with harmonies that blossom quietly below tender melodies, tracing each delicate petal in shades of vibrant purple. In Orchid, she pays tribute to her teacher’s gentle spirit, his nurturing hand, and the beautiful blooms that grew from his garden.

Georges Bizet: Farandole from “L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2” (arr. Merle J. Isaac)

Tucked in the sun-drenched hills of southeastern France, the region of Provence is known for many things: charming hilltop villages, rolling fields of lavender, and of course it’s sweet, sweet wines. Rosé is the specialty in Provence!

And 19th century Provence is precisely the setting of Alphonse Daudet’s play L’Arlésienne (The Girl from Arles), for which Georges Bizet composed this music. The play tells the story of a young man struck down with a love fever, hopelessly and desperately in love with a girl from Arles. But when his beloved proves unfaithful, the heartbreak is more than he can bear. Rooted in the romance of southern France, this “Farandole” draws on two spirited folk melodies from medieval Provence, transporting us to a distant time and place.

Music Youth Southeast

Whether it’s a salty sea shanty passed down through the crew or an old folk song shared with a new generation of students, today’s concert is all about honoring the treasured melodies that are carried from one generation to the next. In this program, we celebrate the myriad ways that music connects us to ourselves, to our communities, and to one another.

Middle School

Traditional English Fiddle Tune – The Sailor’s Hornpipe (arr. Sandra Dackow)

“With a yo heave ho—and a slap upon the knee!” We’re splashing atop saltwater waves in this buoyant sea shanty.

The hornpipe is both a musical instrument and a folk dance, depending on who you ask. A Celtic woodwind instrument dating back to at least the 15th century, the hornpipe was traditionally built by drilling finger holes into a wooden or bone pipe and attaching a bell and mouthpiece, usually made from an animal horn.

Sturdy enough to survive life at sea and loud enough to pierce through the noise of a rowdy crew, the hornpipe became especially popular with sailors. So too, did the folk dances associated with it. We hoot and holler and kick up our heels alongside the crew in this lively hornpipe arrangement from Sandra Dackow. Careful not to fall overboard!

High School

Richard Meyer – Mantras

In its broadest definition, a “mantra” is something you repeat to yourself—whether it’s a personal motto, an affirmation, a chant, or an incantation. It’s a word or phrase that connects you to yourself, that focuses your mind, aligns your energy, and draws you to the present moment. In our modern day and age, a “mantra” can be just about anything—but traditionally in Hinduism and Buddhism, mantras are used for meditation and are understood to have deep spiritual power.

The power of repetition is likewise center stage in Richard Meyer’s Mantras. He layers small musical fragments to create a meditative and, at times, hypnotic effect, calling us to focus our minds and bodies—and inviting us to become one with the music.

Gustav Holst – St Paul’s Suite in C Major
I. Jig

It can be difficult to focus when you’re working in a busy school or office building. Fortunately for Gustav Holst, one of the biggest work perks at his longtime teaching gig was access to a soundproof room!

Holst served as the music director at St. Paul’s Girls’ School in London for three decades in the early 20th century, and he composed the St. Paul’s Suite on the occasion of a new music wing opening at the school in 1913.

The new soundproof classroom provided a quiet space to teach music students during the week, but on Sundays and holidays he would spend hours in there composing! Finally, a space where he could hear his own thoughts—and we can too in this lively jig he dreamt up in that classroom, drawing on the warmth and spirit of British folk music.

Combined High School & Middle School

Taylor Swift – Shake it Off (arr. Larry Moore)

Whether you’re a player or a hater, you can get behind Taylor Swift’s advice to “Shake it Off” when the noise around you gets a little too loud. We hear her mega-chart-topper with fresh ears in this string orchestra arrangement from Larry Moore. Swifties rejoice in catchy, toe-tappin’ pop melodies traded across the entire orchestra.

Next time you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a page from Taylor: “But I keep cruisin’, can’t stop, won’t stop groovin’, it’s like I got this music in my mind saying, ‘It’s gonna be alright!’”

Symphonette Orchestra

Johannes Brahms – Variations on a Theme by Haydn, “St. Antoni Chorale” (arr. John Whitney)

Scheming marketers far preceded the internet—in fact, they were a dime a dozen back in the early 19th century. To sell more copies of music by lesser-known composers, publishers would sometimes slap the name of a more famous composer on the manuscript.

That’s what most likely happened in the case of the “St. Antoni Chorale.” It originally had Joseph Haydn’s name on it, but subsequent research suggests the publisher was probably telling a little white lie.

Still, the music was good enough to catch the attention of Johannes Brahms, who used it as a jumping off point for his stately and elegant Variations on a Theme by Haydn. We hear that timeless melody reimagined once more in this arrangement from John Whitney, bringing the warmth, polish, and charm of the “St. Antoni Chorale” to a new generation of performers.

Traditional – Guantanamera (The Girl from Guantánamo) (arr. Victor López)

A truly great folk song doesn’t have a single author—it’s a song of the people. It’s a melody that lives and breathes, adapted and reimagined by each musician who performs it.

