For today’s playlist, we are grateful to have a list from Jessica Satava, Executive Director of the JSO. As you will read and hear in her selections, in addition to her strength and experience as a leader in the orchestral field, Jessica brings a remarkable level of musical knowledge to her position, having been a professional musician for many years. I’ve found solace and inspiration in the music she chose, and I know you will as well.
 
And I’m also personally glad that this playlist will allow some of you to get to know Jessica for the first time in a new way.  
 
Stay strong everyone.
 
Yours,
 
James Blachly
Music Director, Johnstown Symphony Orchestra


April 3 : A Playlist from Executive Director
Jessica Satava

I used to be a professional soprano in a former life, and there was no feeling in the world like standing on the stage surrounded by the vibration of the orchestra and chorus during this piece. It really must be what heaven is like. While I actually think the baritone has the best moment in the piece (the one you’re hearing here), the soprano soloist is meant to embody love and represent comfort. What a privilege as a musician to bring that to life.
I’m not going to editorialize about this; it speaks for itself.
I don’t remember when I first heard this famous recording by the elegant pianist Murray Perahia, I was so small. It was one of my dad’s Tape of the Month Club cassettes, and I listened to it so much it nearly wore out. 
It really puts things into perspective too, when I remember that Mozart was 11 when he wrote this. What was I doing at 11? I have no idea. Probably complaining that my braces hurt and driving my parents and siblings crazy by listening to this over and over.
Heart-stoppingly beautiful singing by another of the greatest vocalists ever is on full display in this one. Gospel is one of my favorite kinds of music and reminds me of my work in Baltimore on Bernstein’s Mass . Five choirs from around the city joined forces for the performance in a very special place in West Baltimore called New Psalmist Baptist Church. What a spectacular and joyful thing the act of singing together can be.

I discovered these songs in graduate school. I remember I was sitting on the floor in my dorm room in graduate housing with the volume cranked up, and I felt like I’d been struck by lightning. Then, instantly obsessed, I started to read about them and discovered that they were the last things Strauss ever wrote, very literally his four last songs written for his wife, a soprano. Soprano wife or no, I’d be willing to bet Mr. Strauss would have LOVED this version by Jessye Norman, a grand dame of singing who we lost just last year. Listen to all four, if you’re inclined, and be transformed. But you have to turn the volume all the way up just like I did the first time I heard them!
I was on a call this past week with 150 fellow executive directors of orchestras from cities similar to ours across the country. It’s been amazing to hear from them on these weekly calls about what other communities are experiencing during this time of uncertainty and fear. But I remember thinking as I listened to another colleague: the responsibility we bear as stewards of orchestras is enormous.

This thing - symphonic music - has been a hallmark of our culture for hundreds of years because it represents the best of who we are as humans. Every person brings their experience, their hard work, their years of preparation. Each is remarkable solo, but…together! Together it is otherworldly power.

What would a world without this music be like to live in? Realizing that yes, recordings are great…but in a space, with you, with my community, sharing these grand vibrations in real time… recordings are just a reminder. They get us as close as we can be to that power in this moment of isolation. It takes being together to make it real. Here’s to being together again soon.
About Jessica Satava
Jessica Satava is a passionate advocate for the power of symphonic music to unite communities and promote growth and connection. In August 2019, she was appointed Executive Director of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra.

Prior to this, she served as Concert Operations Supervisor at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where in 2016, she was appointed to produce the largest performance event in Peabody’s 161-year history. She led the two-year planning process of the production which became the public face of Peabody's strategic plan, the culmination of the vision for strengthening community partnerships, identifying new constituents, and uniting the institute's conservatory and preparatory divisions. Bernstein’s MASS , conducted by the Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony and Chief Conductor of the Vienna Radio Philharmonic, Marin Alsop. The performance was staged in a community church, featured 530 performers spanning ages and neighborhoods: Baltimore City school children, conservatory students, senior citizens, singers from churches and community centers. 

In 2018, Jessica served as manager of the Aspen Chamber Symphony at the Aspen Music Festival and School, working with international soloists, conductors, and principal musicians and students from top orchestras and conservatories such as The Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, The New York Philharmonic, the St. Louis Symphony, The Atlanta Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Colburn School, the Juilliard School, the Cleveland Institute, Yale University, and the Curtis Institute.

Her early training was as a classical vocal soloist, and she earned degrees in voice from Bethel University and the Peabody Conservatory as well as a post-graduate certificate in Management Development from the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business. In the summer of 2019, Jessica was accepted in a selective process to attend the League of American Orchestra’s Essentials of Orchestra Management 2019 along with 30 rising talents in the field, hosted by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Want to listen to our playlists again? Miss one along the way?
Enjoy them here!