Tomorrow, our talented youth musicians from Overture and Allegretto will be playing some incredible pieces from a wide range of composers, both living and dead. Let’s take a look at what the next generation of Lancaster’s musicians are working on:
Starting at 2pm at the Gardner Theatre, NextGen’s Overture, a challenging and developmental full symphonic orchestra made up of students grades 8-12, will perform Jacques Offenbach’s Overture to the satirical and comedic “opéra bouffon,” Orpheus and the Underworld, Soon Hee Newbold’s Gravitas, Richard Meyer’s Century One Tusonic, and Carl Strommen’s Prairesong. Here, Offenbach’s 19th century style is contrasted by three contemporary composers, all well known for their orchestral compositions frequently performed in educational settings.
Soon Hee Newbold, born in South Korea but raised in Frederick, Maryland is a renowned and prolific composer. Her compositions can be heard around the world in film, orchestras, and other performing groups. In addition to her beloved composition work, she has also enjoyed success in the film industry as an actress, and she frequently travels the world as a guest composer, conductor, clinician, and keynote speaker. Gravitas is a powerful work that celebrates strength, beauty, and the journey that shapes us.
Richard Meyer, from his bio, “is a highly sought after music educator and maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor and clinician. For 35 years he taught string students at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels in the public schools. … In 2009, Mr. Meyer implemented the GivingBach program at his school which has garnered national attention for its innovative ways of using interactive concerts to bring music into the lives of special needs and inner-city school students throughout Southern California.” His piece Century One Tusonic is described as being “Tuneful, energetic, and emotional…” presenting “... a sonic kaleidoscope of playing styles that will challenge every section of the advanced string orchestra. The unexpected harmonies and exotic rhythms give this selection a cinematic sound.”
Carl Strommen is known for his works written for concert band, and string orchestra, and also for his arrangements of popular music for those ensembles. He describes his compositional influences as “British windband writers and ‘Americana’ – Copeland and Ives – just wonderful material for the player and the listener.” Stromman is a prolific American composer, also working as an adjunct professor of orchestration/arranging and composition at LIU Post in Long Island, NY. Prairiesong is a lively piece through which Copeland’s influences can definitely be observed, relaying the majesty and beauty of America's heartland.
The Overture ensemble is conducted by Scott Kaliszak and Anthony Scheuerman.
At 5:30, Allegretto, Nextgen's premiere grade 8-12 chamber ensemble directed by Dr. Zachary Levi and Jennifer Petry, takes the stage to present three pre-21st century gems. Allegretto will perform Gioachino Rossini’s Overture from La Gazza Ladra, Emmanuel Chabrier’s Suite Pastorale, and Sergei Prokofiev’s Suite from Lt. Kije.
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868), famous for his operas, including "The Barber of Seville" and "William Tell," was a prolific composer with a gift for melody and a talent for comic opera. “La Gazza Ladra” (1817) or “The Thieving Magpie” is a “melodramma” or “opera semiseria” known best for its overture, which utilizes creative percussion to evoke the image of the opera's main subject: a devilishly clever, thieving magpie. This genre of opera is related to the opera buffa (or as noted above in the French iteration “opéra bouffon”) as it contains elements of comedy but also of pathos, sometimes (this time included) with a pastoral setting.
Emmanuel Chambrier (1841-1894), was a French composer known for his colorful and lively orchestral works, such as "España." His music is characterized by its vibrant rhythms and harmonic originality. Suite Pastorale is made up of four orchestrated pieces originally composed for piano as part of Chambrier’s Pièces pittoresques (Picturesque pieces). Between 1881 (when Pièces pittoresques premiered) and 1888 Chabrier orchestrated Idylle (Idyll), Danse villageoise (Village Dance), Sous-bois (Under the trees) and Scherzo-valse to form the Suite pastorale. These four pieces have astonished composers such as Poulenc and Ravel, who spoke very highly specifically of Idylle and Sous-bois. Poulenc wrote that when he heard Idylle for the first time in February 1914 he was overwhelmed: "un univers harmonique s'ouvrait soudain devant moi et ma musique n'a jamais oublie ce premier baiser d'amour." (Loosely: “a harmonic universe suddenly opened up before me and my music has never forgotten this first kiss of love.”)
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953), regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century, was known for his unique and distinctive musical voice. His most known works include “Peter and the Wolf” and “Romeo and Juliet,” as well as his numerous symphonies and piano concertos. Lieutenant Kijé (1933-34) was originally written to accompany a film of the same name produced by the Belgoskino film studios in Leningrad. It was Prokofiev's first attempt at film music, and his first commission. The Suite, distilled from the film’s 15 minutes of sparse musical material, was no easy task for Prokofiev. According to the composer’s own account, producing the suite was "a devilish job", which, he said, "gave me much more trouble than the music for the film itself, since I had to find the proper form, re-orchestrate the whole thing, polish it up and even combine some of the themes.” He wanted the suite to appeal to Soviet audiences hearing concert music for the first time. "Above all, it must be melodious; moreover the melody must be simple and comprehensible without being repetitive or trivial ... The simplicity should not be an old-fashioned simplicity but a new simplicity.”
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