George gershwin — Press Releases

Corvallis-OSU Symphony Society hosts Portland Youth Philharmonic Oct. 27

Story by: Zachary Person
Source: Josh Espinoza

CORVALIS, Ore. – The Portland Youth Philharmonic hosted by the Corvallis-OSU Symphony Society performs at 3:00 p.m., Sunday, October 27 in the Austin Auditorium at The LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th Street.

Portland Youth Philharmonic music director David Hattner leads the orchestra in three works: George Gershwin’s jazz-inspired Piano Concerto in F (1925) featuring 14-year-old Joshua Ji, winter of the 2019 Portland Piano International / SOLO Piano Competition; Amy Beach’s “Gaelic Symphony” (1894); and “Batuque” (1941) by Brazilian composer Oscar Lorenzo Fernández.

Following the immense success of his “Rhapsody in Blue” in 1924, George Gershwin (1898-1937) received a commission from Walter Damrosch and the New York Symphony that resulted in his popular three movement piano concerto. Unlike any composer before or since, Gershwin transcended the boundaries between jazz and classical music with his catalog of jazzy, blues-inflected works.

The “Gaelic Symphony” by Amy Beach (1867-1944) was the first symphony composed and published by an American woman. Despite her lack of European musical training, Beach was a highly regarded composer during the late-19thand early-20th centuries. In addition to her well-known compositions, Beach was an acclaimed piano soloist (frequently performing her own music) and also served as president of the board at the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music.

Brazilian composer Oscar Lorenzo Fernández (1897-1948) was primarily known for his three-act opera “Malazarte.” “Batuque,” the third movement from a popular suite for orchestra extracted from the opera, is based on an Afro-Brazilian folk dance brilliantly adapted for symphony orchestra.

Tickets $5, all seating general admission. Advance tickets available at cosusymphony.org or at the box office beginning one hour prior to the performance. Accommodations relating to a disability may be made by calling 541-286-5580, preferably at least one week in advance.

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About the OSU College of Liberal Arts: The College of Liberal Arts includes fine and performing arts, humanities and social sciences, making it one of the largest and most diverse colleges at OSU. The college’s research and instructional faculty members contribute to the education of all university students and provide national and international leadership, creativity and scholarship in their academic disciplines.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 7 February 2019

Corvallis-OSU Symphony performs Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring Feb. 24

By Zachary C. Person, 541-737-4671, zachary.person@oregonstate.edu

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Corvallis-OSU Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Marlan Carlson presents “Stars of the Orchestra” at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, February 24 in the Austin Auditorium at The LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th Street, Corvallis.

Student soloists from OSU who were selected at a competitive audition in October, 2018 are featured in in the opening half:

· Hailey Cervantes: “Con Forza” from Concerto for Percussion by Joseph Schwantner

· Christopher Yoon: “Adagio-Moderato” from Concerto for Cello by Edward Elgar

· Adrian Galash and Ralph Musni: “Allegro” from Concerto for Two Clarinets by Franz Krommer

· Bettine Rehr-Zimmerman: Selections from “Carmen Fantasy” for violin and orchestra by Pablo de Sarasate

· Eric Russell: “Allegro” from Concerto for Horn by Gordon Jacob

· Andrew Yoon: “Rhapsody in Blue” for piano by George Gershwin

Oboists Robert Koll, Stephanie Brannan and Janie Anderson, and horn players Eric Russell and Luke Schroeder will also be featured in the first movement of J.S. Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto No. 1,” conducted by OSU music education student Rolly Toribio.

Igor Stravinsky’s landmark “Rite of Spring” is the major work on the program. The ballet score induced a riot at its inaugural performance at Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in 1913, shocking the audience with a highly complex rhythmic scheme and an audacious approach to tonality. The entire ensemble is showcased in the “Rite of Spring” through Stravinsky’s virtuosic solo writing, brilliant passagework and genius command of orchestration and thematic development.

In the words of Maestro Marlan Carlson, “this is a concert I’ve been dreaming about for years - a concert featuring many of our outstanding student instrumentalists as soloists combined with the 20th century’s all-time star composition for orchestra, the ‘Rite of Spring’ by Igor Stravinsky. No other work composed in the last 120 years can touch the Rite of Spring (1913) in terms of its creative brilliance and its impact on the course of music history. I’ve known this piece for many decades, performed it many times, and in fact had the opportunity to play it as acting principal viola in the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Bernstein.”

Reserved seating $22, $27, $32. Advance tickets available online at www.cosusymphony.org. Up to three K-8 students accompanied by a ticketed adult, and all high school and college students with ID, may be given free general admission tickets at the door starting one hour prior to the concert, subject to availability. CAFA discounts apply with valid SNAP card, available one hour prior to performance at the LaSells Stewart Center. For accommodations relating to a disability please call 541-286-5580, preferably one week in advance.

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