- [Announcer] Live from your Public Media Studios, WVIA presents "Keystone Edition Arts."

A public affairs program that goes beyond the headlines to address issues in northeastern and central Pennsylvania.

This is "Keystone Edition Arts."

And now, Erika Funke.

- Today on "Keystone Edition Arts," it's a once-upon-a-time tale told newly to enchant, surprise, and delight us.

Sarah Scinto sets the stage.

- [Sarah Scinto] Fables are a form of literature that includes a lesson or moral with animals or inanimate objects conveying the lesson.

These folk stories are common in many cultures.

We have Aesop's "The Tortoise And The Hare" from ancient Greece, "1001 Knights" from the Islamic Golden Age in the Middle East, and "The Three Little Pigs" from 19th century England.

Fables can be combined with music, instruments represent the stories' characters, and a narrator provides details.

Examples include "Peter and The Wolf" by Sergei Prokofiev, and "Carnival of the Animals" by Camille Saint-Saens.

While these musical fables are intended for adults and children alike, the composer's performance notes for "Peter and the Wolf" tell us that, "Each character of this tale is represented by a corresponding instrument in the orchestra.

The bird by a flute, the duck by an oboe, Peter by the string quartet."

Before an orchestral performance, it is desirable to show these instruments to the children, and to play on them the corresponding laid motifs.

Thereby, the children learn to distinguish the sounds of the instruments during the performance of this tale.

Camille Saint-Saens subtitled his "Carnival of the Animals" "A Grand Zoological Fantasy For Orchestra," and narrators ranging from Leonard Bernstein to John Lithgow have added to the enjoyment of this piece.

Musical fables, a way to musically share life lessons.

For "Keystone Edition Arts," I'm Sarah Scinto, WVIA News.

(audience applauding) - [Narrator] This is the story of "The Little Broom And The Big Sword."

"Long ago in the Italian city of Naples, there were two shopkeepers who lived across the street from one another.

One was a poor baker who had seven daughters.

The other was a rich cheese maker who had seven sons.

(gentle orchestral music) - Composer Paul Salerni is a brilliant storyteller.

(audience applauding) He can captivate us with musical tales from our time, and long ago, and far away stories too.

This is "The Big Sword and the Little Broom" inspired by an old Italian fable.

In fact, Paul Salerni has set another fable, "The Old Witch and the New Moon," from that part of the world, and we're invited to the world premier of the third in his trilogy titled, "Palma."

The work was commissioned by WVIA to mark the 50th anniversaries of WVIA radio, and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic.

And it will have its first ever performance on Saturday evening, November 4th at the Scranton Cultural Center with strings and singers from Abington Heights High School.

We'll hear lots of stories now as we welcome our guests.

Paul Salerni, award-winning composer, and NEH distinguished chair in the humanities, and professor of music at Lehigh University.

Nancy Sanderson, executive director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Dana Cerminaro-Boylan, choral director at Abington Heights High School.

And in a recorded interview, Melisse Brunet, music director and conductor of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic.

Welcome to you all and welcome Paul.

Introduce us to "Palma."

How did you find this story and why do you love it?

- I found this story in "Book of Fables" by Italo Calvino.

He collected fables from all of the regions of Italy, and transcribed them, and it's a huge book, and I actually found "The Big Sword "And The Little Broom" also in that book.

And I wanted to set it because and it was a fable called Joseph Chufalo, and I wanted to set it because the first fable, "The Big Sword And The Little Broom," was set in Naples.

The second one was set in Calabria.

My mother's family came from Calabria, and I wanted to have a fable that comes from the Abruzzo where my dad was from.

- [Erika] And it was Giuseppe Joseph.

How did she become, he become Palma?

- He became Palma because there are several reasons.

One of the reasons is that my mother was... Well, it became Palma after the fact when I realized that this was gonna happen in Scranton area 'cause my mother was born in Carbondale, and I also wanted the protagonist to be female.

She actually marries the prince at the end.

Sorry, spoiler alert.

But in the fable, "The Big Sword And The Little Broom," the protagonist is also female, doesn't marry the prince because she wants to get to know him.

She's very, very careful.

So I wanted to make sure that that finality happened.

So for those reasons, I wanted to name it "Palma."

- Well, we know you have written so much and continue to write instrumental music, but you have a particular fondness for setting poetry and texts like this opera, libretti.

Tell us about why maybe, and your partner.

- So I think the major motivation is that I learned from my teacher, a wonderful composer named Earl Kim.

He found his musical voice by setting the words of Samuel Beckett.

