Harmonies of the Heart

Bios & Program Notes

Eric Thomas 

Music Director and Conductor 

Eric Thomas began his conducting career as Principal Conductor of the Opera New  England Chamber Orchestra, the touring arm of Sarah Caldwell’s Opera Company of  Boston, conducting at Boston First Night as well as providing concerts at schools  throughout New England.  

Since that time he has held posts as Principal Conductor of the University of Maine at  Farmington, Assistant Conductor of the Phillips Exeter Orchestra, Interim Conductor of  the Phillips Academy Andover Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the  Longy School of Music Youth String Orchestra. Eric has been guest conductor for the  Bangor Symphony, the Colby College Symphony Orchestra, Pineland Suzuki Orchestra,  Moab Chamber Orchestra, Moab Community Chorus, and the University of Maine’s  faculty’s Cadenzato Chamber Ensemble.  

He is a virtuoso clarinetist whose woodwind quintet won the prestigious International  Concert Artist Guild award and gave their critically acclaimed Carnegie Recital Hall  debut in 1978. He has appeared as a guest artist with several groups, including the KCO,  the Apple Hill Chamber Players, the Sylvan Winds of New York City, the Boston Pops  Traveling Ensemble, the Bravo! Festival at Vail, the Wellesley Composers Conference  and the Cabrillo Contemporary Music Festival. 

As a freelance artist he has toured with Goldovsky Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Opera  New England, The New England Ragtime Ensemble, The New England Conservatory  Contemporary Ensemble, and The National Gilbert and Sullivan Tour. He has been a  substitute with several orchestras including La Orquestra Sinfonica de Monterrey, The  Florida Orchestra, The Charlotte Symphony, The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, New  York City Opera in the Park Orchestra, The Southwest Florida Orchestra, and the  Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. 

Eric has been a guest lecturer/performer at several colleges and universities including  Brown University, Harvard University, Boston University, Boston Conservatory, and  University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

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Esther Rhoades

Esther Rhoades is a New Hampshire based singer and choral director. She is the Artistic Director of Grand Monadnock Youth Choirs, a non-profit choral music education organization for youth in grades K-12 in the Monadnock Region. Esther also serves are the director of the auditioned 24-voice adult ensemble, the Chamber Singers of Keene. As a choral director, Esther programs both a cappella and accompanied works from Renaissance to present. Her approach to music combines both the joy and fun of singing with exceptional sound, attention to detail, and quality of performance. As a singer, Esther has performed on local stages as a soloist in festivals and with the Zenith Ensemble, and internationally as the soprano section leader and singer for the Delaware Choral Scholars, who won as Champion of the 2024 World Choir Games.

Esther earned a Bachelor Degree in Music Education with a Choral Concentration from the University of Delaware. While at UD, she was the student assistant choral director of the internationally renowned University of Delaware Chorale, and served as the UD-ACDA chapter president. She currently serves as the Children's and Community Youth Choirs Repertoire & Standards Chair of New Hampshire ACDA, and has previously served as the President of the New Hampshire chapter of ACDA. She has studied conducting with Dr. Paul Head, Christopher S. R. Sheehan, and voice with Dr. Melanie DeMent and Dr. Daniel Carberg, and Dr. Brittney Redler.

Esther and her husband have three daughters, two dogs, and many chickens on their small homestead. When you can’t find her making music, Esther is likely hiking, gardening, baking, or knitting.

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Julie Armstrong

Julie Armstrong plays flute with the Keene Chamber Orchestra, Fireside Winds, and RiverMill Flutes.  She also plays in many local pit orchestras, most notable the yearly Keene Lions Club productions. 

Julie started playing flute in 6th grade and was taught basic theory and music reading skills. During her grade school years her biggest influence was an album titled "Flute Music of the Andes" through which she began to love the flute's cheerful, joyous sound.

At Conval HS in Peterborough, Julie had an excellent teacher in Richard Sanders who taught music history and music theory as well as conducting the Band and Chorus.  Through Dick Sanders Julie helped out at an Apple Hill Concert and heard Bonnie Insul play and this led to Julie pursuing lessons with Bonnie through Keene State College.

Julie earned her bachelors in music education at KSC at a time when Eric Stumacher conducted the Orchestra and Chamber Music.  Eric was a huge influence and inspiration, and got her performing at  Apple Hill's Summer Workshops where she was coached by the different Apple Hill players as well as many other fine musicians.

Julie went on to teach beginning and middle school bands for the Fall Mt. district for 15 years. She studied further with Alex Ogle through Brattleboro Music. She continues to play in the Keene area. She is very happy to be involved with the new direction of the KCO.

