For the convenience of concertgoers 

the Garden Cafe remains open until 6:oo pm.

The use of cameras or recording equipment during the 

performance is not allowed. Please be sure that cell phones,

pagers, and other electronic devices are turned off.

Please note that late entry or reentry of

the West Building after 6:30 pm is not permitted.

Music Department

National Gallery of Art

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, DC

Mailing address

2000b South Club Drive

Landover, md 20785

www.nga.gov

cover: Paul Cezanne, The Artist’s Son, Paul, 1885-1890,

National Gallery ofArt, Chester Dale Collection

The Sixty-eighth Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,765th Concert

New York Opera Society

Jonah Blum, music director

Joachim Schamberger, director

Christina Clark, soprano

Kenneth Overton, baritone

Elizabeth Young, violinist

Danielle DeSwert Hahn, pianist

February 3, 2010

Wednesday, 12:10 pm

West Building Lecture Hall

Admissionfree
Program

Music by George Gershwin (1898-1937)

Medley from Porgy and Bess (1935)

Summertime

Bess, You Is My Woman Now

I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’

Gone, Gone, Gone

I Loves You, Porgy

Prelude no. 1: Allegro ben ritmato e deciso

From Three Preludesfor Piano (1923)

Fascinating Rhythm (1924)

Someone to Watch over Me (1926)

The Man I Love (1924)

Prelude no. 2: Andante con moto e poco rubato (performed as a vocal duet) 

From Three Preludesfor Piano (1923)

Embraceable You (1930)

Prelude no. 3: Allegro ben ritmato e deciso

From Three Preludesfor Piano (1923)

Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off (1937)
The Musicians

NEW YORK OPERA SOCIETY

The New York Opera Society (nyos) benefits artists and audiences alike 

through timely productions that offer fresh and sometimes provocative interpretations of contemporary and classical works, nyos annually tours a new

production of an extant work in international festivals abroad and features a

contemporary opera or new commission in the United States. In addition, it

hosts a salon series and an international artist-in-residence program, supports outreach in underserved communities, and runs a training program

called Les Jeunes Solistes.

In its most recent season, nyos featured new productions of Falstaffand

Madama Butterfly for its annual festival in southern France under the baton

of Emmanuel Plasson and l’Ensemble Instrumental du Pays de Cocagne; 

the United States premiere of a contemporary Spanish opera, Las Horas vacias,

by Guggenheim Fellow and Juilliard faculty member Ricardo Llorca; an

acclaimed evening of Italian bel canto with guest conductor Maestro Carlo

Rizzari at the Embassy ofItaly in Washington, dc; and a widely celebrated

concert tour ofyoung Norwegian singers which was aired on Chicago’s

Classical Radio wfmt and presented by the Saint Andrew’s Music Society,

the Chicago Cultural Center, and the National Gallery of Art.

New York Opera Society is led by its president, A.T. Nguyen, and by

executive director Jennifer Cho, who has received numerous awards for her

work in music since completing her studies at Northwestern University.

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JONAH BLUM

nyos music director Jonah Blum is an active composer and arranger, creating works for groups ranging from orchestras to jazz ensembles. His works

have been performed in Symphony Center and Millennium Park in Chicago

and by touring ensembles from the Paris Conservatory. Recent projects

include an all-Gershwin album for saxophonist Frederick Hemke. Blum

performs with the Enigma Saxophone Quartet, and is a cofounder ofthe

improvisation ensemble Jonah and the Whalers. His previous collaborations

with the New York Opera Society include orchestral arrangements for Don

Giovanni and Falstaff.

JOACHIM SCHAMBERGER

Joachim Schamberger works internationally as a stage director and virtual

theater designer. A graduate ofthe Musikhochschule in Wurzburg, Germany,

and the Merola Opera Program ofthe San Francisco Opera, Schamberger

went on to study digital film production and 3-D animation at the New York

Film Academy. In addition to directing, Schamberger has worked with young

artists at the Brooklyn College Conservatory, the International Institute of

Vocal Arts in Italy, The Juilliard School of Music and Drama, and voiCExperience in Florida. Recent productions include La Boheme for Connecticut

Grand Opera; Tosca and Das Rheingold for the Indianapolis Opera; Sweeney

Todd and Rigoletto for the Shreveport Opera; Martha and The Wizard ofOz

for the Landestheater Coburg in Germany; Falstafffor Theatre Municipal

Castres, France; Die Zauberflote and The Rake's Progress for the International

Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel; Suor Angelica/Gianni Schicchi for 

Tampa Opera; and Cosifan tutte for the Conservatory in Stony Brook, New

York. Upcoming projects include Ariadne aufNaxos for the Indianapolis

Opera and Lucia di Lammermoor and La Rondine for the Tampa Opera.

