The San Juan Symphonys 25th season, Celebration: Then & Now, will begin Sept. 18 with a free concert at San Juan College in Farmington.
The first Durango performance will be a family concert Sept. 19 at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College. Arthur Post returns as musical director for the 2010-11 season.
The family concert coincides with the inaugural Durango Showcase of the Arts and is designed as an introduction to symphony for newcomers. The program includes familiar classical pieces as well as popular favorites and movie themes performed in an interactive, educational atmosphere.
The full concert season begins Oct. 10 with Something Old, Something New at the Concert Hall. Featured soloist Alexander Fiterstein headlines the evening on clarinet for pieces by Carl Maria von Weber, Aaron Copland and Abraham Ellstein, and the symphony also will perform Schumanns Symphony No. 3, Rhenish, Op. 97.
Next up is the Silver Jubilee on Nov. 20 and 21 at Henderson Performance Hall in Farmington and the Concert Hall, respectively.
Its a true anniversary show, recreating the 1986 concert that brought together members of the Durango Civic Symphony and Farmingtons San Juan Symphony to create the current organization. Featuring soloists Jennifer Koh on violin and pianist Benjamin Hochman and a group of high school musicians, the program then and now includes works by Hector Berlioz, Ludwig van Beethoven, Sam Cardon and Felix Mendelssohn.
Arches is the title of concert No. 3 on Feb. 20. Violinist Timothy Fain returns for an intimate program that combines Baroque compositions with newer pieces.
The old is Bachs Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, Stravinskys Piano Concerto No. 4 and Spring from Vivaldis The Four Seasons; the new is Kevin Puts Arches, Aaron Kernis Air and Astor Piazzollas Spring from The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.
The Celebration season concludes April 16 (Concert Hall) and 17 (Henderson) with Passions and Fate, a vocal-heavy program with soprano Gemma Kavanagh, tenor Brian Patrick Leatherman and baritone Scott Bearden as well as members of the Durango Choral Society, directed by Linda Mack Berven, and Caliente, directed by Virginia Nickels-Hircock.
Kavanagh will sing Songs of the Auvergne, sampling folk music of the French countryside, and the choirs will join the symphony for Carl Orffs popular Carmina Burana.
Maestro Post will give a free preview of each concert at 6 p.m. on the Wednesday before the shows at the Durango Arts Center (Oct. 6, Nov. 17, Feb. 16 and April 13).
Individual and season tickets are on sale for the complete season. The symphonys offices are now located in the Durango Arts Center.
The Arts Center also is the new home of the Adams Foundation Piano Recital series. The first Adams performance features pianist Simone Dinnerstein on Nov. 27, and the second stars Grammy nominee Ursula Oppens on March 20.
ted@durangoherald.com
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