Alma Symphony Orchestra To Perform French Favorites
The Alma Symphony Orchestra continues its year-long international theme with a Sunday afternoon concert of French favorites.
The performance takes place at 4 p.m. Feb. 8 in the Remick Heritage
Center at Alma College. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors 62
and up, and free for Alma College staff, students and youth 18 and
under. Seating is reserved. Call (989) 463-7304 for ticket information.
The ASO is in its 49th season.
The
ASO’s musical tour of France will embrace the works of Leo Delibes,
Maurice Ravel, Camille Saint-Saens and Erik Satie. Also included in the
program are works by George Gershwin and Frederic Chopin, both of whom
spent some time in Paris.
Featured soloist will be pianist Zhihua Tang, who will join the
orchestra for Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor. Tang, born in
Shanghai, China, has appeared in concerts across the United States,
Asia, and Europe. Throughout her career, she has served as a member of
the piano faculty at several universities, including the University of
North Dakota and Eastern Michigan University. Tang is currently
teaching piano at Alma College.
“The concert offers a nice variety of music,” says ASO Director Murray
Gross. “Some of the pieces are very atmospheric, lush and sensuous,
while others, like ‘Bacchanale’ by Saint-Saens, showcase high energy,
rhythmic music.“
The program will include Ravel’s “Pavane pour une infante defunte” as
well as Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.” Finding balance between
music that is both familiar and unfamiliar was important in planning
the concert program, says Gross.
Ravel’s work represents the common trend among French composers to
revive the stately dance of the Renaissance during the late 19th
century. The Pavane allowed Ravel to experiment with the “new
classicism” period in French music while establishing his own style of
music.
Gershwin’s piece is a reflection of American experience rather than of
French trends. Gershwin composed “An American in Paris” while
remembering the homesickness and blues he felt for the Hudson River
throughout his time in Paris.
Posted: Sun, January 25th, 2009 at 9:25AM
