Tulsa Symphony, Signature Symphony to perform on same night
BY JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer
Thursday, November 01, 2012
11/01/12 at 3:04 AM
Tulsa's two orchestras, the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and the Signature Symphony at Tulsa Community College, will each be performing this Saturday at opposite ends of the city.
And each concert will highlight music by 20th century American composers, as well as the talent of young musicians.
The Signature Symphony will present the second of its Williams Classics concerts at 8 p.m. Saturday in the VanTrease PACE, 10300 E. 81st St.
The Tulsa Symphony will perform its second concert of the season at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Tulsa PAC, 101 E. Third St.
The title of the Signature Symphony's concert is "Celebrating America" and will feature performances by the Oklahoma State University Concert Chorale, under the direction of Z. Randall Stroope.
"If you haven't heard (this group), you've missed something special," said the orchestra's artistic director Barry Epperley. "I've heard them sing three different concerts, and all have been superb.
"Two years ago, when they performed works by Morten Lauridsen, he told me it was the best performance he had ever heard of those pieces," Epperley said.
Songs by Lauridsen will be on the program, as well as works composed by Eric Whitacre and Stroope himself.
The concert will also include the Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story" and the "Chichester Psalms" by Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland's "Old American Songs," and the "Land Run" movement from "Heartland Trilogy," a work composed by OSU music professor Brant Adams for the Signature Symphony, in honor of the Oklahoma Centennial in 2007.
The Tulsa Symphony has chosen the color spectrum as the theme for its concerts this season, with Saturday's concert representing the color "Green." That translates into most of the pieces selected for this concert having some connection to the land.
The two American works on the program share Houston, Texas, as the source of their inspiration.
Alan Hovhannes' Symphony No. 2, "Mysterious Mountain," was commissioned in 1955 by Leopold Stokowski for his first season as music director of the Houston Symphony. It is easily the best-known of the more than 400 works by this composer, although this atmospheric, haunting piece is not typical of the bulk of Hovhannes' music.
"Old and Lost Rivers" by Tobias Picker - which the Houston Symphony premiered in 1986 - was inspired by a sign the composer saw during a drive out of Houston along Highway 10, marking the point where two bodies of water, Old River and Lost River, come together. The music itself is not so prosaic, but as critic Scott Cantrell wrote, is "a hushed, hazy tone poem whose hints at Coplandesque modality tug at the heartstrings."
The program also includes Resphigi's "The Pines of Rome," musical portraits of four regions around that ancient city, and the Variations on a Theme by Paganini by Rachmaninoff, which will feature Steven Lin, a 2011 winner of the Crescendo Music Awards from the Rotary Club of Tulsa, as soloist.
The Tulsa Symphony concert will be conducted by Aaron Collins, who serves as conductor and artistic director for eight ensembles in Florida, including the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Community Orchestra.
SIGNATURE SYMPHONY AT TCC: “CELEBRATING AMERICA”
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: VanTrease PACE, 10300
E. 81st St.
Tickets: $21.75-$32.50. 918-595-
7777, tulsaworld.com/mytix.
TULSA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: “GREEN”
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Chapman Music Hall,
Tulsa PAC, 101 E. Third St.
Tickets: $15-$70. 918-596-7111,
tulsaworld.com/mytix.
Original Print Headline: Night of music
James D. Watts Jr. 918-581-8478
james.watts@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Giselle Ben-Dor (right) conducts the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra during a performance in Chapman Hall. The symphony will present "Green" on Saturday at the PAC. MICHAEL WYKE / Tulsa World file
Stroope
|
