Maestro Kevin Rhodes
by Mark G. Auerbach
Classical blockbusters, works by women composers, pieces by local composers, and other innovations make The Springfield Symphony Orchestra’s 75th Anniversary Season, announced today by Maestro Kevin Rhodes, one of its most exciting and eclectic season in years.
“In planning our 75th Anniversary Season, I wanted to bring back the most popular works we’ve done over the years. These beloved works will be juxtaposed against a carefully selected group of beautiful shorter pieces, mostly from the 21st century which we have never played. Mixing the best of the past with the best of today is what we do at the SSO!” said Rhodes, who added that some of the music performed at the SSO debut concert on March 5, 1944, will be included this season.
Yevgeny Kutik. Photo by Corey Hayes
Apart from the Classical Concert Series, and in addition to the annual holiday concert, the SSO will debut two additional concerts as a part of a new Maestro-created Pops Series. One concert showcases music from the movies, while the other puts Broadway standards center stage.
“I love doing these pops shows in which I play the role of Emcee and host, taking the audience through the program with fun facts and details about great music,” said Rhodes, “I’ve made no secret of the fact that it was great orchestral movie scores which made me fall in love with the sound of the orchestra.”
Claire Huangci
On Broadway with Maestro Rhodes will feature an all-star cast of guest Broadway singers and will celebrate the diverse classical music of Broadway theater. Starting with a special salute to The Phantom of the Opera, Maestro Rhodes will reprise his crowd-pleasing performance, playing and conducting Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Also, on the program will be other treasured hits from classic Broadway shows like A Chorus Line, Cabaret, and, Guys and Dolls.
Movie Night with Maestro Rhodes is the second concert in the SSO’s new Pops Series. Given the overwhelming audience reaction to the Sci-Fi Spectacular and John Williams concerts, Maestro Rhodes has decided to take the audience back to the movies with select music from classic and contemporary films.
The season opens on September 22, with a program including music by Bernstein, Gershwin, and Copland, plus the SSO premiere of Adam Schoenberg’s Go!. Schoenberg, a highly regarded up-and-coming classical music and film composer, grew up in WMass and graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon School. He scored the movie Graceland, co-written with his father, Steven Schoenberg, which premiered at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival and received its nationwide theatrical release in 2013.
Adam Schoenberg. Photo by Elisa Ferrari
Blockbusters abound on the upcoming SSO season, from Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, to be performed on October 20, to Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, to be performed February 2. The SSO and Chorus perform Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Resurrection on April 27. The 75th Season Finale features Dvorak’s New World Symphony on May 18.
Maestro Rhodes has chosen to showcase works by woman composers Amy Beach, Joan Tower, Jennifer Higdon, an Libby Larsen on various programs. Contemporarty composer John Harbison’s Remembering Gatsby: Foxtrot for Orchestra and SSO’s Salvatore Macchia’s Overtura Rocambolesca will also be performed.
Several familiar faces return as guest soloists this season, including violinst Rachel Barton Pine, who was a frequent performer with the late Musicorda Summer Music Festival at Mount Holyoke College; pianist Claire Huangci, and violinist Yevgeny Kutik.
For details on The Springfield Symphony Orchestra: 413-733-2291 or www.springfieldsymphony.org.
Mark G. Auerbach studied theatre at American University and the Yale School of Drama. He’s worked for arts organizations and reported on theatre for newspapers and radio. Mark produces and hosts ArtsBeat Radio for 89.5fm/WSKB.