And it's very difficult when you start as a composer to really find who you are, and sometimes you need an inspiration, and poetry gives you, first of all, a narrative.

It gives you a structure, it gives you a rhythm, and if you find a poet who you really, really feel close to, it can help.

And I found a poet named Dana Gioia.

Actually, thanks to my wife, who one day as I was sitting at my composing desk, threw a New Yorker magazine on the desk and said, "Set this poem."

And I did, and now it's 20 songs, two operas, and three Italian fables.

So when the commission came from WVIA, I said the person who needs to write the words for this because he had written the words for the previous fables, was Dana Gioia.

- We'll learn more, Paul.

Nancy, congratulations on 50 years of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, and we know there are lots of surprises, although you did give a spoiler, lots of surprises in these stories.

You were invited to WVIA for a meeting, and the topic was not revealed.

You were surprised when you came, but when you heard what was proposed about a commission, and that we were inviting the Philharmonic to be honored in this way, what considerations did you have to take into your calculations about well, can we do this?

Should we do this?

And how wonderful will it be?

- Well, it wasn't a question of if we can do it, it was how are we gonna pull this off?

Because I was in from the minute you said commission.

And our board of directors also feel strongly that this is a perfect project for two nonprofit organizations that get along so well.

So we are very honored that WVIA would feel that the way they want to celebrate is to include us.

That speaks volumes.

- And we do, we have gone back and been with you for 50 years with interviews and wonderful gatherings together.

But when you, as an executive director of an orchestra right now, a regional orchestra, what do you think about the present and the future, and how do new pieces like this fit into, especially when they're community related, fit into the plan?

- Well, I can answer that by looking back to last year, and last year we had a living composer come in, and he spoke with our audience, and instead of being polite, the audience was wildly enthusiastic, and when we surveyed people, I haven't even told you this, Paul, but when we surveyed our audience, they said, "We want more."

And so there is this recognition that comes from the audience that they're a part of making history, and a part of doing something that will last longer than that one concert, and so that aspect of it is, you can't describe it.

You sit there and listen with the knowledge that what will happen is this piece will be passed down from generation to generation, and it's exciting, and the other thing about this piece that is exciting to our musicians, and to our board, and to our audience members, is that it's a way of opening our arms up to young people and saying, you know, this is a world we'd like you to know about, and so that's very special too.

And the truth of the matter is that there's an inner child in all of us, and so that fable and that story still is meaningful.

You know, even for people of every age.

- And of course, Dana, we're gonna talk about your young ones, but I wanted to bring Melisse in first.

Melisse Brunet is an internationally known right now, internationally known and recognized conductor.

We're so fortunate to have Melisse with us, aren't we, Nancy?

- [Nancy] Yes.

- Yes, she's terrific.

She's in a movie, right?

A documentary movie now, "La Maestra," right?

- Right, right.

- Yes, and she's right now, as we are speaking, preparing the Nashville Symphony to perform.

So she couldn't even be here on Zoom because she's in front of the Nashville Symphony, which is pretty mighty fine.

And so we spoke to her a few weeks ago about this experience, and so we wanted to share what Melisse had to say about the prospect of bringing "Palma" to life among us.

- This story and the message of this story is universal.

So if you go to culture where communication of a verbal oral communication is the main source of passing information, they still have those stories.

Yeah, and when you come to our culture where it goes through book, when you're a little kiddo, you have someone reading you a story, and then you read your own stories, those are the same stories.

So we have an emotional connection to these stories that is linked generally to our childhood, but also part of our DNA because it's generations of us going through these genealogy of stories, you know?

That all have the same commonality.

Now you add the music to it, which is what did people during like, you know, prehistoric time, what did they do?

They told stories, and they played music, they sang, and they played music, and they told those stories.

So here we are connecting at another level of emotions through the music that resonates with other parts of our brains, and our body, and healing processes, and communication processes that add another layer of richness to the experience.

- Is there a parallel we could draw to a piece of music like "Peter and the Wolf," which is often narrated?

If people don't know what we're talking about with all those forces, could they think of Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf?"

- Absolutely, this is a great example of comparison because the story of "Peter and the Wolf" is very accessible, very universal.

So it's that story, and the music that goes with Prokofiev is also, as in Paul Salerni's case, is also as accessible as Prokofiev's music and with beautiful melodies.

So it's gonna be the same type of experience besides that Prokofiev's ensemble is smaller than Paul Salerni.

So it's gonna be even more bigger immersion for people who come to listen to "Palma," and because you have choir, you have a full orchestra, and you have the narrator of course, and also high schoolers playing inside of the orchestra plus the professional orchestra.

