May 7

Roots and Boots

Atherton Auditorium

Conductor

Peter Jaffe, Music Director

Guest Artist

Ralph Cato, baritone

Concert cosponsors: Thomas and Virginia Chen

Guest artist cosponsor: Linda Vater

Guest artist accommodations: Hal and Debbie Lurtsema

Bonanza Theme

Jay Livingston and Ray Evans
arr. David Rose

The Big Country

Jerome Moross, arr. Richard Ling

High Noon

Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington
arr. Christopher Palmer and Patrick Russ

Oh My Darling, Clementine

H. S. Thompson, arr. Peter Jaffe

from Billy the Kid
Gunfight—Billy’s Death—Open Prairie

Aaron Copland

Intermission

Finale from William Tell Overture

Gioachino Rossini

Dances with Wolves, Concert Suite

John Barry, arr. Steven L. Rosenhaus

Riders in the Sky

Stan Jones, arr. Joe Leahy

Main Title from Blazing Saddles

John Morris and Mel Brooks, orch. Jonathan Tunick

Rawhide Theme

Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington
arr. Christopher Palmer and Patrick Russ

Suite from The Magnificent Seven

Elmer Bernstein

Ralph Cato, BaritoneGuest Artist

Ralph Cato, baritone

Ralph Cato has traveled the world extensively, telling stories in song using his warm, clarion baritone voice. Whether performing oratorio masterpieces, traditional opera characters, or as an integral part of an ensemble, he brings a humanity to each character he portrays and always delivers a memorable performance.

Early in his career Mr. Cato traveled extensively with Albert McNeil’s Jubilee Singers as a featured soloist. He sang his first oratorio work, Carmina Burana—a work he has since performed numerous times to critical acclaim—with the Estonia National Symphony and Chorus in Tallinn. In Cologne, Germany, he sang his first Mozart Vesperes solennes de confessore with the Cologne Philharmonic.

Conductors and directors have relied on Mr. Cato’s consistent delivery of compelling performances. For Redlands Opera, he has portrayed the title role in Gianni Schicchi, Sharpless (Madama Butterfly ), Marcello (La bohème ), Sonora (La fanciulla del West ), Germont (La traviata ), Escamillo (Carmen ), and Tonio (Pagliacci ). In Porgy and Bess he has played Peter for Opera Pacific, Sportin’ Life for Lisbon Opera, and Porgy/Jake for Chicago Sinfonetta’s Swiss tour. Mr. Cato was featured on tour in Europe, China, Canada, and the U.S. with the Irish dance show Riverdance and was part of the award-winning cast of Baz Luhrman’s production of Puccini’s La bohème at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. He has performed with Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Long Beach Symphony, San Bernadino Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, Stockton Symphony, Los Angeles’s Southeast Symphony, Pacific Chorale, Chorale bel Canto, and Santa Barbara Choral Society. Mr. Cato teaches applied voice, performance practice, and diction for singers at the University of California, Riverside.