Program Notes Paul Simon Songbook

About the Music

Concert Overview

• Simon  Graceland
• Simon & Garfunkel  Mrs. Robinson
• Simon & Garfunkel (Based on a Traditional English Canticle)  Scarborough Fair
• Simon  Homeward Bound
• Simon  Cecilia
• Simon, Daniel A. Robles, Jorge Milchberg (Based on Traditional Peruvian melody) 
  El Condor Pasa
  
• Simon & Garfunkel  The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
• Simon  Sound of Silence
• Simon  America
• Simon  The Boxer
• Simon  Kodachrome
• Intermission
• Simon  You Can Call Me Al
• Simon  Take Me to the Mardi Gras
• Simon  Bridge Over Troubled Waters
• Simon  Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
• Simon  50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
• Simon  Mother & Child Reunion
• Simon  Still Crazy After All These Years
• Simon  Loves Me Like a Rock

Program is subject to change.

• This evening’s concert is sponsored by The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
• Tonight’s performance is dedicated to William J. & Katherine T. O'Neill and Mark & Shelly Saltzman in recognition of their extraordinary generosity in support of The Cleveland Orchestra.

About the Concert

The New Yorker has described Paul Simon’s music as “chatty and omnivorous, tough and tender, awake to sorrow and beauty.” His enduring appeal is due, in part, to these charming dualities as well as his songs’ striking youthfulness no matter the decade they came from. Over a dozen Grammy awards, two Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions, and Kennedy Center Honors don’t begin to express his unique talents and contributions to the broader landscape of popular music.

As a leading figure of the American folk-rock movement with Simon and Garfunkel and later as an amorphous solo artist who dabbled in Jamaican, South American, and African sounds, Simon has always followed his artistic instincts wherever they took him, and as a result, his music has stood the test of time and influenced generations of songwriters. From the South African pop brilliance of Graceland to the percussive Afro-Brazilian bliss of The Rhythm of the Saints to the socially conscious folk of Simon and Garfunkel, Simon consistently reinvented himself, while always maintaining his unique artistic voice. Nearly 60 years since Simon and Garfunkel’s debut album, Simon’s work continues to reverberate through today’s music, whether it’s the vibrant guitar pop of Vampire Weekend, the wispy rock of Phosphorescent, or the witty folk music of Christian Lee Hutson.

Simon is one of rock’s greatest poets, which places him alongside the likes of Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen, and Joni Mitchell. Simon’s lyricism is approachable yet brimming with wisdom — supplying timeless comfort while emotionally challenging both himself and his listeners. One of Simon’s best-known songs, the vibrant reggae tune “Mother and Child Reunion,” which will be performed tonight, is a touching song about grief, with a father deciding not to sugarcoat his feelings or provide silver linings to his child after the death of a loved one. Another favorite included in this program, “The Sound of Silence,” is about feeling alienated by Americans’ worship of false idols while turning a blind eye to injustice. Simon’s work touches magical realism with the cartoonish imagery of ”You Can Call Me Al”, invokes spiritualism as in “Love Me Like a Rock”, and provides sharp character studies such as the young protagonist “The Boxer”.

Songs that have pierced our collective consciousness such as “Bridge Over Troubled Waters,” “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” and “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,” elicit both shared and personal experiences. As we come together at Blossom Music Center in “the greens of summer,” as he sings on “Kodachrome,” we’re reminded of another line from “Take Me to the Mardi Gras:” "Let the music wash your soul.”

— Lizzie Manno

Featured Artists

Jeff Tyzik Conductor

Grammy-winner Jeff Tyzik is one of America’s most innovative and sought-after pops conductors. The 2021–22 season marks his 28th season as Principal Pops Conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. This is the ninth season that Mr. Tyzik has held The Dot and Paul Mason Principal Pops Conductor’s Podium at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He also is principal pops conductor of both the Detroit Symphony and Oregon Symphony.

Mr. Tyzik was a producer of Grammy-winning album The Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen. His other recordings with Severinsen garnered three more GRAMMY nominations.  A native of Hyde Park, New York, Mr. Tyzik earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music.

Paul Loren Vocalist

New York singer-songwriter Paul Loren has always been steeped in the classic American songbook. His original work has channeled ‘60s R&B, Brill Building pop, and big band-era crooning, while his 2021 album Betwixt tapped into Elvis’s early Sun Studio recordings, folk, and Americana. Mr. Loren has appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, performed at the Stax Museum in Memphis, and recorded in Sun Studio. He has opened for touring artists including soul legends The Temptations, singer-songwriter Brendan James, American Idol winner Taylor Hicks, folk singer and guitarist David Bromberg, and soul singer James Hunter.

Daniel Berryman Vocalist

Daniel Berryman has performed in the ensembles in Call Me Madam and The Golden Apples with Encores!, Sweeney Todd at Barrow Street Theatre, and as The Boy in The Fantasticks at Theatre Center in New York. He toured nationally with Les Misérables and The Sound of Music, and has toured regionally with Sweeney Todd, Hello, Dolly!, The Most Happy Fella, and Rent. In addition to his performances across the country with The Paul Simon Songbook, Mr. Berryman joined the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra to celebrate the 100^th-season of The Muny. Mr. Berryman received a BFA in musical theatre from the University of Michigan.

Emily Drennan Vocalist

Emily Drennan has been featured as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Radio City Music Hall. She performed in The Christmas Spectacular Starring the Rockettes at Radio City and toured Europe and the Caribbean playing Tanya in Mamma Mia! She appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and in the Lucille Lortel Award–winning Off-Broadway a cappella show Voca People, including a performance alongside Sting.  She has performed in regional theater productions of AIDA, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, SWING!, HAIR, and Smokey Joe’s Café.