Presented by Santa Cruz Symphony
Compositions by Local Composers Lou Harrison and the Symphony’s Maestro Daniel Stewart
The Santa Cruz Symphony presents a special celebration of local compositional talent on Saturday, March 21 at 8 p.m. at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium and Sunday, March 22 at 2 p.m. at Watsonville’s Mello Center for the Performing Arts. This unique program features music by the iconic local composer, Lou Harrison and a work recently composed the Symphony’s own Maestro Daniel Stewart.
The Symphony will also welcome to the stage the talented young violinist, Youjin Lee, First Prize winner of the 2013 Irving M. Klein International String Competition. Lee will be performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.
The concert opens with Daniel Stewart’s wild and reflective composition, Sinfonia. Stewart wrote and scored the work in the winter of 2010 and later premiered the work at the 2011 Aspen Music Festival. The 3-movement piece begins with a fantasia that is both wild and mysterious. It then continues to a playful scherzo infused with a joyful lyricism. Sinfonia concludes dramatically with deeply reflective movement that resolves into a lyrical serenade. Stewart says “I am very excited to share my Sinfonia, from 2010, with the community and my colleagues. It is a composition that is steeped in the unique vernacular of Northern California.”
Next, Maestro Stewart and the orchestra will tackle Pacfika Rondo – a rarely heard gem of Santa Cruz County’s beloved composer, Lou Harrison. The work looks west across the Pacific to Asian culture and south to Latin culture as he fuses those influences with Californian flair. Harrison, a major player in the Bay Area cultural scene until his death in 2003, is known for creative use of Asian musical styles and eclectic instrumentation to serve as a counterpoint to western dominance in musical composition. The Symphony will invite Korean musician, Gamin, to play one of the rare instruments scored in this work – the piri, a cylindrical double-reed bamboo oboe.
The concert concludes with Beethoven’s majestic and transcendent Violin Concerto. The work was originally poorly received and was rarely performed until well after Beethoven’s death following a revival performance conducted by Felix Mendelssohn. Today it is among the best known and widely performed violin concertos. The concerto will feature the 2013 Klein winner – violinist, Youjin Lee. After winning many national competitions, Lee performed for the South Korean president and was selected by Itzhak Perlman to join the prestigious Perlman Music Program.
Free pre-concert talks take place before both performances: at 7 p.m. in the Civic Auditorium, prior to the Saturday evening concert; and at 1 p.m. in the Watsonville Mello Center, prior to the Sunday matinee concert. The Pre-concert talks are free and open to all concertgoers.
•••
Season Sponsors: The 2014/15 season is generously sponsored by Dorothy Wise, Rowland & Pat Rebele and the Santa Cruz Symphony League.
Concert Sponsors: The “Pacific Perspective” concerts are made possible with support from Todd & Corinne Wipke and Laurie A. Huth.
Tickets: Single tickets ($25-$70) are now on sale: 831.420.5260 or SantaCruzTickets.com 2014/15 Student Rush: On the day of the concert, bring a Student ID to the box office between 6:30-7:30pm at the Civic Box Office or to the Mello Box Office between 12:30-1:00, and pay just $10!
Symphony Season Tickets are available by calling 462-0553, ext. 10.
Symphony Information: SantaCruzSymphony.org