Guantanamera (The Girl from Guantánamo) is one of those folk songs that has echoed around the globe. From its roots in 19th-century Cuba to stages the world over, its melody grew from a simple folk song to a Cuban anthem for independence. Over a century later, its message of deep love and pride in one’s country still resonates.

Victor López’s colorful arrangement highlights the pure and vibrant joy of this timeless melody, honoring the beauty of a life that’s rooted in community, grounded in the earth, and shared lovingly with the people around us.

Robert Smith – “Yellow” (from Krisanna’s Colors)

When you picture the color yellow, what comes to mind? Sunshine, energy, spontaneity? A ripe bunch of tropical bananas, or a tall, ice-cold glass of lemonade on a hot summer’s day?

For Krisanna Roberts, “yellow” was the color of a bright and cheerful day. She was a young girl who found joy and music in every color—and while undergoing cancer treatments, she used colors to describe her days and emotions.

Krisanna’s Colors is a piece by Robert W. Smith that was inspired by Krisanna’s vivid love of life and color. This movement, titled “Yellow,” reflects her generosity, optimism, and humor—and honors all the beautiful ways she lived her life in the light.

Junior Symphony Orchestra

Leonard Bernstein – Candide Overture

“All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.” That’s the prevailing wisdom that shapes the life of the young man at the heart of Candide. But blind optimism can only take you so far! As his eyes gradually open to the cruel realities of the world we live in, he adopts a new philosophy: we each play an active role in building the world we live in. In Candide’s words, “We must cultivate our garden.”

Based on Voltaire’s 1759 satirical novella of the same name, Candide is an operetta that revels in the witty subtext. On the surface, the music dazzles and sparkles, we’re swept up in the whirlwind of rapid-fire brass and darting strings. But sudden shifts and dizzying tempo changes knock us off balance—Leonard Bernstein’s clever musical jokes are poking fun at life’s absurdities in the same way Voltaire does through words.

Brimming with triumphant bravado and tongue-in-cheek surprises, this music is all about weathering life’s unpredictable twists and turns with humor, optimism, and a healthy dose of irony.

José Elizondo – Estampas Mexicanas

As a young person growing into a new career, who were the teachers and mentors who most inspired you? For a young José Elizondo, he looked toward the great Mexican composers who came before him. In fact, they inspired his first piece for orchestra, Estampas Mexicanas.

Originally composed as part of a music assignment at his university, the three-movement suite draws on the rhythmic vitality of Carlos Chávez, the ancestral mysticism of Silvestre Revueltas, and the flowing lyricism of Manuel Ponce. The piece honors each composer’s unique artistic voice and celebrates the stamp their music left on Elizondo’s own work.

The first movement, Ferial, transports us to the colorful street parades of central Mexico, blending the exuberance of native Mexican folk songs with the salon concert influence of Spain.

The music turns inward for Danza del Pájaro Sagrado (Dance of the Sacred Bird), which imagines the ritual invocations of the Aztecs and the Maya. Spanish missionaries destroyed most documentation of such music, but José Elizondo imagines the sacred awe and wonder of such gatherings. The piccolo imitates the earthy resonance of a clay ocarina, a type of Aztec flute, with its mysterious melody ascending the ancient pyramids stone by stone, from the land of the earth to the realm of the divine.

The third movement, Teotlalli (Land of Gods), celebrates the beautiful synthesis of different cultures that make up Mexican music, honoring not only the rich histories of Mexico but also the present and future of this living and breathing place.

Antonín Dvořák – Symphony No. 8 in G Major
IV. Allegro ma non troppo

“In Bohemia, the trumpets never call to battle—they always call to dance!” These were the famous words of the Czech conductor Rafael Kubelík while conducting a rehearsal of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 in G Major.

He was talking about the joyous trumpet fanfare that begins the fourth movement, but the entire symphony is rooted in the sounds and spirit of Antonín Dvořák’s native Bohemia. He grew up there playing the violin with folk musicians from all over the neighborhood, and it instilled in him a deep love of his Bohemian heritage.

Dvořák wears it proudly in his Symphony No. 8, which evokes long walks in the Bohemian forests, sunny summer afternoons in the countryside, and the folk melodies that so captured his heart. Bursting with musical energy, in this final movement we kick off our shoes and twirl across the meadows of Dvořák’s beloved homeland, losing ourselves in the unabashed joy and freedom of Bohemia—where the trumpets always call to dance!

Debut Symphony Orchestra

Giuseppe Verdi – Overture to La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny)

Opera is not exactly known for its brevity, and this opera by Giuseppe Verdi has got more twists and turns than a season of the latest Netflix drama. Love, betrayal, war, revenge, and some very messy family drama—it’s all par for the course.

A full performance would run you about three hours, but the title alone tells you everything you need to know. It’s an opera all about La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny). You can hear fate knocking at the door in the very opening measures of the overture, with an ominous three blasts of the brass. Dark clouds and sweeping string melodies swirl across the stage, foreshadowing the grand operatic drama yet to unfold at the whims of Fate.

Fritz Kreisler – Praeludium and Allegro
Featuring 2025 Concerto Competition winner: Adeline Gao, Violin

A little white lie here and there never hurt anyone, but the violinist Fritz Kreisler was a pretty frequent teller of tall tales!