Schamberger maintains a Web site at www.joachimschamberger.com.

5
CHRISTINA CLARK

American soprano Christina Clark received her education at the University

of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she was a graduate fellow. She has participated in the Banff, Ravinia, and Tanglewood Song Festivals and is a recipient 

of many grants and awards, including a scholarship from the Metropolitan

Opera Company. Clark has performed with Florida Grand Opera as well as

the opera companies ofToledo and Cleveland. In 2000 she received praise 

from the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune for her portrayal ofthe title

role in Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha for the Opera Theatre Saint Louis.

Clark’s roles include Annchen in Der FreischiXtz, Despina in Cosifan

tutte, Dorinda in Orlando, Frasquita in Carmen, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel,

Lois Lane and Bianca in Kiss me Kate, Marzelline in Fidelio, Najade in Ariadne

aufNaxos, Nanetta in Falstaff, Tullia in Vivaldi’s Ottone in villa, and Tytania

in A Midummer Night’s Dream. Highlights ofrecent seasons were her debuts 

at the Zurich Operhaus and at the Komische Oper Berlin. Along with numerous operatic roles, Clark continues to perform concerts and recitals in

Canada, Germany, Israel, and the United States.

6

KENNETH OVERTON

After a successful debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin as Porgy in Gershwin’s

Porgy and Bess, in 2009 baritone Kenneth Overton reprised his role as Porgy

with Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh, followed by concert appearances in the

same role with The Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Paducah Symphony Orchestra, and Richmond Symphony Orchestra. That same year he 

made his New York City Opera debut in a concert performance of Troubled

Island by William Grant Still and his San Francisco Opera debut as Lawyer

Frazier in Porgy and Bess. Recent and upcoming engagements include appearing as the baritone soloist in Handel’s Messiah with The Norwalk Symphony 

and in Verdi’s Requiem at Montclair State University and at The Cathedral 

Basilica in Newark, New Jersey. Overton also made his Pensacola Opera 

debut this season in the world premiere of David Ott’s The Widow’s Lantern

and later this year, he will return to Pensacola Opera as Joe in Showboat.

This spring Overton will reprise the role of Sharpless for the Opera Memphis 

production of Madama Butterfly. He will also sing Alexander von Zemlinsky’s

Lyric Suite with the Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra and a return engagement as soloist with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra. Overton 

maintains a Web site at www.KennethOverton.com.

ELIZABETH YOUNG

Born into a musical family, violinist Elizabeth Young has a wide variety of

musical experience and interests and has performed in recitals as violinist

and pianist throughout the East Coast ofthe United States and abroad.

A native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Young earned a master ofmusic

degree from the Manhattan School of Music in 2006 and a bachelor of

music degree from the North Carolina School ofthe Arts. With an outstanding reputation as an orchestral musician, Young has performed with and 

served in leadership positions in many chamber ensembles and orchestras,

including the Chelsea Symphony, the Claremont Ensemble, the Da Capo

Opera Company, the Illuminations Festival Orchestra, the Manhattan

Chamber Sinfonia, the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra, the Texas Music

Festival Orchestra, and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. In 2007 Young

7
served as the assistant to the conductor, personnel manager, and orchestral

player for Requiem for Darfur, a benefit concert held at Carnegie Hall’s

Stern Auditorium.

An active freelance musician and teacher in New York City, Young has

been heard at Barge Music, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Concert

Hall, and Radio City Music Hall. As a result ofthese performances, she has

appeared on the bbc, cbs, and cnn television networks. She recently took a

permanent position as violinist with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and

is currently on the faculty ofthe Larchmont Music Academy in Larchmont,

New York, where she teaches violin, viola, and piano. She also serves as

music school administrator at the Huntington Center for Performing Arts 

in Long Island, where she teaches violin and piano.

DANIELLE DESWERT HAHN

Brussels-born pianist Danielle DeSwert Hahn is a freelance collaborative

pianist and coach and the music program specialist at the National Gallery 

ofArt. She has worked as a pianist and coach with the Ash Lawn Highland

Opera Festival, Chautauqua Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Kentucky Opera, the

New Orleans Opera Association, Portland (Oregon) Opera, the San Francisco

Opera Center, Sarasota Opera, and the Washington National Opera. From

2004-2006 she was the principal repetiteur with the Baltimore Opera

Company and Washington Concert Opera.

She performs regularly in chamber music and voice recitals, including

performances at the Arts Club ofWashington, the Jewish Community Center

ofGreater Washington, the Kennedy Center, the Mexican Institute ofCulture,

the National Gallery, the Russian Embassy, and the White House. She is

principal pianist with the Inscape Chamber Music Project. She holds a master

ofmusic degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she

studied with Martin Katz, and a bachelor ofmusic degree from the University

ofCalifornia, Santa Barbara. She also studied with Warren Jones and Anne

Epperson at the Music Academy ofthe West and was an apprentice coach with

the Washington Opera, working with Placido Domingo.

