[Santa Monica Mirror, Photo by D’Lynn Waldron. The Santa Monica Symphony will play a
free concert this Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at SGI Auditorium in Santa Monica.]
Santa Monica Mirror
Posted Jan. 18, 2013, 8:51 am
Special To The Mirror
By Erika Kerekes
When the Santa Monica Symphony plays its second concert of the
2012-13 season this Sunday at SGI Auditorium, the spirit of the great
Martin Luther King Jr. will fill the hall. Conductor and Music Director Guido Lamell has chosen a program that
both honors the late civil rights leader and celebrates the
contributions of African-Americans to our country’s musical heritage.
“When I was looking for music to include in this program, I looked at
what the great orchestras around the country were playing during this
period,” Lamell said. “I was surprised to discover that few orchestras
included music by current African-American composers.”
Lamell listened to hundreds of pieces before selecting the works of
Adolphus Hailstork, a contemporary African-American composer who studied
with Nadia Boulanger and is currently Composer-In-Residence at Old
Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. The orchestra will perform Hailstork’s “Three Spirituals for
Orchestra” and “Fanfare on Amazing Grace,” both representative of
Hailstork’s signature blend of symphonic and African-American
traditions. “I’m delighted to be able to introduce Adolphus Hailstork’s work to the music lovers of Santa Monica,” Lamell said.
Sunday’s program also includes a moving piece for orchestra and
baritone by Lee Hoiby, an American composer known for setting poetry and
various prominent texts to music. Hoiby, who died in 2011, wrote the
lush and lyrical aria “I Have a Dream” using the text of Martin Luther
King Jr.’s famous speech.
...
Lamell said the patriotic program also includes Aaron Copland’s
all-American “Fanfare for the Common Man” and Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony
no. 9, “From the New World.” “The Copland Fanfare is perhaps the greatest fanfare ever written,”
Lamell said. “Its open harmonies and stunning percussion evoke
impressions of freedom and power like no other. Dvorak’s “New World” has
such beauty and orchestral brilliance that it is generally considered
to be one of the top five most beloved and frequently performed of all
symphonic works.”
Maestro Lamell has a surprise for the audience in the second movement
of the Dvorak symphony. Instead of the traditional English horn solo,
baritone soloist Cato will sing the famously haunting melody, with words
written by Lamell.
...
The Santa Monica Symphony will play this Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013, at
3:30 p.m. at SGI Auditorium, 525 Wilshire Blvd. Admission is free. For
parking and other information please see the orchestra’s website at smsymphony.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment