Digital Program

Rising Stars

Saturday, May 2, 2026, 7:00pm

Jones auditorium, Meredith College

A big thanks to our sponsors and in-kind partners, who help make our programs possible:

United Arts Wake County

We serve schools | We fund artists & arts organizations | We create community.

United Arts Wake County: Building a better Wake County through the support of and advocacy for the arts. Learn more about how we MAKE ART HAPPEN across Wake County!

@UnitedArtsWake

This production was made possible with support from United Arts.

Meredith College | Meredith Department of Music

Meredith College Music | Special Thanks to Meredith College for its use of Jones Auditorium and Chapel for rehearsals and performances, the Meredith College Department of Music, Mr. Bill Brown, Mr. Jim Frick, and the Meredith College Facilities Services staff.

Ruggero Piano

Ruggero Piano est. 1958 | Proud Supporter of the Raleigh Symphony | North Carolina's Most Complete Piano Showroom & Service Center Since 1958

Home is at the heart of Ruggero Piano...a Raleigh institution that sells and services pianos. Founder Robert Ruggero opened his piano tuning and repair business in 1958, working from his family's Raleigh home. When his son, Richard Ruggero, took over the business in 1981, Richard moved it to his own family's house nearby. "We were in my garage, and later my dining room, and later my family room - then we decided we had outgrown our house," Richard Ruggero says. A handful of locations later, Ruggero Piano is now a familiar sight on Hargrove Road, where the Ruggero Piano team sells and services a wide array of pianos.

Ruggero's team includes his wife, Deborah Ruggero, and one of their sons, Chris Ruggero, along with ten other long-term team members. Ruggero talks about them all as if they're family - and he says they consider their customers as part of the family too. "When we sell a piano, we like to say it's not the end of the relationship, it's actually just the beginning," Richard says. "We're going to take care of that piano." They do that with home visits to services, tune, and repair and instrument sold from their store.

Over the years, Ruggero Piano's retail business has picked up and expanded to include recognizable piano brands like Yamaha as well as specialty brands. The shop's community reach has also expanded: Ruggero sells and rents top-quality instruments at a heavy discount to nonprofits and performing arts organizations in an effort to "make it more affordable to have good live music." - Walter Magazine

www.ruggeropiano.com | 919.839.2040 | 4720-120 Hargrove Rd. Raleigh, NC

A certified dealer of Yamaha, Bosendorfer, Schimmel, Estonia, and Clavinova instruments.

Cultural Voice of North Carolina

Sponsors:

Raleigh Symphony Orchestra, Inc. is supported by the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County as well as the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Community Partners:

Meredith College Department of Music | Ruggero Piano | Cultural Voice of North Carolina | Raleigh Music Collective

Learn how to purchase program ads, become a sponsor or join us as a community partner! If you are interested in in-kind publicity exchanges or other community partnerships, contact Executive Director Andrea Luke at manager@raleighsymphony.org or (919) 546-9755.

Staff

Jim Waddelow, Artistic Director

Andrea McKerlie Luke, Executive Director

Eliandras Sims, Artistic Manager

Irene Burke, Financial Manager

Your Gift Matters

Unlike larger arts organizations, individual gifts are our lifeblood. We keep our overhead costs extremely low and we are vigilant financial managers. That means each dollar you give goes directly to supporting our artistry and the development of young artists.

You can make your tax-deductible donation at our website or by mail (address in footer).

Support RSO

Board of Directors

President - Catherine Lanzotti

Vice President - Anthony Philpott

Secretary - Michele Pickard

Treasurer - Michelle Steele

RSO Accountant - Irene Burke

Chamber Series Chair - Janet Shurtleff

Marketing - Brooke Adkins

Officers-at-Large - Khalilah Clark, Liam Suarez

NCSU Student Volunteers, Nonprofit Leadership & Development (COM-466) - Nadia Slanker, Christine Weber

...but YOU Matter Even More!

We are working to improve our accessibility, including “Know Before You Go” guides, improved wayfinding, and large-print programs available upon request. If you have feedback or want to reach out about specific access needs, please contact us so we can better help you.

