KINGSPORT, TN – Joined by Guest Conductor, Dr. Jesse Henkensiefken, this performance promises a fresh take on the classics with a sense of rhythm and wonder that will linger with you long after the last note! What You’ll Hear: Respighi’s Gli Uccelli (The Birds)Viet Cuon......More
KINGSPORT, TN – Joined by Guest Conductor, Dr. Jesse Henkensiefken, this performance promises a fresh take on the classics with a sense of rhythm and wonder that will linger with you long after the last note! What You’ll Hear: Respighi’s Gli Uccelli (The Birds)Viet Cuong’s Re(new)al Concerto for Percussion Quartet and OrchestraStravinsky’s Firebird Suite“Rhythm and Renewal” puts percussion where it belongs – right in the spotlight! Our talented SOTM Percussion Quartet takes center stage with Viet Cuong’s captivating Re(new)al Concerto, a piece that perfectly blends rhythmic intensity with the full richness of our orchestra. To open the performance, sound takes flight with Respighi’s charming Gli Uccelli (The Birds). We end with one of the most energetic, masterful works in the orchestral repertoire, a fierce finale of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. Whether you’re a longtime subscriber or new to Symphony of the Mountains, this is one you’ll want to experience live. Don’t forget about our free student tickets and group rates! Meet Dr. Jesse Henkensiefken: “A Kansas native, Dr. Jesse Henkensiefken is an advocate for community building through the power of classical music. Regularly concertizing as a cellist and conductor, he is passionate about breaking the barriers of underserved youth outreach, while creating performance access, opportunity, and collaboration for all. As the Executive Director of the Mid-America Performing Arts Alliance, Dr. Henkensiefken is excited in creating a robust organization that provides programming for kids in the greater KC-Metro area and beyond. Henkensiefken began his higher education studies at the University of Kansas where he received Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Cello Performance. He attended the Park University International Center for Music, receiving a Certificate in Music, and earned a second M.M. in Orchestral/Opera Conducting at NYC’s Manhattan School of Music. In 2015, he had the privilege of traveling to the Tchaikovsky State Moscow Conservatory in Russia, where he had further training under the direction of Anatoly Levin. His other mentors include George Manahan, David Gilbert, Nikolai Uljanov, Paul Vermel, Leonard Slatkin, and Kurt Masur. In 2022, Henkensiefken found his way home to the University of Kansas to engage as the Director of Sacred Music at the St. Lawrence Catholic Center. Prior to that he was acting Program Manager for Harmony Project KC from 2020-2022, and the Director of Orchestras & String Studies, at Kansas Wesleyan University from 2014-2019. He also served as the Salina Symphony Assistant Conductor and Principal Cellist during the same time. Henkensiefken has additional experience performing as the Manhattan School of Music Contemporary Opera Ensemble Assistant Conductor (2012-2014), and was the Ars Viva Chamber Orchestra Music Director from 2009-14. Henkensiefken has concertized throughout Asia, Latin America, and the United States, having performed alongside artists including Clive Greensmith, Steven Doane, Zlatomir Fung, Paul Neubauer, Stephanie Chase, Christina Bouey, Tatiana Tessman, and Mark O’Connor, to name a few. As a cellist, Henkensiefken was a Sorbel Award Winner at the Mu Phi Epsilon International Music Competition in 2011, and has been principal cellist for orchestras including Ensemble du Monde (NYC), the Empire State Sinfonia (Brooklyn, NY) Kansas City Philharmonia (Parkville, MO), and the Salina Symphony (Salina, KS). During the 2006-2007 season, he was a substitute cellist for the New World Symphony. His primary cello teachers were Edward Laut and Martin Story having also worked with Yo-Yo Ma, Eric Rosenblith, Zuill Bailey and Peter Kondrashin, as well as members of the Kronos, Ying, Da Vinci, and Turtle Island String Quartets.” Meet the Soloists: Dr. Matthew Geiger Utilizing an eclectic musical approach, award-winning percussionist Dr. Matthew Geiger continues to champion both new and canonic percussive works through teaching, performance, and research. His experience includes both the study and performance of orchestral percussion, solo and chamber repertoire, timpani, drum set, and world music. Currently, Matthew is an Assistant Professor of Music and the Director of Percussion at the University of Kentucky. Matthew embraces a comprehensive approach to percussion through larger collaborations and emphasis in chamber percussion performances. Matthew is a founding member of both the BlueSHIFT Percussion Quartet as well as Aleph