May 19, 2009
California Symphony Music Director Barry Jekowsky is throwing out the playbook for the third consecutive year after Russian handstand acrobats Iouri Safranov and Nikolai Melnikov, the West Coast premiere of the Dead Symphony: An Orchestral Tribute to the Music of the Grateful Dead, and the world’s first live symphonic concert in 3D all produced sold-out performances. Furthermore, a significant portion of the audiences for each concert was estimated to be classical first- or second-timers.
The 2009-2010 season is expected to have broad appeal as well. The October program will feature world-renowned visual motion artist Michael Moschen in a breathtaking performance choreographed to Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite and Mason Bates’ Mercury Interlude. In November, well-known political satirist Will Durst will narrate Copland’s Lincoln Portrait. In March, 14-year-old Chad Hoopes will play Bruch’s Violin Concerto. And for the season finale in May, the California Symphony will present the world premiere of a new work by its critically-acclaimed Young American Composer-in-Residence, Mason Bates, and a rare opportunity to hear a major young artist perform solos with the orchestra on two different instruments – especially one as young as 14-year-old Sarina Zhang. For the occasion, she will play Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat, as well as Tchaikovsky’s Pezzo Capriccioso for Cello and Orchestra.
“I love designing programs that create a concert experience that is new, unusual, rewarding and fun – and the response we’re getting from patrons could not be more enthusiastic,” says Jekowsky. “Even before the recession, symphonic audiences in general were being eroded by aging and a lack of interest by younger generations. The only way interest in classical music can grow in the future is by offering a new and unique experience that can co-exist with other forms of entertainment. However, that doesn’t mean that you hand over your entire schedule to what might appeal to the iPod Generation. I always make sure each program is well-balanced.”
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