Kathleen Beckmann Announces her Retirement

Dear Community,
 
The Beatles, Elvis and Beyond will be my last time on the podium as music director for NDSO. I want to thank you for all your support and I sincerely hope you have enjoyed the concerts and the variety of repertoire. Over the past 20 years, the orchestra has performed opera, symphonic works, Broadway, film music, jazz and dance music. Sometimes two genres were in the same program such as the June Pops of 2016 called Opera and Sinatra. As music director I have enjoyed collaborating with videographers to create visuals to accompany the music and themes for our concerts. In addition to a wide array of vocal soloists over the years, the orchestra and I have worked with talented soloists performing on the piano, violin, violoncello, flute and clarinet as well as more unique instruments including the koto, theater organ and harmonica.

In keeping with the tradition of variety in repertoire, there are 29 songs on the program tonight! It is a collection of music from the 1950s and 1960s. Back in those days, you listened to the radio, saved your money to purchase a 45 or watched The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday evenings. I can vividly remember The Beatles and Paul McCartney’s performance of Yesterday on our black and white TV. (My father thought his hair was too long.) Elvis was “The King” in those days as he went from the radio and touring to being a star in Las Vegas and in his own movies. We felt incredibly cosmopolitan listening to Brazilian jazz and our mood lifted when we heard Herb Alpert playing the trumpet. By the mid to late 1960s, we were still listening to The Beatles and Elvis but another group on tonight’s program had also caught our attention. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s music and lyrics questioned our everyday lives with subtle protests and commentary on social and political issues. They released their album Sounds of Silence sixty years ago (1966). Interestingly, Paul Simon is currently on tour and Paul McCartney at age 83 is also still touring and performing! The music that he composed while partnering with John Lennon is timeless. The last medley, Love Is All You Need features 13 of their songs and I plan on enjoying every minute.

The original members of the board that are still serving after 20 years as volunteers to make NDSO what it is today are Dave Baxter, Deb Contini and Jennifer Henion. They are a group of tenacious, creative and committed people that love music and are incredibly generous with their time and talents. Without question, I couldn’t have done it without them. As we move forward to next season, I want to congratulate William Stevens who has been appointed as the new music director. I know you have enjoyed his work conducting the holiday programs and under his leadership NDSO will continue to flourish.

​Musically Yours,
          Kathleen Beckmann