Percussion Group, and recently held the principal percussion positions with both the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra and Symphony of the Mountains. A former performing member of the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps, he also has served as an instructor for DCI World Class finalists, The Cadets and The Academy. Matthew has premiered pieces by many distinguished composers, including Christopher Adler, Juri Seo, Anders Åstrand, Glenn Kotche, Brian Nozny, Roger Zare, and Ben Wahlund. He has recorded for the Naxos and Mark Records label, including performing as percussionist and timpanist on the Grammy nominated recording of Darius Milhaud’s “L’Orestie, d’Eschyle”. His recent solo performances have focused on vibraphone, both in improvisation as well as contemporary twentieth-century repertoire. Along with recent international performances in Ecuador, Spain, Sweden, and China, he has performed at many prestigious conferences around the globe, such as the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, North American Saxophone Alliance Conference, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. An active member in the Percussive Arts Society, Matthew serves in many capacities for the organization. He served as the president of the Tennessee chapter, as well as Vice-President of both the Tennessee and Kentucky chapters prior to that. He has also presented numerous clinics and fundamental sessions for Percussive Arts Society International Conventions (PASIC). Matthew also serves on the Percussion Ensemble committee, having served two terms on the World Percussion Committee. Along with multiple chamber performances at PASIC, Matthew was asked in 2011 and 2014 to perform and conduct with the University of Kentucky Percussion Ensemble under the direction of James Campbell at the PASIC International Percussion Ensemble Competition Showcase Concert. Prior to the University of Kentucky, Matthew was coordinator of percussion at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City. There, he directed the percussion ensemble to winning the Concert Chamber Percussion Ensemble competition as well as receiving an invitation to perform the New Literature Showcase Concert at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in 2023. Before ETSU, Matthew taught at Morehead State University in Kentucky, serving as Visiting Assistant Professor of Jazz and Percussion. Matthew received his Doctor of Musical Arts along with dual Bachelor’s degrees in Music Performance and Mathematics – along with a Spanish minor — at the University of Kentucky. He received his Master’s degree in percussion performance at the University of Michigan. His principal teachers include James B. Campbell, Joseph Gramley, Jonathan Ovalle, Michael Gould, Paul Berns, and Chad Kohler. Matthew Geiger is a Yamaha Performing Artist and educational artist for Zildjian Cymbals, Innovative Percussion, and Black Swamp Percussion. Cassidy LesterCassidy Lester is the Executive Director of Symphony of the Mountains. A percussionist and arts advocate from Kingsport, TN, she is deeply committed to fostering community connection through music and advancing the role of the arts across the Appalachian Highlands. Before stepping into arts leadership, she performed and collaborated widely throughout the region while teaching at ETSU, NESCC, and Elizabethton High School. Cassidy currently serves as Vice President of the Tennessee Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society and actively contributes to statewide arts development initiatives. In July 2025, Cassidy completed the League of American Orchestras’ Essentials of Orchestra Management program at Juilliard, an intensive professional development program for emerging orchestra leaders. A passionate advocate for gender inclusion in music, Cassidy’s work is grounded in her research and national presentations on the topic. She has presented clinics such as “Reshaping the Narrative: Building a Gender-Inclusive Future for Performers and Teachers” at the 2025 KMEA Professional Development Conference, “She Can Drum Too: Encouraging Gender Inclusion” at the 64th Annual TMEA Music Education Conference in 2023, and “Forward, but Not Fast Enough: An Update on the Underwhelming Progress of Female Inclusion in Percussion” at the 2022 National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy. These presentations draw from her 2020 thesis, Whence Comes the Lady Percussionist? The Changing Role of Females in Professional Percussion Positions in the United States, 2011-2020. Cassidy performs regularly with Symphony of the Mountains, Johnson City Symphony Orchestra, and other regional ensembles. She is a graduate of East Tennessee State University, where she earned both a Master’s degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance. Michael LesterMichael Lester is a versatile percussionist whose performances encompass orchestral, wind band, chamber, musical theatre, and world music settings. He currently serves as Principal Percussionist with Symphony of the Mountains and regularly performs with Barter Theatre as a substitute percussionist, contributing to a wide range of theatrical productions. In addition to his performing career, Michael is deeply committed to music education. He serves as Adjunct Instructor of Percussion at Emory & Henry University, where he works with the drumline and arranges percussion parts for the marching program. Michael has also worked with numerous award-winning high school ensembles, including the six-time Division II State Champion Elizabethton High School Band and the perennial Bands of America Grand National Finalist Dobyns-Bennett High School Band. As both a soloist and ensemble musician, Michael has premiered multiple works for orchestra, wind band, and chamber percussion, collaborating closely with composers to bring new music to life. His performances are marked by technical precision, musical sensitivity, and a deep curiosity for the expressive potential of percussion across styles and traditions. Michael holds a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance from East Tennessee State University and a Master of Music in Percussion Performance from Baylor University. Dr. Christian Swafford Dr. Christian Swafford is an artist and educator with a diverse percussion performance background. He has a particular interest in collaborative musical projects as well as promoting and performing new works for percussion. His passion for interdisciplinary collaboration is evidenced by his experience performing and researching within a wide array of disciplines—from orchestral and experimental music to neuroscience, world percussion, and dance.In addition to recent performances and presentations at the Big Ears Festival, the Percussive Arts Society’s International Convention, and the Laborie Steel Pan Workshop, Christian has directed and instructed several concert and marching ensembles in the southeast, from coordinating in the WGI PIW circuit to instructing the University of Tennessee Pride of the Southland Marching Band and KMEA 2023 State Champion Lafayette High School. Christian’s students have performed with the Bluecoats, Carolina Crown, Spirit of Atlanta, Music City Mystique, and Rhythm X.During his time in Kentucky, Christian played regularly as a section percussionist with the Lexington Philharmonic, taught privately at Central Music Academy, and served as an Adjunct Professor of Percussion at Eastern Kentucky University and the University of Kentucky.Christian’s research in applying neuroscience to percussion pedagogy has led to significant insights in the realm of complex coordination. His passion for improving learning outcomes through the implementation of scientific research informs his cutting-edge approach to teaching and practice.Christian currently serves as Assistant Professor and Percussion Area Coordinator at East Tennessee State University and as principal percussionist with the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Kentucky, and he received both his Master of Music and Bachelor of Music in Education degrees at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His drumset teachers include Keith Brown and Paul Deatherage, and his primary percussion teachers include James B. Campbell and Dr. Andrew Bliss.Program Notes:Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) Gli Uccelli (The Birds) I. Prelude La Colomba (The Dove) II. La Gallina (The Hen) III. L’Usignuolo (The Nightingale) IV. Il Cucù (The Cuckoo) Italian composer Ottorino Respighi’s ability to create vivid sonic landscapes made him one of the most celebrated composers of his generation. While he’s perhaps best known for his “Roman Trilogy” (including the spectacular Fountains of Rome), Gli Uccelli demonstrates another side of his artistry: his deep appreciation for music of the past and his genius for bringing it to vibrant new life. Rather than composing entirely original music, Respighi took this opportunity to act as a musical time traveler. He selected charming pieces by 17th and 18th-century composers who were mostly French and Italian masters whose names are now largely forgotten and reimagined them through the lens of early 20th-century orchestration. The result is like viewing familiar paintings through a brilliant new lens, where every detail suddenly sparkles with fresh color and clarity. The work opens with a Prelude that sets the scene for our musical landscape. Based on music by Bernardo Pasquini (1637-1710), it creates an atmosphere of gentle anticipation, as if we’re