Concert Program: Rising Stars

Overture to Idomeneo | W.A. Mozart (1756-1791)

Skylines | Chance Gatewood

Premiere Performance

Rising Stars Composition Competition winner

Superior | Katherine Bergman

North Carolina Premiere

Symphony No. 3 in D Major | Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

I. Adagio maestoso—Allegro con brio

II. Allegretto

III. Menuetto—Trio

IV. Presto

Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso | Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)

Natalia Biasotto, violin

Rising Stars Concerto Competition winner

Thank you for coming to our concert!

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Featured Artists

Chancellor “Chance” Gatewood (b. 2004; he/him) is a young composer from Cary, North Carolina. His works consist of contemporary chamber and large ensemble music, aimed to embrace influences from the African diaspora, film/video game scores, and more.

His works have been performed nationally, with recent major performances at the 2025 US Army Band’s Tuba Euphonium Workshop in Washington D.C. and NewFound Chamber Winds Festival in Virginia. Upcoming performances include premieres by the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra, øra nøir Saxophone Quartet, and Kingsville Winds.

Currently, Chance is pursuing his undergraduate degrees in Arts Administration and Music Performance in Composition at UNC Greensboro, studying under Alejandro Rutty and Mark Engebretson.

Skylines program notes:

"Skylines is an exploration of color. As the sky changes hues over time, objects on the ground (whether they be buildings, mountains, treetops, or the ocean) create a kaleidoscopic effect that is powerfully lush and harmonious.

The emotional richness of strings, prismatic combinations of winds and brass, and the dimensionality of percussion are my attempt to bring to life the openness of the horizon, decorated with buildings and/or nature."

15-year-old Natalia Biasotto started violin lessons at the age of 3. She began participating in the school orchestra at 6, the youngest student in that youth ensemble, while living in Brazil. At the age of 9, she began lessons with Cecilia Guida, whom she has studied with. Recently, she also started lessons with Alexander Kerr.

At the age of 10, Natalia was invited to play as a soloist with a professional orchestra in Brazil by Maestro Fernando Ortiz (Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de Botucatu). Recently, she was first place at the Peter Perret Youth Talent Search UNCSA (2026), second place at the Chapel Hill Philharmonia Young Concerto Competition (2026), finalist of the Hilton Head Island Orchestra Youth Concerto Competition (2026), alternate winner of Chapel Hill Philharmonia Young Concerto Competition (2025), honorable mention at Peter Perret Youth Talent Search at UNCSA (2025), first place in the Student Music Contest, Woman’s Club of Raleigh (violin and all-instruments) (2024), and received the following chamber music awards: NCCMI Outstanding Artistry and Chamber Music Excellence and Teamwork (2023, 2024, 2025), and NC Federation of Music Clubs Piano Chamber Award (2025) and Joel Adams String Quartet Award (2024).

Currently, besides solo and chamber music preparation, she has been an intern at NCCMI during the 2025-2026 school year, with a primary role as a peer mentor for other ensembles. She is also currently the Associate Concertmaster of the Triangle Youth Philharmonic, the top youth orchestra of Triangle Youth Music in Raleigh, NC.

RSO Personnel

Violin I: Sara Maria Blanton (concertmaster), Jean Bynum (assoc. concertmaster), Alisyn Rogerson, Brian Jensen, Erin Howard, Keunjae Song, Jeongseon Hong, Ann Emery

Violin II: Suzanne Bolt, Emily Phaneuf, Christina Wohlford, Jody Crafford, Ardene Shafer, Francine Hunter, Hannah Vestal, Anna Tschiegg Baker

Viola: Ken Rogerson (Fei-Mei and Tsong-Wen Chou Memorial Chair), Kevin Yen, Ri-Shea Schlitter, Patrice Barley, Bailey Clemmons, Gabriela Potter Peoples, Catherine Morrison

Cello: Maria Fernanda Rodriguez Hurtado, Robert Nosow, Cheryl Schlitter, Jeremy Smith, Jeffrey Rossman, Sarah Page, Victor Cediel Gómez

Bass: Dave Prodoehl, Steve Landis, John Gerken, Athena Ward, Adam Burke

Flute: Irene Burke (piccolo), Emma Morris

Oboe: Kaitlyn Michalak, Janet Shurtleff

Clarinet: Jim Williams, Brent Smith

Bassoon: Amy Braun, Brenda Balasz-Reylek

Trumpet: Michael Mole, John Morrison

Horn: Caresse Virnig, John Gallis

Percussion: Andrew Munger, Jo Donald

Timpani: Jaylan Glenn