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Cynthia Katsarelis leads remaining live performance with guitarist Nicolò Spera as soloist
By Peter Alexander April 2 at 10 a.m.
Boulder can have one much less orchestra after this weekend.
The Colorado Professional Musica Chamber Orchestra will play their final live performance Saturday (7:30 p.m. April 6; particulars under), after 17 years of steadfast management from conductor and inventive director Cynthia Katsarelis. Katsarelis lately moved from Colorado to South Bend, Ind., the place she is on the college of Sacred Music at Notre Dame College.
With Katsarelis, Professional Musica’s philosophy has been to to introduce composers from under-represented teams whereas that includes native soloists. Consistent with this method, the ultimate program will current two works by girls—Starburst by dwelling composer Jessie Montgomery to open the live performance, and the Symphony No. 3 by Nineteenth-century French composer Louise Farrenc—and a soloist from the CU school, guitarist Nicolò Spera enjoying the Fantasía para un gentilhombre (Fantasy for a gentleman) by Joaquin Rodrigo.
Montgomery’s Starburst is a brief however colourful piece for strings composed in 2012 that has change into a well-liked live performance opener. The composer simply received a Grammy for her Rounds for piano and orchestra, in a recording by pianist Awadagin Pratt and the ensemble A Far Cry. Pratt will carry out Rounds on the Colorado Music Competition this summer time (July 25 and 26 at Chautauqua Auditorium).
“It’s change into a canonic piece, and it’s a very fabulous opener,” Katsarelis says of Starburst. Professional Musica performed it as soon as earlier than, however “it’s good to repeat repertoire someday,” she says, “particularly if it’s proper for this system and to focus on the Grammy win.”
Rodrigo wrote his Fantasía para un gentilhombre in 1954 for the celebrated guitarist Andres Segovia, who gave the premiere in 1958. It has 4 actions primarily based on dances written for guitar by the Seventeenth-century Spanish composer Gaspar Sanz.
It has change into probably the greatest recognized concertos for classical guitar. Katsarelis and Spera chosen it for this live performance, partly as a result of she feels that it matches nicely with Ferrenc’s symphony. “If you’re working with a soloist, you wish to give them the selection after which see whether or not it matches what you’re already pondering,” she explains.
“It really works very well with Ferrenc as a result of it’s a neo-classical work constructed on Seventeenth-century items,” Katsarelis says. “Ferrenc was a particularly nicely versed composer, and one other a part of her was concerned in reviving early music for keyboard. Her husband was a writer, and collectively they did like 15 volumes of treasures for the keyboard, all stuff that wasn’t being performed on the time.”
Ferrenc studied each piano and composition in Paris. A profitable live performance pianist, she was appointed professor of piano on the Paris Conservatory in 1852, the one lady to carry that rank within the Nineteenth century. Often called a superb instructor, she had many college students who had distinguished careers.
As a composer, she caught to the standard kinds for the symphony, of which she wrote three, and different genres. “She had trendy sensibilities, like Mendelssohn and Schumann,” Katsarelis says, however “she doesn’t go the way in which of program music. Regardless that she doesn’t write applications, her themes appear to be sort of epic.”
The symphony is in 4 actions, following the usual sample of the Nineteenth century: A gap quick motion in sonata kind, adopted by a gradual motion, a scherzo and a finale.
“The primary motion has two introductions, a gradual one which introduces melodic and harmonic concepts, after which a quick introduction whose principal position is to construct up the power to the exposition,” Katsarelis says. “The primary theme has the texture of a country dance, and the second main theme is sort of a lyrical waltz.
Glenn Ross.
“The second motion is what you count on, a gradual motion (with) lengthy attractive melodies. The third motion is a scherzo, quick and sort of breathless. Whereas it’s shifting it’s going by actually distant keys, however that offers it the sheen of shade, after which the finale has hovering melodies.”
Now settled in South Bend, Katsarelis has already began to construct bridges with the native musical group. She has already carried out the South Bend Symphony in a live performance with soloists from Notre Dame, and she or he has plans to proceed that collaboration. Trying forward, “we’ve got aspirations for some fairly massive stuff,” she says of her work the the orchestra. “We agreed that we had related aspirations, and everyone needs extra, in order that’s actually nice.”
Within the meantime, Saturday’s live performance shall be a farewell for Boulder for Katsarelis and the Professional Musica. “The plan was to have a very nice season and to finish with a bang and a celebration, and to be actually pleased with the whole lot we achieved,” Katsarelis says. “I’ll miss the musicians within the orchestra. I’ll miss the patrons and the donors, and the entire vibe of discovery that we at all times had.
“My coronary heart is stuffed with gratitude. I would like it to be a contented farewell, with completely happy reminiscences of all that we achieved.”
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“Nicolò!”
Professional Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra, Cynthia Katsarelis, conductor
With Nicolò Spera, guitar
- Jessie Montgomery: StarburstJoaquin
- Rodrigo: Fantasía para un gentilhombre (Fantasy for a gentleman)
- Louise Farrenc: Symphony No. 3 in G Minor
7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 6
Mountain View Methodist Church, 355 Ponca Place, Boulder
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