Digital Program

Cold Winter Nights

Saturday, March 14, 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

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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) - Nadia Slanker, Christine Weber

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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: Cold Winter Nights

Dòchas | Laura Pettigrew

North Carolina Premiere performance

Foraging for Winter | Christopher J. Montana

Premiere Performance

Symphony No. 3 in D Major Op. 29 “Polish” | Peter I. Tchaikovsky

I. Introduction and Allegro

II. Allegro Moderato

III. Andante Elegiaco

IV. Allegro Vivo

V. Finale—Allegro con Fuoco

Thank you for coming to our concert!

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Notes from the Composers

From Laura Pettigrew: “Dòchas means HOPE in Scottish Gaelic, pronounced with the ch sounding as in the Scottish loch and an extended o.

Dòchas is one in a series of fanfares commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada with financial assistance from the Government of Canada.

I chose the title based in part on my ancestral roots (Scottish, Irish, English, German, French, Scandinavian, Asian, South American) and for its meaning. Given the current unrest and turmoil globally with a large percentage of the world’s population facing hopelessness and despair, I felt it was important to express HOPE through music; to move forward, to exist, to believe, we must have HOPE!

In the Harmonic progression incorporated over the last six measures of the fanfare, I literally expressed the following:

Believe, Beloved, Be Loved / Everyone, Equality / Faith, Forgiveness / Compassion, Charity / HOPE / Eternity.”

From Christopher Montana: “From the gritty streets of Brooklyn, New York, I’ve returned to music after a 40-year silence—a passion I buried but never forgot. The chaos of the music business once broke my spirit, but now, I’m back, pouring every ounce of my soul into every note. Things are finally falling into place, and my sound is raw, real, and ready to hit you where it counts. Dive in—I can’t wait for you to feel what I’ve created.”

RSO Personnel

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

Violin II: Suzanne Bolt, Emily Phaneuf, Laura Green Levine, Christina Wohlford, Ardene Shafer, Francine Hunter, Hannah Vestal, Anna Tschiegg Baker, Cae Bowers

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

Cello: Matthew Holt, Cheryl Schlitter, Julia Malone, Jeremy Smith, Jeffrey Rossman, Sarah Page, Maria Fernanda Rodriguez Hurtado

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

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

Oboe: Kayla Bull, Janet Shurtleff

Clarinet: Jim Williams, Brent Smith, Aryia Roberts, Gracelyn Chambers

Bassoon: Christopher Allpress, Brenda Balasz-Reylek

Horn: John Gallis, Daniel Fenton, Andrew Gore, Mary Ruth Roth

Trumpet: Michael Mole, John Morrison

Trombone: Jared Gilbert, Christina Thompson, Rebecca Clemens

Tuba: Rick Guptill

Percussion: Andrew Munger, Tyler Ash, Jo Donald

Timpani: Jaylan Glenn