Program Notes

Chester Dale (1883-1962) was an astute businessman who made his fortune

on Wall Street in the bond market. He thrived on forging deals and translated much ofthis energy and talent into his art collecting, a passion that

was encouraged by his wife, Maud, who was the daughter of an artist. Dale

acquired a magnificent collection of French and American paintings from

the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which he bequeathed in

1962 to the National Gallery ofArt. Eighty-four ofthe finest examples from

his collection make up an exhibition that opened at the Gallery on January 31,

2010, and runs through July 31, 2011. Among the masterpieces included are

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot’s Forest ofFontainebleau (1834), Auguste Renoir’s

A Girl with a Watering Can (1876), Mary Cassatt’s Boating Party (1893/1894),

Edouard Manet’s Old Musician, Pablo Picasso’s Family ofSaltimbanques

(1905), and George Bellows’ Blue Morning (1909). Other artists represented

include Paul Cezanne, Salvador Dali, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Henri

Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, and Claude Monet.

The Dales were active New York socialites who attended and sometimes

hosted the most fashionable parties held on the Upper West Side. One ofthe

few musicians who also frequented those gatherings was George Gershwin,

who by 1925 had achieved sufficient fame and wealth just from the publication and frequent performance of his Rhapsody in Blue to afford a townhouse in the same neighborhood and the social life that went with it. It is

known that he and Chester Dale were acquainted with each other and that it

was Gershwin’s encounter with the art in Dale’s apartment in the Park Lane

Hotel that inspired him to collect art himself and develop his skills as a

painter. An incident from one oftheir meetings is recorded in notes that

Dale left behind, which were edited and reproduced in an autobiography by

John Walker, who was the director ofthe National Gallery ofArt when it 

received the Dale bequest:

“I bumped into George somewhere I can’t remember now. He 

said, ‘Oh, Chester, I understand you got a lot ofswell pictures. I’d

like to see them.’ I said, ‘It’s OK with me, George, come over any

time it’s convenient for you....’ So George, and I think his brother

9
and somebody else, I don’t remember, came in for cocktails. Just

where we were in the morning room there happened to be a

Cezanne right near the door called Estaque.... George said, ‘My God,

that’s a wonderful picture!’ I said, ‘What the hell do you know

about pictures?’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘It’s a Cezanne, isn’t it?’ I said,

‘Sure, it’s a Cezanne.... Are you interested in art outside of your

great art?’ He said, ‘Yes, Chester, I’m crazy about pictures....’ And

he proceeded to tell me some things about Cezanne that even I

didn’t know.

“I said, ‘Now look, George, ifyou feel that way, why don’t you go

to the piano and play me a Cezanne... ?’ So he went to the piano....

I haven’t got any more idea than the man in the moon what he

played, but emotionally, there was Cezanne to the both ofus.”

(John Walker, Self-portrait with Donors: Confessions ofan Art

Collector, 1974, Boston, Little, Brown & Co.)

George Gershwin the songwriter worked in a medium that did not

encourage innovation, but he found a distinctive personal style and created

songs that remained popular even as fashions changed. From his exposure

to jazz musicians and his own work as a jazz pianist, Gershwin developed

an affinity for eight-bar phrases and an aggressive, swinging beat, with

accents occurring on weak and strong beats alike. His personal touches

included more frequent modulations than were normally heard in improvised jazz, occasional extreme modulations to distantly related keys, and

chromatic melodies. Some of the songs in this program were already written

when Gershwin became acquainted with Chester Dale, and may well have 

been among the pieces he played at the parties at which both ofthem were

present in the late 1920s: “The Man I Love,” with its shifting harmonies and

flexible beat, is a ballad reminiscent of earlier songs and operetta arias of

Jerome Kern (1885-1945); “Someone to Watch over Me,” an early example

of collaboration with Ira Gershwin as lyricist, features the title as a repeated

element in the refrain and the final words ofthe song; and “Fascinating

Rhythm” introduces rhythmic syncopation that defies musical notation and

requires the singer to take on rhythmic complexities that were unprecedented

for classically trained singers of Gershwin’s time.

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Upcoming Concerts at the National Gallery of Art

Till Fellner, pianist

Beethoven sonatas nos. 13,14, 21, and 22

February 7, 2010

Sunday Evening, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

0-3

Karin Paludan, soprano

Danielle DeSwert Hahn, pianist

Music by Gershwin

Presented in honor of

From Impressionism to Modernism:

The Chester Dale Collection

February 10, 2010

Wednesday, 12:10 pm

West Building Lecture Hall