Ra, Mackey, and Tchaikovsky
Electrifying Virtuosity
Renowned conductor Robert Spano leads the Curtis Symphony Orchestra in a remarkable program featuring two exhilarating world premieres and a late-Romantic era classic. The afternoon opens with a newly commissioned work by James Ra. Praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer as “a composer to watch,” Mr. Ra’s compositions have been described as “coursing with adrenaline-pumping energy” (Star Ledger). Te Deum takes inspiration from one of his mother’s favorite hymns, and is “an ode to the innocence, simplicity, and sincerity of a time lost.”
The program continues with the world premiere of GRAMMY Award-winning Curtis composition faculty member Steven Mackey’s Aluminum Flowers, a concerto for solo electric guitar and orchestra. This eagerly anticipated new work features the jaw-dropping virtuosity of polymath guitarist and acclaimed Curtis alumna JIJI, praised by the Washington Post as “one of the 21 composers/performers who sound like tomorrow.” Aluminum Flowers traces the history of the guitar from the 600-year-old Spanish vihuela to contemporary pop, rock, blues, and jazz electric styles. The afternoon concludes with Tchaikovsky’s impassioned, intensely personal Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 (“Pathétique”)
This concert runs approximately 2 hours, including one intermission.
Program
JAMES RA (’04) |
Te Deum
(world premiere) |
---|---|
STEVEN MACKEY |
Aluminum Flowers, for solo electric guitar and orchestra
(world premiere) |
TCHAIKOVSKY | Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 (“Pathétique”) |