Digital Program

Magic to Do

Saturday, October 25, 2025, 3:00pm

Jones Chapel, 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 and Education - Brooke Adkins, Michael Lundy

Officers-at-Large - Khalilah Clark, Liam Suarez

NCSU Student Volunteers, Nonprofit Leadership & Development (COM-466) - Ava Hill, Clara Stec

...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: Magic to Do

Selections from Hansel and Gretel | Englebert Humperdinck

I. Prelude: Vorspiel

II. Hexenritt (Witch’s Ride)

III. Sandman Aria, Hansel and Gretel Evening Prayer, and Dream Music

Emily Ennis, The Sandman,

Anna Nicole Digler, Hansel,

Shanna Collins, Gretel

Highlights from Wicked | Stephen Schwartz

No One Mourns the Wicked - The Wizard and I - Dancing Through Life - Popular - Defying Gravity

The Noon Witch | Antonin Dvorák

Selections from Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride | Danny Elfman

According to Plan - Remains of the Day -

The Wedding Song

Costume Contest

Anyone who wishes to participate may approach the pit area in front of the stage to show off your costume and/or Halloween accessories. Adults and children welcome (grown-ups please escort your children under 6 years old)! The orchestra will choose two favorites, to be announced before The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Highlights from Harry Potter | John Williams

Selections from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Patrick Doyle, John Williams

Hogwarts’ Hymn - Hedwig’s Theme -

Harry in Winter - Potter Waltz

Selections from Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix | Nicholas Hooper, John Williams

Another Story - The Ministry of Magic - Fireworks -

Professor Umbridge - Dumbledore’s Army

Costume Contest Results

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice | Paul Dukas

orchestra personnel

Violin I: Sara Maria Blanton (concertmaster), Jean Bynum, Alisyn Rogerson, Lisa Forman, Ann Emery, Brian Jensen, Erin Howard, Alexa Rose Sanfilippo, Keunjae Song

Violin II: Suzanne Bolt, Emily Phaneuf, Christina Wohlford,

Jody Crafford, Ardene Shafer, Francine Hunter, Hannah Vestal, Anna Tschiegg Baker, Cae Bowers

Viola: Ri-Shea Schlitter (Fei-Mei and Tsong-Wen Chou Memorial Chair), Catherine Morrison, Ken Rogerson,

Aubrey Kiesel, Gabriela Potter Peoples, Jonathan Simonson, Kathryn Henry, Andy Billings

Cello: Matthew Holt, Cheryl Schlitter, Julia Malone, Jeremy Smith, Jeffrey Rossman, Maria Fernanda Rodriguez Hurtado, Kellan Mozzone, Robert Nosow

Bass: Dave Prodoehl, Steve Landis, John Gerken, Mark Underwood, Athena Ward, Charles Bossert, Adam Burke

Flute: Irene Burke (piccolo), Emma Morris, Thiago Bohm Bottega.

Oboe: Elliott Thomas, Janet Shurtleff

Clarinet: Jim Williams, Brent Smith

Bass Clarinet: Aryia Roberts

Bassoon: Christopher Allpress, Amy Braun

Horn: Caresse Virnig, Wyatt Carlyle, John Gallis, Mary Ruth Roth

Trumpet: Michael Mole, John Morrison

Trombone: Jared Gilbert, Scott Ruedger, Rebecca Clemens

Tuba: Rick Guptill

Piano/Harp: Chelsea Waddelow

Percussion: Trevor Jennings, Tyler Ash, Jo Donald

Timpani: Victoria Nelson

Featured Artists

Emily Ennis is a soprano and actress based in Greensboro. She holds a Master’s Degree in Opera from the Longy School of Music and a Bachelor’s Degree in Voice from the University of Miami. She began teaching voice as a requirement for her Master’s degree, and continued to work as a substitute teacher and an in-home preschool teacher during the pandemic. She currently works as a music teacher for infants-5 year olds with Kidstunes Music & Movement, and as a drama teacher with Drama Kids of the Triad and The Little Theatre of Winston-Salem. An avid performer, Emily has most recently been onstage in local and regional theatrical productions with Shared Radiance, Camel City Playhouse, Theatre Guild of Rockingham County, Durham Savoyards, Kernersville Little Theatre, and Raleigh Little Theatre.

Amber Nicole Dilger, praised for her “indefatigable joy” on stage and off, is a passionate musical storyteller whose work spans opera, musical theatre, and the Great American Songbook. She brings heartfelt connection and expressive clarity to every performance, including local collaborations with North Carolina Opera, Greensboro Opera, White Iris Light Opera, Justice Theatre Project, Moonlight Theatre Company, and solo concerts. Amber Nicole studied vocal performance at Indiana University and Ball State University, and holds a K–12 choral music education license. She teaches voice at her private studio in Cary, North Carolina. Learn more at www.ambernicoledilger.com. Amber Nicole extends MUCH THANKS to all of you in the seats supporting live music… now, more important than ever.

Shanna Collins is a mezzo-soprano who studied at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and the RSO is so happy to have her performing with us for the first time!