Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra to perform Bon Voyage concert prior to European Tour
The Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra (SRSYO), conducted by Dr. Richard Loheyde, will perform its final stateside concert of the 2017-2018 season at Weill Hall, Green Music Center on June 16, 2018 at 3 PM. The Orchestra’s next concerts will be in Salzburg, Vienna and Budapest later in June.
The Bon Voyage concert
For this grand send-off, in addition to the tour repertoire, Chloe Watson, winner of the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Ensembles Concerto Competition, will perform a bassoon concerto by Hector Villa-Lobos. The program also includes the world premiere of Stardust and Dark Matter by acclaimed composer Gloria Coates, commissioned for SRSYO for its tour.
Jason Eckl's Heritage Klezmer Concerto features Rebecca Roudman & Dirty Cello, for which Eckl writes and plays guitar. Husband and wife Eckl and Roudman also play for the Oakland Symphony and Roudman plays for the Santa Rosa Symphony (SRS) orchestra as well. Both musicians compose for Dirty Cello, which tours internationally and will join the SRSYO on its tour later in the month.
The Bon Voyage Concert includes:
- BRAHMS: Academic Festival Overture
- COATES: Stardust and Dark Matter (world premiere)
- VILLA-LOBOS: Ciranda das sete notas with Concerto Competition winner Chloe Watson, bassoon
- JASON ECKL: Heritage Klezmer Concerto with guest Rebecca Roudman & Dirty Cello
- BERNSTEIN: Overture to Candide
- LISZT: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
- GRIEG: Peer Gynt Suites
- STRAUSS: Thunder and Lightning Polka
Gloria Coates is a prolific American composer who lives in Germany. Credited with bringing American concert music to Germany, she organized and developed the German-American Contemporary Music Series concerts in Munich in the early 70s and, as an influential member of the International League of Women Composers, has helped bring American women composers in particular to a wider European audience. She has lectured at Harvard, Brown University, Boston University and the University of Wisconsin.
Dr. Loheyde will conduct the SRSYO for this concert and the European tour before he steps down, passing the baton to Robert "Bobby" Rogers, who has led the SRS Aspirante Youth Orchestra (formerly Repertory Orchestra) since 2011.
The European Tour
The SRSYO tour, June 19 – 28, is the third tour the SRSYO has embarked on abroad, with an Eastern European tour in 2009 and one to China in 2015. These young musicians (10-23) will play in famous and celebrated halls in the countries of the famous European composers on their program. In addition, the SRSYO musicians will visit historic sites rich with cultural and music history.
In Salzburg, before performing in the opulent Grosse Saal of the Mozarteum, the musicians will visit Mozartplatz, the Salzburg Cathedral, the Hohensalzburg Castle, Mozart’s birthplace and more.
Vienna, the historical center of the musical world, was home of Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Mahler. While there, the students will visit Stephansdom Cathedral, Vienna Opera, Haus der Musik museum and Hofburg Palace. In addition, they will participate in a peer-to-peer exchange and performance with a local youth orchestra and work with members of the Vienna Philharmonic. Before leaving Austria, the group will stop at the Esterházy Palace in Eisenstadt with its 17th-century “Haydnsaal,” the workplace and home of father of the symphony Joseph Haydn, court composer to the Esterházy family and mentor to many great composers.
In Budapest, a city rich in the practice of classical/folk music crossover through composers like Bartók and Kodály, students will learn about Hungary’s thousand-year history in a guided tour of Castle Hill, including Matthias Church. They will perform the final concert of the tour in the beautiful Pesti Vigado Hall.
Bon Voyage Tickets: In advance: $15/adult; $5/youth; $10/group of 10 or more; At the door: $20/adult; $10/youth. www.srsymphony.org
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