West Side Story
We begin with Howard Hanson’s ‘Sinfonia Sacra’, a densely compact, unabashedly Romantic work that in turns revels in the sumptuous layering of orchestral textures against dramatic outbursts set in a musical grappling with the passion story of Christ.
We continue to engage in the adventure of commissioning new works, and Michael Torke’s new violin concerto for young virtuoso Tessa Lark is a bluegrass-tinged work that promises to add an important new voice to our sonic landscape.
The dean of the ‘American sound,’ Aaron Copland, created an evocative and tender score for the film adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, and in this concert we present a suite of the most beautiful moments from that soundtrack.
Icon Leonard Bernstein is perhaps best-known to this day for his ingenious fusion of popular and classical in his Broadway masterpiece, West Side Story. In an effort to bring the spotlight on the details and brilliance of the score, Bernstein stitched the most poignant moments from the musical into an ingeniously-woven musical fabric. From the shouts of ‘Mambo!’ to the heart-rending final chords of ‘Somewhere,’ these Symphonic Dances exist to remind us of what can happen when just the right elements conspire to reveal a true American genius.
