Program
The Moldau
from Má vlast
Bedřich Smetana
Vampire Waltz
Nathaniel Edison
Andante e Rondo Ungarese, Op. 35
Carl Maria von Weber
Leah Kohn, Bassoon
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​​INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 2 in B Minor
I. Allegro moderato
II. Scherzo: Prestissimo
III. Andante
IV. Finale: Allegro​
​Alexander Borodin​​​​​​
Program Notes
The Moldau (1874)​
from Má vlast
Bedřich Smetana
Smetana’s The Moldau is one of the most beloved pieces in Czech music. It paints a vivid musical portrait of the river Vltava as it flows through the countryside. You'll hear sounds of past forests, villages, and even a grand castle, before the river joins with the Elbe. Through his beautiful melodies and colorful orchestration, Smetana captures a celebration of his homeland in this piece.
Listen for the rippling flutes and strings that suggest the river’s gentle current growing into a mighty flow.​
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​​Andante e Rondo Ungarese, Op. 35 (1809)
Carl Maria von Weber
Leah Kohn, bassoon
Weber’s Andante e Rondo Ungarese, performed tonight by Leah Kohn, gives the mighty bassoon a turn in the spotlight! Originally written for viola and later adapted for bassoon, the piece begins with a lyrical, songlike Andante before bursting into a spirited, Hungarian-style Rondo. It’s both elegant and full of playful virtuosity and perfectly showcases the bassoon’s warmth and agility.
Listen for the bassoon’s quick leaps and comical turns as it dances through the lively finale.​
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Symphony No. 2 in B Minor (1869–1876)
Alexander Borodin
Borodin’s Symphony No. 2 is packed with bold, beautiful melodies and rhythmic excitement, reflecting Borodin's fascination with Russian legends and folk music. The first movement has enormous heroic energy, followed by a lively scherzo and then a tender, lyrical slow movement that will sweep you off your feet. The finale brings the symphony to a triumphant close, brimming with festive, dance-like rhythms.
Listen for the brass fanfares and driving rhythms that evoke ancient heroes and Russian pageantry.​
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Vampire Waltz
Nathaniel Edison​
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Derived from a universe of vampires, ogres, satyrs, and an abundance of magical creatures, Vampire Waltz depicts the unlikely reunion of a mother with her son after nearly a century spent apart.
In this fantasy world, vampires are regarded as filth and as such are often victimized. To protect her child from persecution, a mother rips her newborn son's wings from his body and abandons him at birth. Unaware of his mother’s attempt to obscure his identity, the orphaned boy grows to despise her and blames her for the misfortunes he encounters in his life. Seventy-four years later, after a lifetime of hating her, he runs into her by chance at the city ball. Instead of dialogue, they simply exchange knowing glances and share a wordless dance together.
-Nathaniel Edison
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Martín Alexander Arellano
Conductor
Martín Alexander Arellano is an award winning conductor and composer of Nicaraguan & Mexican descent, from California.. He is a triple laureate of the 2024 American Prize—winning in Opera Conducting, taking 2nd place in Community Orchestra Conducting, and 3rd place in Musical Theater Conducting—and in 2023, received the second jury prize at the Opéra de Baugé International Conducting Competition in France. Alex is the Conductor of the Santa Clarita Symphony and current Music Director of the North Bay Chamber Orchestra in Tampa, FL as well as the Central California Wind Ensemble based in Turlock, CA. He holds conducting degrees from the Strasbourg Conservatoire in France and the University of Iowa in the US.
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Alex began studying conducting with Stuart Sims at the California State University: Stanislaus and since has worked with Robert Carnochan and Stephen Moore at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. In 2021, Alex received his COP (Cycle d’Orientation Professional) in Orchestral Direction while studying with and Music Director Emeritus of the Strasbourg Philharmonic Theodor Guschlbauer at the Strasbourg Conservatoire, where he was selected to represent the conducting studio in a masterclass with David Reiland the Orchestre National de Metz.
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Alex conducted at the Pierre Monteux Festival in 2025 & 2024 where he worked with conductors Tiffany Lu (University of Florida) and Chung Park (St. Olaf College). In 2022, he was invited to serve as a Conducting Fellow for the Allentown Symphony and Artistic Director Diane Wittry. He has attended conducting workshops with the Järvi Family (Pärnu Music Festival), David Hill (The Bach Choir), David Reiland (Orchestre National de Metz), Paul Vermel (Emeritus, Northwest Symphony Orchestra), Neil Thomson (Philharmonic Orchestra of Goiás), Peter Jaffe (Stockton Symphony), and Diane Wittry (Allentown Symphony Orchestra). Alex was also a Conducting Fellow with the Miami Symphony Orchestra with Maestro Eduardo Marturet in the 2016 - 2017 season.
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As a composer, Alex has written compositions for wind ensemble, symphony orchestra, and various chamber ensembles. He was a finalist in 2019 in the Florida Orchestra’s Student Composer Competition with his work Fantasia on a Song for a Child. Alex has worked with composers including Steven Bryant, Christopher Theofanidis, Victoria Bond, and Avner Dorman. He graduated with his Bachelors Diploma in Music Theory and Composition at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music where he studied with Charles Norman Mason. From 2018 - 2019, Alex served as Assistant Conductor to Shawn Crouch, director of the Frost School of Music’s premier new music ensemble “Ensemble Ibis”.
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Alex is an alumnus of the Beta Tau chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia at the University of Miami. Alex is a BMI associated composer.
Brian Stone
Artistic Director
Prize-winning conductor and award-winning teacher Brian Stone has worked both in the opera pit and on the concert stage with professional orchestras throughout the world, including work with universities and conservatories across the country, to both public and institutional acclaim. In opera, Stone has conducted some fifteen different full productions and served as a judge for the National Association for Teachers of Singing and the Austrian-American Society’s Mozarteum Scholarship.
Dr. Stone is a graduate of Bennington College in Vermont, where he studied composition, viola, and literature. He received a Master of Music degree and a Doctorate in conducting from the Peabody Conservatory where he studied with Frederik Prausnitz and Gustav Meier. Further studies in conducting took place at Le Domaine Forget in Canada with Otto-Werner Mueller and two summers at the Festival at Sandpoint with Gunther Schuller. He also studied with Harvey Pittel on saxophone, Jacob Glick on viola, Bill Dixon in improvisation, and Allen Shawn and Henry Brant in composition.
Leah Kohn
Guest Soloist, Bassoon
Bassoonist Leah Kohn is a versatile musician with a passion for unusual repertoire. She is also an active performer on the baroque bassoon and contrabassoon, and the co-founder and director of Oak Hill Music Festival, a chamber music festival serving the Upper Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont. Dyad, her duo with violinist Niv Ashkenazi, has performed on concert series throughout California and at many venues on the East Coast, including a recent performance at the Kennedy Center.
As well as freelance and studio work in Los Angeles, Leah has performed at the Lake George Music Festival, as a fellow at the Norfolk Music Festival, at several programs at the Banff Centre, and at Fresh Inc. Festival with Fifth House Ensemble.
As an educator, she is on faculty at California State University, Northridge, and maintains a private teaching studio in Los Angeles, as well as coaching for several local youth orchestras.
She received her D.M.A. from the University of Southern California as a student of Judith Farmer, with an academic field in musicology and elective fields in Arts Leadership and early music. She holds an M.M. from The Juilliard School and a B.M. from the Manhattan School of Music, both as a student of Frank Morelli.