- Melisse Brunet, music director and conductor of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic speaking here at WVIA about the world premier of "Palma" by our guest Paul Salerni.

Paul, you say you love to write music that makes or allows us to dance, and to laugh, and to even be entertained, and to experience some tender emotions as well.

Folk music can do that brilliantly.

Tell us about the folk song that is the heart, perhaps, of "Palma."

- Right, and so that's actually another part of why this piece had to be, which is that in my first two Italian fables, I used no folk music.

Everything was something I invented, and when I got to this, and I was thinking about Copeland, then I was thinking about Stravinsky, and I was thinking about these great predecessors, I said, you know, one of the great things is to channel folk music.

So the piece I chose is called "L'acqua Belle Da Fontanelli" "The Beautiful Water That Comes From the Fountain."

And it's a folk song actually found on YouTube, but it's also meaningful because the town where my grandparents, my paternal grandparents came from, it's called Sale.

It's below a big mountain, and the town owns all of them, all of the land that goes to the top of the mountain, and the water descends from the mountain, and it's very pure, and all through town there are fountains with this pure water, hence the beautiful water from the fountains.

So I thought it was meaningful to use it.

Besides, it's really a cool piece.

- And here is El Trio Salerni with another setting of "L'acqua Belle."

(upbeat quirky orchestral music) Well, now that's very catchy tune.

- It's a very catchy tune.

- Catchy tune.

And what's the percussion evoking there?

It's very- - Oh, dance.

- Dance.

- So, you know, when you think of folk music, what do you do?

You sing it and you dance to it, and so I want the rhythms to be lively in this piece.

I hope they're lively and, you know, no one's gonna get up and dance, but I can imagine someday it being a ballet 'cause I love the ballet.

And so, you know, I think the tunes are lively, and you're certainly danceable - Dana, we just heard Melisse talk about how exciting it is, and how the forces are expanded through the chorus, and the string players inside the orchestra.

What is so exciting about the opportunity for young people to have a chance to be part of not just a performance, but a world premiere?

- Right, so the students at Abington Heights, as we came through COVID, and online learning, and online singing, and all playing instruments at home, we're now getting back into performing live, which is so exciting for them.

And when Nancy had come to Allison Covell, who's the orchestra director and myself, and said, "Would you be interested in that?"

We're like, "Well, of course.

There we go."

So, and a commissioned piece is something I don't think any of the students have ever encountered.

So they said, "The composer is alive and well?"

And I said, "Yes, he is."

So they were excited to meet him as well at some point in the near future, and we just love collaborating with the Philharmonic.

The Philharmonic does come to the school, and does small group performances for us for members of the Philharmonic, and we're so grateful that that is an opportunity that the high school has.

- Well, you would prepare them for a performance like this with any piece of music, what does that involve?

How do they structure their days?

When do they get together with all of you?

- So we see them every day for 43 minutes.

So the honors orchestra sees Ms. Covell, Allison, for 43 minutes during second mod or second period during the day, and then the honors choir is their third mod with me every single day.

So we schedule our time with "Palma," and I say It's "Palma" time, and they get their music out, and they're so excited to perform.

And some of the students in my honors choir also performing in the honors orchestra, so they are going to play, and we bargained that they're gonna play, and not sing.

But they're learning both, so they're actually learning the words and playing so they kinda see both sides of it.

So we had a conversation today to prepare for this interview, and they said, you know what?

There's a lot of text painting, and I was like, wow, they learned lots of great words like that.

And they said a lot of foreshadowing with the instrumentalists playing the melody beforehand, and then the choir is coming in with the melody with words so there's a connection between that.

And the love that's in the music is in harmony with the words that you have composed, and that Dana has written.

So they're really enjoying picking out all the little things that their part has in contribution to the whole experience.

- Do we understand that when you were younger, you took part in a premiere?

- I did, I did.

When I was younger, I did something.

When I was in Scotland, I did a young artist festival where I was able to perform with one of my students that I was with, and a composer that I was a colleague with teaching and in grad school.

So that was a really exciting experience, and she's like, "There's no recording because you're it."

So we count it, and we record it, and we sing it.

So it's an incredible experience for the students.

One, also to be performing at the cultural center in Scranton, for it to be a fable, and to be connected to Carbondale, and to the city of Scranton, and then to be performing in such a beautiful space and auditorium that they'll never forget, I think, the performance with professional musicians as well.

- That's the key.

Paul, what did you have in mind?

You didn't have to include young people in the mix.

