2008 - 2009 Symphony Season

 

Where Giants Dare to Tread

Beethoven’s nine symphonies cast a long shadow over generations of composers to come. Awed by their depth and perfection, the composers who dared follow Beethoven’s example were often giants themselves. With Beethoven’s thunderous footsteps still echoing in his ears, Brahms finally completed his own First Symphony at the ripe age of forty-three. It had taken him at least fourteen years, but its monumental and flawless design declared Brahms to be Beethoven's worthy successor on the loftiest symphonic heights.

Saturday, October 11, 2008, 7:30 PM, Henderson Fine Arts Center Performance Hall, Farmington, NM
Sunday, October 12, 2008, 3 PM, Community Concert Hall  at Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO

Celeste Golden, violin

Copland - Fanfare for the Common Man
Beethoven - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 61
Brahms - Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68

New Wine: Same Bottle

The Symphony first germinated in Haydn’s hands, then bloomed in new colors and proportions in Mozart’s. Since then the symphonic form has enticed composers of all types to flex their compositional muscles. In 1932, to depict the rich street life of Harlem, jazzman James P. Johnson poured lively syncopations and soulful hymns into the symphonic form. The result is an intoxicating brew.

Saturday, November 22, 2008, 7:30 PM, Henderson Fine Arts Center Performance Hall, Farmington, NM
Sunday, November 23, 2008, 3 PM, Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO

Rochelle Mann, alto flute
Rosalind Simpson, harp
Side-by-Side with high school musicians

Mozart - Symphony No. 36 in C major, K. 425, Linz
Bizet - Carillon and Farandole, from L’Arlésienne, Side-by-Side
Toru Takemitsu - Toward the Sea II
James P. Johnson - Harlem Symphony

Sketchy Business

Schubert lived a full six years after stopping work on his Eighth Symphony in 1822. What could have possessed him to abandon his B minor Symphony which, even in its shortened form, has been his most cherished work? Also on this program, American composer Michael Daugherty resurrects another famous musician whose life is shrouded in mystery, and Tchaikovsky breathes life into Shakespeare’s timeless tale of star-crossed lovers.

Saturday, February 14, 2009, 7:30 PM, Community Concert Hall  at Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO
Sunday, February 15, 2009, 3 PM, Michael D. Palm Theater, Telluride, CO


Philip Mann, guest conductor
Benjamin Kamins, bassoon

Schubert - Symphony No. 8 in B minor, Unfinished
Vivaldi - Concerto for Bassoon in E minor, RV484
Daugherty - Dead Elvis
Tchaikovsky - Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture

All Things Great and Small

Inspired by Beethoven’s Ninth, Gustav Mahler said “the symphony should be like the world – it must embrace everything.” In the late Nineteenth century he and other Romantics wrote super-sized symphonies that sprawled over hundreds of pages. Now, reacting to centuries of excess, American composer Sebastian Currier wants to show that a few minutes are sufficient to say all that needs to be said. But Beethoven, whose final symphony broke the mold all the way back in 1823, gets his deserved last word.

Saturday, April 18, 2009, 7:30 PM, Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO
Sunday, April 19, 2009, 3 PM, Henderson Fine Arts Center Performance Hall, Farmington, NM

Gemma Kavanagh, soprano
Nan Nelson Wagner, mezzosoprano
Christopher Bengochea, tenor
Steven Meredith, bass-baritone
Durango Choral Society, Linda Mack, director

Sebastian Currier - microsymph
Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125