Nathaniel Edison
Composer
Nathaniel is a Pasadena-based composer and multi-instrumentalist. His residencies have included Boston Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Soundtrack Orchestra, Santa Clarita Symphony Orchestra, and Lakeland Symphony. He has performed for numerous theater companies, including Summer Repertory Theater Festival, Bethesda Repertory Company, Unravelled by Jake Broder, and Commonwealth Lyric Opera. Prior to living in Los Angeles, he spent five years with Cirque du Soleil’s Drawn to Life from 2019-2024 as an artist and backup bandleader.
Nathaniel holds a Bachelor’s degree in bassoon performance from the Boston Conservatory. He currently freelances, does studio work, teaches, and writes feverishly for WebToons.
Santa Clarita Symphony Orchestra
Thank you to the sponsors listed in italics.
Violin 1
Xaman Kryger, Concertmaster
Andrea Ayers
Cassie Borish (Huong Le & Thang Nguyen)
Bess Knight (Treble Makers)
Ellen Buczko (Treble Makers)
Gabriel Ramirez
Karla Torres-Vazquez
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Violin 2
Ashley Rose, Principal (Greg & Cassie Borish)
Patricia Butterworth
Mark Goodman
Rebecca Kellogg (Thomas Sederberg)
Ethan Lindsey
Abe Madyun
Ángel Emanuel Armas Vázquez
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Viola
Lisa Curtis Saunders, Acting Principal
Katie Boyle
Hailey Simmons
Cello
Stephen Hyde, Principal (Richard Smykle)
Susy Christiansen
Julia Johnson
Jennifer Miles
Mayte Ramirez (Cristina Ramirez)
Grace Van Houten
Jean Wertz
Double Bass
Eric Alehouse, Principal
Zachary Pickens
Flute
Ashley Turner, Principal
Vicki Galarneau
Megan Lee, Piccolo
Oboe
Justin Bannon, Acting Principal
Julie Vazquez
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English Horn
Sarah Bloxhman
Clarinet
Shannon Thomas, Principal
Lyndsi Gutierrez
Bassoon
Nathanial Edison, Acting Principal
Peggi Stoffel
French Horn
J.R. Hills, Principal (Cathy and Phil Lichtenberger)
Edward House
Lori Howell
Hannah Mitchell
Trumpet
Ben Sanchez, Principal
Angel Rodriguez
Trombone
Levy Barlevy, Principal
David Santamaria
Caden Piro, Bass Trombone
Tuba
Mason Moy, Principal
Harp
Alaina Stark
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Timpani
Darryl Ball, Principal
Percussion
Alysa Branda
German Canto
Sandra Wilcher
SUPPORT THE ARTS IN YOUR COMMUNITY
Please consider supporting SCSO with a tax-deductible gift.*
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There are many ways to support SCSO, but no matter how you give, your contribution benefits our programming, our community programs, our artists, and our community.
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*Santa Clarita Symphony Orchestra is a Section 501(c)3 nonprofit (EIN: 88-4299007) and your gift may qualify as a charitable deduction for federal income tax purposes.
This performance is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture.
Corporate Sponsors
Individual Sponsors
Mezzo forte
Thomas Sederberg
Richard Smykle
Cathy and Phil Lichtenberger
Greg and Cassie Borish
Mezzo piano
Anonymous
Chuck and Bess Knight
Piano
Donald Tripczyk
J.R. Hills
Vicki Galarneau
Huong Le and Thang Nguyen
Pianissimo
Colleen O-Lear
Cristina Ramirez
Lillian Appleby
Julie Vasquez
Megan Lee
Rebecca Kellogg
Cristina Ramirez
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Thank you!
Thank you to our donors and sponsors; your generosity has directly supported music in Santa Clarita and has made this concert possible.
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Thank you to the William S. Hart School District for their support and use of their facilities for our rehearsals.
Special thanks go out to the Canyon High School Performing Arts Center and to Don Pittman for his generous time and talent.
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Big thanks go out to our volunteers, our board members, and all the talented musicians who make this orchestra a strong and vibrant part of our community.
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And the biggest thanks go to you, our audience members, for joining us for this special concert. We hope to see you at our next performance!