≈ 2 hours · With intermission
Last updated: October 7, 2019
Reflection
Welcome back to the NAC Orchestra’s brand new Pops season! And what a superlative beginning we have for you.
I first heard John Williams’ music in 1977 at New York City’s Ziegfeld Theatre. It was Star Wars: A New Hope and it blew my mind… of course!
That thoroughly modern old-school renaissance of full orchestral scores in movies was a revolution when it hit the big screen, and John’s melodies are still the most memorable star of some very starry films. The legacy of great scores by Korngold, Richard Strauss, Dvořák, Holst and Max Steiner can be sensed in his unique and original music, which has probably been heard by more people on the planet than any other composer.
Little did I realise then that I would meet and work with John many times. Years ago, I discovered a score of John’s (from the film Monsignor) and was greatly impressed by one scene in particular in which many plot points came crashing together in rather melodramatic fashion in a Roman cathedral. Instead of dialogue, the director Frank Perry wisely chose to have John write a marvelous piece of liturgical music. John called it “Gloria.” I was so enamoured of this composition, I reached out to John and asked if I might be able to perform it in Ottawa. He said it was not published but that he would be pleased to loan me his personal set of orchestral parts for performances in Ottawa that season. Several months later, during a PBS telecast, I thanked him for the loan and he sincerely asked me: “Did they like it?” Such is the modesty of a true genius.
Since then we’ve become good colleagues and friends, and he has entrusted me and the Indianapolis Symphony with the honour of playing through the pre-publication drafts of his music, which are then corrected, printed and made available for orchestras around the world to play in concert.
John is a quiet and focussed man, the consummate gentleman. And it is safe to say that he will remain the most celebrated composer of the 20th century.
Program: Music by John Williams
Main Title from Star Wars (1977)
“Superman March” from Superman (1978)
“The Flight to Neverland” from Hook (1991)
Excerpts from Artificial Intelligence: A.I. (2001)
“The Cowboys Overture” from The Cowboys (1972)
Theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
“Devil’s Dance” from The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
“Raiders March” from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
INTERMISSION
Liberty Fanfare (1986)
Suite from Far and Away (1992)
Theme from Schindler’s List (1993)
Yosuke Kawasaki, violin
“Hedwig’s Theme” from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
“Harry’s Wondrous World” from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
“Shark Theme” from Jaws (1975)
Main Theme from Jurassic Park (1993)
“Adventures on Earth” from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Artists
Jack Everly is the Principal Pops Conductor of the Indianapolis and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. He has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, the San Francisco Symphony, and numerous appearances with The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center. Maestro Everly conducts over 90 performances in more than 22 North American cities every season.
Celebrating his 10th anniversary as Music Director of the National Memorial Day Concert and A Capitol Fourth on PBS, Maestro Everly proudly leads the National Symphony Orchestra (USA) in these patriotic celebrations on the National Mall. These concerts attract hundreds of thousands attendees on the lawn and the broadcasts reach millions of viewers and are some of the very highest rated programming on PBS television.
Mr. Everly is the also Music Director of IPL Yuletide Celebration, now a 30+ year tradition. He led the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in its first Pops recording, Yuletide Celebration, Volume One, that included three of his own orchestrations, Some of his other recordings include In The Presence featuring the Czech Philharmonic and Daniel Rodriguez, Sandi Patty’s Broadway Stories, the soundtrack to Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Everything's Coming Up Roses: The Complete Overtures Of Jule Styne.
Originally appointed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mr. Everly was conductor of the American Ballet Theatre for 14 years, where he served as Music Director. In addition to his ABT tenure, he teamed with Marvin Hamlisch on Broadway shows that Mr. Hamlisch scored. He conducted Carol Channing hundreds of times in Hello, Dolly! in two separate Broadway productions.
Maestro Everly, a graduate of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, is a recipient of the 2015 Indiana Historical Society Living Legends Award and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Franklin College in his home state of Indiana. He is a proud resident of the Indianapolis community and when not on the podium you can find Maestro Everly at home with his family.
Yosuke Kawasaki currently serves as Concertmaster of the NAC Orchestra. His versatile musicianship allows him to pursue a career in orchestra, solo, and chamber music. His orchestral career began with the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra and soon led to the Mito Chamber Orchestra, Saito Kinen Orchestra, and Japan Century Orchestra, all of which he led as concertmaster. His solo and chamber music career spans five continents, collaborating with artists such as Seiji Ozawa, Pinchas Zukerman, and Yo-Yo Ma, and appearing in the world’s most prestigious halls such as Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall, and the Royal Concertgebouw.
Kawasaki’s current regular ensembles are Trio Ink and the Mito String Quartet. His passion for chamber music led to his appointment as Music Director to the Affinis Music Festival in Japan. He is also an artistic advisor to a new chamber music festival, Off the Beaten Path, in Bulgaria.
As an educator Kawasaki has given masterclasses and performed side by side with students in schools across Canada. Well-versed in the string quartet literature he was entrusted by Seiji Ozawa as the youngest faculty member of the Ozawa International Chamber Music Academy at the age of 26. He was also an adjunct professor of violin at the University of Ottawa School of Music from 2013 to 2022 alongside the beloved pedagogue Yehonatan Berick.
Kawasaki began his violin studies at the age of six with his father Masao Kawasaki and Setsu Goto. He was subsequently accepted into The Juilliard School Pre-College Division and further continued his education and graduated from The Juilliard School in 1998 under the tutorship of Dorothy DeLay, Hyo Kang, Felix Galimir, and Joel Smirnoff.
Tobi Hunt McCoy is enjoying another year as Season Stage Manager with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. In past seasons, she stage-managed Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Christopher Plummer in 2001 and Colm Feore in 2014. She co-produced the 1940s Pops show On the Air with Jack Everly for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, a show they co-produced in 2007 for the NAC Orchestra.
In 2018 McCoy made her Southam Hall acting debut in the role of Stage Manager in the Magic Circle Mime Co.’s production of Orchestra from Planet X. Additional professional duties have included aiding Susanna and the Countess in schooling the Count and Figaro on the finer points of marital love during The Marriage of Figaro, keeping her eyes open (for the first time ever) during the flying monkey scene in The Wizard of Oz, mistakenly asking Patrick Watson for proof of identity backstage, holding her breath while marvelling at the athletic ability of the cast during Cirque Goes Broadway, continuing to implement feedback on her British-Columbian French with the choruses of Ottawa, and cheering on Luke and Princess Leia with Charlie Ross, Émilie Fournier, and Eric Osner during the Star Wars Pops concert.
In her spare time, McCoy is the Head of Arts, Drama, English, and Library at Lisgar Collegiate Institute.