As he toured Europe and the U.S. in the early 20th century, he wanted to keep his concerts sounding fresh and new. So, he wrote his own pieces in the style of composers from the distant past—and he put their names on the program. He claimed he had unearthed their long-lost music in libraries and monasteries. But of course, once the pieces were well-received, he later admitted to the hoax. He gladly took credit for writing music that audiences liked!

Such was the case for Fritz Kreisler’s Praeludium and Allegro, originally attributed to the great Baroque composer Gaetano Pugnani. Kreisler’s sky-high melodies provided the perfect canvas to showcase his talent as a violinist and showman, merging the precision and clarity of Baroque-era music with the passion and charisma of the Romantic era.

Ottorino Respighi – The Pines of Rome (Finale) (arr. Stephen Bulla)

Picture this: a misty dawn in Rome as the sun rises over the long and winding Appian Way, Towering pine trees cast their shadows over this ancient pathway, which once carried legions of ancient Roman troops steadily toward battle.

With a little imagination, we soon hear their footsteps, the beat of the marching drum growing louder and louder until finally we hear the trumpets blaring, the army soaking in the luminous grandeur of the newly risen sun as they return in triumph back to the Eternal City.

A glorious, heart-bursting ending to Ottorino Respighi’s musical portrait of his beloved Rome, and the many magnificent ways that life unfolds beneath the watchful eyes of the umbrella pines.

Youth Symphony Orchestra

Silvestre Revueltas – La noche de los Mayas

Deep in the lush green jungles of the Yucatán Peninsula, a Mayan tribe is changed forever when a white explorer stridently crosses their path. The lives disrupted, the gods insulted, and the tragedy that ensues is the story that unfolds the 1939 Mexican film La noche de los Mayas.

The Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas composed the music, transporting us to a distant world and way of life through elemental rhythms and wild, at times primal melodies. The drama erupts from the very opening measures, an overwhelming ritual in motion as we enter the trancelike sound world that Revueltas has created.

The drama of the ceremony at hand soon dissolves into distant dream, with sweetly sighing melodies that call to mind the tremendous beauty of the landscape and the vibrant community of the Maya people who live there. An explosion of life bursts forth as we revel in their ecstatic dances and colorful celebrations (“Noche de Jaranas”) before the music calms into a somber reflection on the darker histories of the Yucatán Peninsula (“Noche de Yucatán”).

Igor Stravinsky – The Rite of Spring
4. Spring Rounds
5. Ritual of the Rival Tribes
6. Procession of the Sage: The Sage
7. Dance of the Earth

Yelling, screaming, and fist-fighting are not your typical fare for classical music concerts—but that’s precisely what happened at the premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring in Paris in 1913. The audience was so shocked by what they saw that they incited a riot.

The Rite of Spring depicts a pagan ritual celebrating the advent of spring. A young girl, chosen by Fate, is offered as a sacrifice, dancing herself to death to usher in the spring.

Suffice to say, the early 20th-century audience was appalled. The music sounded wild—the choreography and costumes were even wilder still! The harmonic dissonance, the frenzied and uneven rhythms, the savage costumes, the strange and contorted choreography, the un-pointed toes!

The entire production went against everything that was expected of a ballet. Legend has it that the audience created such a racket that the ballet’s choreographer, Vaslav Nijinsky, had to hop on top of a chair and scream step numbers to the dancers, as they were unable to hear the music.

But you know what they say: all publicity is good publicity. The ballet’s impresario Sergei Diaghilev knew exactly what he was doing. The “riots of spring” ensured that this ballet went down in history as one of the most iconic of all time. After the premiere, Diaghilev said it was “exactly what he wanted.”

Today’s concert features musical selections from Part I of the ballet: Adoration of the Earth. Airy melodies float above an eerie, hypnotic pulse as young girls from the tribe circle together to dance “Spring Rounds,” the ritual trance gradually building into a set of spirited games in “Ritual of the Rival Tribes.” Explosions of color echo across the orchestra until finally the dancers disperse to welcome the “Procession of the Sage.”

The wise elders enter, led by “The Sage,” who brings the games to a reverent pause and blesses the earth with a kiss. The tribe erupts into a passionate, frenzied finale, a communal ritual sanctifying the land and becoming one with it in “Dance of the Earth.” The rhythms are pounding, the melodies swirling, the dancers spinning faster and faster until they surrender fully to the power of nature they’ve just awakened.

"Ancestors"
Notes on the Program

Prelude String Orchestra

Music Youth Southeast

Middle School

High School

Combined High School & Middle School

Symphonette Orchestra

Junior Symphony Orchestra

Debut Symphony Orchestra

Youth Symphony Orchestra

Contact Us

SYSO in Photos

"Ancestors" Notes on the Program

Prelude String Orchestra

Music Youth Southeast

Middle School

High School

Combined High School & Middle School

Symphonette Orchestra

Junior Symphony Orchestra

Debut Symphony Orchestra

Youth Symphony Orchestra

Contact Us

SYSO in Photos

"Ancestors"
Notes on the Program