Symphony to Combine Art, Music in All-Ages Concert

The San Bernardino Symphony is offering a full evening of both art and music on April 11 at the historic California Theatre with "Beethoven, Brahms, and Bartholdy." “We wanted to present a concert that honored three much loved classical composers in a way that simultaneously appeals to a wide cross-section of our community,” said Symphony Conductor and Artistic Director Frank Fetta. “Our ongoing goal is to create a concert experience that engages diverse audiences in new and exciting ways, and I think audiences will be delighted with this event.” The evening will begin one hour earlier than usual with a special concert by Symphonie Jeunesse under the baton of conductor and founder Michelle Tacchia. These local youth strings players will perform two pieces by Telemann: the Concerto in G Major for Two Violas featuring Cajon High School seniors Alejandra Davila and Miranda Stuart, and the Viola Concerto in G Major, featuring 17-year-old Cajon High School senior and the only original founding Symphonie Jeunesse member, Andrew Polley, along with several other selections. Early arrivals will also be able to peruse an art exhibition by local high school seniors who created original art works based upon their interpretations of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s Symphony No. 3, the Scottish Symphony. The young artists will be on hand to discuss their process and future artistic goals. Photographs of these original pieces will be projected above the Orchestra as they play the Scottish Symphony in the full Symphony concert which begins at 7:30 p.m. “Our goal is to create a multi-media concert experience for the audience to both see and hear this evocative composition,” said Symphony Executive Director Dr. Anne Viricel. “Our sincere hope is that those who are already familiar with the piece will become aware of its nuances it in a new way as they see the interpretations of the various young artists. And for those who are new to the piece – or to orchestral music – we hope this multi-media offering will inspire them to explore a new entertainment option not just at this concert, but well into the future.” This concept attracted the eye of National Endowment for the Arts grantors, who awarded the project a $10,000 Challenge America grant earlier this year. In fact, the San Bernardino Symphony was the only California arts organization to receive this grant. “We were thrilled that our efforts to reach the broader community were recognized by such a prestigious organization,” said Viricel. The Symphony concert will open with Beethoven’s Egmont Overture. Written in a similar style to his Fifth Symphony, the subject of the music is the life and heroism of the Count of Egmont, a 16th-century Dutch nobleman who was condemned to death for having taken a stand against oppression during the Napoleonic Wars. This stirring overture later became the unofficial anthem of the 1956 Hungarian revolution. Following will be the Scottish Symphony, which Mendelssohn-Bartholdy wrote based upon his travels in Scotland. It was at the ruins of a chapel in Edinburgh that the then 20-year-old composer formed the inspiration for this composition. However, it took him over 10 years to complete it. Written in four movements, the Scottish Symphony is a raw, emotional piece consisting of a grand first movement, a joyous and fairly brief second movement, a slow movement maintaining an apparent struggle between love and fate, and a finale that takes its components from Scottish folk dance. “We are excited to see what the young artists will take away from the piece as they seek to find deeper meaning in a composition written even before their grandparents were born. At the same time, though, we know the scope of this piece will resonate with them because beautiful music is surely as timeless as the feelings of curiosity and wonder Mendelssohn must have experienced rambling through the craggy Scottish countryside,” said Maestro Fetta. Then following an intermission, two of the most beloved of San Bernardino musicians – Concert Master Todor Pelev and Principal Cellist Ana Maria Maldonado - will team up to play Brahms’ Concerto for Violin and Violincello. Written in 1887, this three-movement piece was Brahms’ final work for orchestra and considered as a gesture of reconciliation toward a lost friend. Initially, it was criticized for requiring two brilliant and equally-matched soloists; the selection of Pelev and Maldonado, however, aptly fills that requirement. “It is an honor to perform the Brahms Double Concerto with my friend and colleague, Todor Pelev,” said Maldonado. “This is one of the great concertos of the classical repertoire. And to have an opportunity to perform it with the best symphony in the area is a once in a lifetime experience!” The California Theatre is located at 562 W. 4th Street, San Bernardino. Tickets are available by calling 909-381-5388 or visiting the Symphony box office at 198 N. Arrowhead Ave., San Bernardino. General admission tickets are also securely available on line at www.sanbernardinosymphony.org, and with limited availability at the theater box office the evening of each event. (Students: $11; General: $20, $35, $45, $55.)