quietly approaching a garden at dawn when the birds are just beginning to stir. “La Colomba” (The Dove) transforms a piece by Jacques de Gallot (c. 1625-1695) into a portrait of grace and gentleness. Respighi captures the dove’s soft cooing through flowing melodic lines that seem to float effortlessly through the orchestra. The music moves with the unhurried elegance of this peaceful bird, creating an atmosphere of serene tranquility. The mood changes dramatically with “La Gallina” (The Hen), based on music by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), the great French Baroque composer. Here Respighi unleashes his sense of humor, creating a musical barnyard scene that’s both charming and slightly chaotic. You’ll hear the hen’s proud strutting, her urgent clucking, and perhaps even the excitement of laying an egg—all rendered through Respighi’s masterful orchestration that brings this farmyard character to vivid life. “L’Usignuolo” (The Nightingale) draws on music by an anonymous English composer from the 17th century. This is perhaps the most poetic movement, as Respighi creates a musical portrait of the bird whose song has inspired poets and composers for centuries. The nightingale’s elaborate, improvisational song is captured through ornate melodic lines that twist and turn with the freedom of true improvisation, yet maintain an underlying structure that keeps the music coherent and beautiful. The suite concludes with “Il Cucù” (The Cuckoo), based on music by Pasquini. The cuckoo’s distinctive two-note call provides the obvious musical material, but Respighi treats this simple motif with remarkable inventiveness. Sometimes the call appears clearly and directly, sometimes it’s hidden within more complex musical textures, and sometimes it seems to echo from different parts of the orchestra as if we’re hearing multiple cuckoos calling from various distances in the forest. Throughout Gli Uccelli, Respighi demonstrates his extraordinary ability to match orchestral colors to natural sounds while never losing sight of the music’s essential character. This is nature painting at its finest with being evocative without being literal and charming without being simplistic. Viet Cuong (b. 1990) Re(new)al: Percussion Quartet Concerto Vietnamese-American composer Viet Cuong represents a new generation of classical composers who seamlessly blend diverse musical traditions with cutting-edge contemporary techniques. A graduate of Princeton University and the Curtis Institute of Music, Cuong has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting voices in American classical music, with works that are both intellectually rigorous and immediately accessible to audiences. Re(new)al: Percussion Quartet Concerto exemplifies Cuong’s approach to composition, where traditional Western orchestral instruments meet the vast world of percussion in a dialogue that is both ancient and utterly contemporary. The title itself plays with language, “Re(new)al” suggests both renewal and the idea of something being made real again, perhaps reflecting how this work breathes new life into the concerto form while making something fresh and immediate from traditional materials. The percussion quartet format allows for an extraordinary range of sonic possibilities. Rather than thinking of percussion simply as “drums,” we should imagine a palette that includes everything from delicate metallic chimes and wooden blocks to thunderous timpani and exotic instruments from around the world. Cuong treats these four percussionists almost like a sonic laboratory, where they can create everything from whisper-soft textures that barely disturb the air to powerful rhythmic engines that drive the entire orchestra forward. In traditional concertos, we often think of the soloist as a single voice in conversation with the many voices of the orchestra. Here, Cuong creates a more complex dialogue with four individual percussion voices that can work together as a unified group, split into pairs, or emerge as distinct characters, all while maintaining their conversation with the full orchestra. This creates fascinating possibilities for musical interplay, where rhythmic ideas can be passed back and forth, developed, transformed, and combined in ways that would be impossible with a single soloist. The work’s structure likely follows contemporary approaches to the concerto form, where traditional expectations of distinct movements may be replaced by a more continuous, flowing musical narrative. Rather than the predictable fast-slow-fast pattern of classical concertos, we might experience music that ebbs and flows more organically, creating moments of intense activity, peaceful reflection, and everything in between. What makes Cuong’s music particularly compelling is his ability to write music that rewards both casual listening and deep analysis. Surface listeners will be captivated by the sheer variety of sounds and the exciting interplay between soloists and orchestra, while those who listen more closely will discover sophisticated compositional techniques and meaningful musical relationships that reveal themselves over multiple hearings. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Firebird Suite (1919 version) I. Introduction – The Firebird and its Dance – Variation of the Firebird II. The Princesses’ Khorovod (Round Dance) III. Infernal Dance of King Kashchei IV. Berceuse (Lullaby) V. Finale Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird launched one of the most revolutionary careers in classical music history. When the 28-year-old composer received a commission from Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes in 1909, he was a virtual unknown. By the time the ballet premiered in Paris in 1910, Stravinsky had announced himself as a major new voice in music, setting the stage for works like Petrushka and The Rite of Spring that would fundamentally change the course of musical history. The story of The Firebird comes from Russian folklore, telling the tale of Prince Ivan who captures the magical Firebird in the garden of the evil sorcerer Kashchei. The Firebird begs for her freedom and in exchange gives Ivan one of her feathers, promising to help him if he’s ever in danger. When Ivan later falls in love with one of the princesses held captive by Kashchei, he calls upon the Firebird’s magic to defeat the sorcerer and free the captives. Stravinsky created several different orchestral suites from the complete ballet score, with the 1919 version performed today representing his mature thoughts on the material. By this time, he had simplified some of the orchestration and tightened the structure, creating what many consider the most effective concert version of this magical score. The haunting Introduction immediately transports us into the realm of Russian fairy tale. Low, mysterious sounds in the strings and brass create an atmosphere of ancient forests and supernatural forces. Stravinsky builds tension gradually, using unusual harmonies and orchestral colors that seem to shimmer with otherworldly light. When we first encounter the Firebird herself in “The Firebird and Its Dance,” Stravinsky creates music of extraordinary brilliance and agility. Rapid, glittering passages seem to trace the bird’s flight through the air, while strange harmonies and exotic orchestral effects suggest this is no ordinary creature. The music captures both the bird’s supernatural beauty and her wild, untameable nature. The “Variation of the Firebird” presents the magical creature in a more intimate moment, perhaps as she pleads with Prince Ivan for her freedom. Here Stravinsky demonstrates his gift for melody, creating music that is both exotic and deeply expressive. The orchestration features delicate, chamber-like textures that seem to glow with inner light. In the “Round Dance of the Princesses,” we meet the captive maidens held under Kashchei’s spell. Stravinsky creates music of folk-like simplicity and haunting beauty, based on an actual Russian folk melody. The dance has an otherworldly quality that is beautiful but tinged with sadness, as these princesses exist in a supernatural realm from which they cannot escape. The “Infernal Dance of King Kashchei” unleashes one of Stravinsky’s most powerful and frightening creations. This is music of pure malevolent energy, with driving rhythms, shrieking orchestral effects, and harmonies that seem to come from the depths of hell itself. You can almost see the evil sorcerer and his demonic court whirling in their terrible dance, and it’s easy to understand how this music pointed toward the revolutionary rhythmic violence of The Rite of Spring. The gentle “Lullaby” provides blessed relief from the infernal dance, as the Firebird’s magic puts Kashchei and his court to sleep. Stravinsky creates music of extraordinary tenderness, using muted strings and soft woodwinds to weave a spell of peaceful slumber. The triumphant “Finale” celebrates the victory of good over evil as Ivan destroys Kashchei’s power and frees the captive princesses. Stravinsky transforms the gentle princess theme into a magnificent hymn of celebration, building to a conclusion of overwhelming grandeur and joy. The ending feels like the sun breaking through after a terrible storm, filling the entire world with golden light. The Firebird remains one of Stravinsky’s most immediately appealing works, combining innovative musical techniques with storytelling power and emotional directness that speaks to audiences across all cultural boundaries.
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