What were you hoping for with that?

- Well, I was hoping to personify the character.

So the main character, Palma, is young, and she plays the violin so I figured I'd have young people.

I also, one of the hats I wore in previous in life was to be my the Suzuki parent for my two children who started on the violin, and then I eventually got elected to the board, and I eventually served as the chair of the Suzuki Association of the America.

So I was in charge of really both continents in terms of Suzuki playing.

So that's always been, you know, part of what I love to do is to have children learn music.

I think it's great for their hearts, it's great for their socialization, it's great for them being part of a community.

- Tell us more.

Dana, you were explaining how the Philharmonic visits Abington, but Nancy, tell us a little bit about the mission of the Philharmonic and the educational programming.

- Yeah, okay, the commitment to outreach among our board members and our orchestra members is really quite astounding.

And we take our musicians to nursing homes and to senior citizen facilities to play for them and to interact.

Interaction is as much a part of it as a performance, and they perform in high schools, and many times, they take a chamber concert that they've been rehearsing for and take it into the classrooms too, and then have a question and answer session.

And it's always interesting to us to hear the kind of questions that students ask.

And, you know, there's no question that is a stupid question.

You know, they ask such meaningful questions and interesting ones, and our musicians love it.

They are really happy to be sent out into the community.

We also do have a mentorship program, which is a little bit like what we're doing with Abington where part of it involves playing in a side-by-side concert.

And from feedback that we've received from parents and the students is that sitting next to professional or orchestra members has a profound impact on the students.

- What about afterlife of pieces?

We're commissioning this piece, and we'd hope we want to offer it to our area, but what happens with afterlife and composing?

- This one's an easy one because I'm presently the conductor of the Lehigh University Philharmonic, and I'm about to retire.

So as a kind of swan song, in my second last concert conducting the orchestra, I'm gonna do all three fables.

So we'll have a second performance of "Palma" in February.

- We think about broadcasting as what we do here at WVIA even though we're now more and more online and web presence.

But we still think of ourselves, those of us of a certain age, as broadcasters.

And I just wanted to give a couple of footnotes that are not part necessarily of your thinking, Dana's thinking, the fables' thinking, but that make it so extra special for us.

The text of the fable has Palma, who is a peasant, young peasant in Italy, and she is faced with the mean and cruel stepfather.

You know that story in fairytales, right?

We're going to get a nasty, nasty villain of sorts.

And she is taking out the sense that she's got to proceed and make a life for herself.

But along the way, she returns from an experience that she's had to her stepfather's fields.

And she sees, and I don't wanna spoil it, but she's gonna see some implements, some tools.

And one of the things that happens at that moment is that magic seeds fall from the air into the fields, and will sprout.

Now those of us who are in broadcasting know that the term broadcast comes from the agricultural world.

That in the early days of radio, they didn't know what to talk about it or how to talk about it.

So someone said with good sense, and I'm sure his name is recorded, and it is a he, his name is recorded, said, well, that's what farmers do.

They scatter seeds out into the fields, and good things grow.

So, we'll call it broadcasting.

At least that's how I understand it.

So there's this little moment in this fable that we feel those of us who have come together to bring it to life is that there's a little nod to broadcasting in it because of the scattering of the magic seeds.

But we do feel that it's nourishing, and that we do what... Paul, tell us a little bit though.

You chose a fable, you chose the fables, and geography had something to do with it, but also the power of music, right?

Don't we learn if we have a moral or something from the story?

- The power of music and kindness.

So again, not to give away the whole story, but the reason her violin becomes magic, and the seeds become magic, is that she has done a kind deed, and I don't tell you what it is.

Just out of the goodness of her heart.

And so it's both about the power of music, but the power of kindness.

- Thank you, Paul.

Thank you, Nancy.

Thank you, Dana.

Thank you, Melisse.

You all are invited to the world premier performance of "Palma."

A musical fable by Paul Salerni with text by Dana Gioia.

Saturday November 4th at 7:30 PM at the Scranton Cultural Center.

For tickets, nepaphil.org.

We want to thank our guests and you for watching.

For more information on this topic, including links to our guests and resources, please visit wvia.org/keystone, and click on Keystone Edition Arts.

And remember, you can watch this episode or any previous episode on demand anytime online, or on the WVIA app.

For "Keystone Edition," I'm Erica Funke.

Thank you for watching.

We close with a recent performance at Lehigh University of that other arrangement by Paul Salerni of the folk tune, "L'acqua Belle Da Fontanelli" by El Trio Salersi.

(audience applauding)