Suburban Symphony Orchestra ends its season with a concert showcasing American works by Samuel Barber and William Grant Still, both of whom began composing in the 1930s, and Jeffrey Quick, whose Symphony in D gets its world premiere with this SSO performance. The concert is free and takes place at 3:30PM in Beachwood HS Auditorium (25100 Fairmount Blvd., Beachwood).
SSO’s co-principal trumpet and holder of the symphony’s David Wakser Chair, Eric Dina, conducts William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony. Still has several “firsts” associated with his name. He was the first African-American classical composer to have a symphony of his own performed by a leading orchestra (Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, 1931). He was the first African-American to conduct a major orchestra (Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, 1936). He was also the first African-American to have an opera performed by a major opera company (New York City Opera, 1949).
Two works by Samuel Barber are on the program: the composer’s first work for full orchestra, Overture to “A School for Scandal”, which lasts about eight minutes, and the richly textured Knoxville-Summer of 1915, with text taken from James Agee’s 1938 short story Knoxville. Cleveland soprano Marian Vogel sings the parts of the child/adult narrator in this dreamlike depiction of an evening in the American South. Ms. Vogel made her Carnegie Hall debut in April 2006 singing the soprano solos in Mozart’s Requiem and John Rutter’s Magnificat under the baton of Rutter.
Rounding out the program is Contemporary Cleveland composer Jeffrey Quick’s Symphony in D. Quick’s composing habit began at the age of eleven, and he went public with his own works played for his piano recitals. Self-described as a “suburban neoclassicist,” his works are published by Hoyt Editions and the American Recorder Society. He prefers simple architectural forms (sonata, rondo, etc.) and tertian harmonies. His music is woven from all of his musical experiences, from Gregorian chant to Polish polkas. A performer as well, this president of the Cleveland Composers Guild and assistant music librarian at Case Western Reserve University plays primarily on Renaissance wind instruments, particularly shawm and sackbut.
| Suburban Symphony Orchestra's "An American Showcase" concert posted on Thursday April 17, 2008 |
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