GPYO Spring 2026 Concert Program Notes
Greeley Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Spring 2026 Concert
April 11, 2025 l 2:00 PM l First Congregational Church - 2101 16th St, Greeley, CO 80631
Doran Azari, GPYO Director l Chaeli Fischer, Asst. Director
Program
Russian Choral and Overture Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
(Based on Opus 39, No. 24 and Russian Folk Tunes) arr. by Merle Isaac
Sobre Las Olas Juventino Rosas
arr. by Robert Longfield
Farandole Georges Bizet
Praeludium and Allegro Fritz Kreisler
arr. by Bingiee Shiu
Russian Sailors’ Dance Reinhold Gliere
arr. by Merle Isaac
Doran Azari retired from teaching orchestra in Greeley-Evans School District 6 in 2020 after more than 30 years of service in just about every secondary school in Greeley. He was primarily the director of orchestras at Greeley Central High School. Mr. Azari also taught violin with the Union Colony Children's Music Academy and with the UNC String Project. Starting his music career as a violist, Mr. Azari has performed professionally for over 30 years with many orchestras throughout the region. Mr. Azari has performed many times as a pit musician and conducted in various operas and musicals. He also served for 10 years in the Colorado Army National Guard. He lives in Greeley with his wife Kathy who plays oboe in the Greeley Chamber Orchestra and who herself has had a long and distinguished music career both as a performer and educator.
Chaeli Fisher is a musician and educator in the Northern colorado Area. She received her Master of Music in Music Education and Bachelor of arts in Music degrees from the University of Northern Colorado in 2017 and 2015.Mrs. Fischer is currently in her 9th year of teaching at Harold S. Winograd K-8 school where she teaches elementary music and choir, directs middle school orchestras, and recently started a Mariachi program. Chaeli plays violin in the Elevation String quartet, regularly performs with local churches and schools, and previously performed as principal Viola with the Loveland Orchestra and section viola with the Longmont Symphony. She is now the assistant director of the Greeley Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and hopes to start a youth Mariachi program for the area very soon.
+Graduating Senior
**Concertmaster
*String Section Leader
Flute
Adyan Andrade
Izabella Archibeque
Romina Cabada
Josie Long
Eva Sotelo
Oboe
Hilary Garcia
Hannah Wuestenberg
Clarinet
Angel Carona+
Andres Covarrubias
Bass Clarinet
Karim Padilla
Saxophone
Mason Esch
Richard Lay
Keton Riegel
Trumpet
Finnian Fulks
Julian Keeling
Low Brass
Liliana Badillo+
Toby Cain
David Koreh+
Beatrice Ruschival
Percussion
Elliot Smith+
Violin
Savannah Carreon
Keli Driscoll
Amelia Flores
Erick Gonzales+
Olivia Kilpatrick+
Riley Moore
Natalie Morehead **
Quan Nguyen*
Lily Riegel
Kayden Rivard
Eva Villavilla
Viola
Melanie Covarrubias
Shannon Parrish*
Cello
Conrad Brosky*
Corbin Brown *
Elyse Johnson
Jean Loma+
LaLa Neal
Emma Wuestenberg
Bass
Rae Alexander
Elia Baird
Patrick Fulks
Calvin Long+*
Lesly Monreal
Alani Salinetti+
Rylee Wellmann
Program Notes
Russian Choral and Overture
The Choral is from “Album of the Young”, where it is titled “In Church”. The Overture opens with a lively tune, “At the Feast”. The slower section of the Overture is entitled “the Song of Endearment”. The Overture then concludes with a theme, “Along the Street” which continues to accelerate to the end.
Sobre Las Olas
The waltz Sobre Las Olas (Over the Waves) is the best-known work of Mexican composer Juventino Rosas (1868–1894). It "remains one of the most famous Latin American pieces worldwide", according to the "Latin America" article in The Oxford Companion to Music.
It was first published by Rosas in 1888. It remains popular as a classic waltz, and has also found its way into New Orleans Jazz and Tejano music.
Farandole
On October 1, 1872, the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris offered Daudet’s Provençale drama L’Arlesienne with incidental music by Bizet. His music for this production was not highly regarded. Later in 1872, Bizet took four numbers and rescored them for full orchestra, and presented them as a symphonic suite. The suite was so enthusiastically received that it became Bizet’s first substantial success.
After Bizet’s death, his friend, Ernest Guiraud arranged four more numbers from L’Arlesienne into a second suite. While this suite has never been as popular as the first, the second movement, Agnus Dei, and the fourth movement, Farandole, which is a lively Provençale dance, are still performed widely.
Praeludium and Allegro
The Praeludium and Allegro, composed by Fritz Kreisler during his long and prestigious career is considered one of the great standards of violin music. The Kreisler Praeludium and Allegro was one of the many violin pieces the composer attributed to lesser known composers of the 18th Century, even though they were his own works. This particular violin composition was originally attributed to Pugnani, and is often interpreted as a very Romantic homage to a Baroque Italian virtuoso. The Praeludium and Allegro along with the many other works for which Kreisler did not originally take credit have, since their introduction, become a permanent part of highly respected violin repertoire.
Russian Sailors’ Dance
The ballet The Red Poppy was written in 1927 (revised 1949). It deals with an uprising on board a Chinese ship and the successful intervention of Russian sailors. The Russian Sailors Dance is the best-known excerpt from the ballet, and is founded on the popular Russian folk tune titled Yablochka (little apple). The dance takes the form of a series of variations on this striking song. Interestingly enough, this folk tune was used both as a revolutionary and counter-revolutionary song throughout Russian history.
Patsy Zick Memorial Scholarship
At just 15 years old, Patsy Zick became the first concertmaster of the Greeley Junior Philharmonic Orchestra, founded by Henry Ginsburg. She continued her musical journey at Colorado State College of Education (now the University of Northern Colorado), and she remained a dedicated supporter of the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra throughout her life. The Patsy Zick Memorial Scholarship was created in her honor. GPYO Principal Bassist Calvin Long is the first recipient of this scholarship. Congratulations Calvin!