Opposite Ends of the Spectrum

The Strings, with their technical versatility and lush, homogeneous blend of sound, form the backbone of the orchestra. The Percussion, encompassing a broad, even exotic variety of instruments, provides a vivid array of tone colors and adds rhythmic punctuation. This program highlights each of these two groups—both separately and together—in their idiomatic roles, as well as crossing into to each other’s sonic domains. Jessie Montgomery, one of the current music scene’s prominent new voices, utilizes in Starburst the strings’ rhythmic and percussive qualities, while Carlos Chávez’ seminal Toccata features not only the percussion instruments’ rhythmic drive, but also their ability to sustain and blend sounds. The Oboe Concerto by Ralph Vaughan Williams features rich string sonorities, in an ideal pairing of the composer’s English folk idiom with the pastoral sound of the oboe. Finally, Bizet’s famous opera, Carmen, is colorfully re-imagined by contemporary Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin as a brilliant tour de force for strings and a large battery of percussion.

Ticket Pricing: $55, $50, $45, & $25