Program Notes

Chen Yi (arranger), Folk Songs for Strings

Chen Yi (b.1953) is a contemporary luminary of music composition. As a child in China, Chen

listened to classical music, Chinese songs, and Beijing opera, and started learning violin at age

four. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Western music was prohibited in China, and

Chen continued to play violin and piano secretly at home. At age fifteen, she was one of

thousands of teens sent to rural areas to perform forced labor. In a 2012 interview, she recalled

how “this daily existence brought me closer in understanding farmers and the earth. Through this

difficult time, I learned the importance of education and civilization.” In her later teens, she was

concertmaster of a Chinese opera orchestra. Eventually, studying Western music openly became

possible again.

In 1986, Chen was the first woman in China to receive a master’s degree in music composition,

from the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing. She later moved to New York City to continue

her studies, and has since lived and taught in the United States. During her studies in Beijing, one

professor’s choral arrangements of folk songs left an indelible impression, inspiring Chen both to

write for voices and to arrange Chinese songs. The collection of folk songs on this program is

arranged for string orchestra, and exists also in arrangements for chorus.

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Heitor Villa-Lobos, Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, I. Aria

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical

guitarist. Villa-Lobos received some childhood lessons in classical music and found early

inspiration in the music of Bach. Most of his musical training was earned playing in theater

orchestras, cinemas, and street bands. Of Spanish heritage, Villa-Lobos was drawn to the music

of black and indigenous Brazilians. As a mature composer he blended elements of rural and

popular music with Western classical music.

The Bachianas Brasileiras are nine suites composed between 1930 and 1945 for diverse

instrumentation, melding the contrapuntal texture and harmonic language of Bach with rhythms

and melodies of Brazilian music. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 is strikingly scored for soprano

voice and eight cellos. Listen for the entrance of a wordless vocalise in octaves with two cellos,

over the opening pizzicato landscape, and then the recitative-style setting of Ruth Valadares

Correa’s text, sinking and briefly soaring. Last, there is a reprise of the vocalise, sung through

the singer’s closed lips.

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 2, “Little Russian”

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) was a Russian composer and pianist whose music has

endured and enchanted for centuries. He was the first Russian composer to reach an international

audience due to his unforgettable melodies.

Symphony No. 2 in C minor, known as the Little Russian Symphony, incorporates Ukrainian

folk melodies (Ukraine was historically called Little Russia). The symphony highlights his

engagement with national identity and the cultural diversity of the Russian Empire, while also

subtly addressing the complex relationship between Russia and Ukraine. The work captures both

Tchaikovsky’s personal expression and a broader nationalistic spirit, blending emotional depth

with cultural themes. The fourth movement features a lively, exuberant melody based on the

Ukrainian folk song “Down by the Mother Volga.”

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Cécile Chaminade, Concertino for Flute

Cécile Chaminade (1857–1944) was a prolific French composer and pianist, known for her

lyrical compositions and virtuosic piano works. She demonstrated exceptional musical talent

from a young age, even being invited to study at the Paris Conservatoire when she was only ten

years old. However, her father forbade her from studying at the prestigious university. Despite

the societal barriers faced by women in music, Chaminade received recognition during her

lifetime, one of the few prominent female composers of her era. Chaminade was briefly married

to an older man, though she referred to the marriage as a “platonic union” and they never

cohabitated. After his death, Chaminade never remarried and devoted herself fully to her career.

She composed a wide range of works, including orchestral pieces, chamber music, and piano

solos.

Composed in 1902, Concertino for Flute and Orchestra quickly became a staple of the flute

repertoire, admired for its charm, technical demands, and lyrical qualities. Its lively first

movement, delicate second movement, and sparkling finale showcase Chaminade’s flair for

melody and orchestration. Despite the challenges she faced as a female composer, the

Concertino solidified her place in music history, showing her ability to blend virtuosity with

grace.

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Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 4, IV. Sehr behaglich

Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) was an Austrian composer and conductor whose life was shaped by

the challenges of anti-Semitism and personal tragedy. Born into a Jewish family, he converted to

Catholicism in order to secure professional opportunities, though he was often still viewed with

suspicion by Vienna’s elite. Mahler’s personal life was also marked by deep sorrow, notably the

early death of his daughter, Maria, and his own poor health, including a heart condition that led

to his premature death at age fifty. His symphonies often grapple with issues of life, death, and

the search for meaning. Despite the obstacles he faced, Mahler’s innovative works—initially met

with skepticism—have since become pillars of the orchestral repertoire, securing his place as one

of the greatest composers of the late-Romantic period.

The Fourth Symphony is one of several Mahler works using material from Des Knaben

Wunderhorn, a collection of German folk songs and poems. The fourth movement opens with

Mahler’s instruction to sing “with childishly gay expression.” The contrasting, frenetic episode

that follows depicts a scene of preparations for a feast in heaven. Both sections are stilled by a

third chorale-like material. The closing section returns to the pastoral restfulness of the opening.

– Abigail Soloway & Sammi Jo Stone