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Event
Young People's Symphony Orchestra Fall Concert 2015
Berkeley's Young People's Symphony Orchestra (YPSO) kicks off its 79th season with the Fall Concert that will feature guest cellist Amos Yang of the San Francisco Symphony, music director/conductor David Ramadanoff, and 90 young musicians in a program of Cavaterra's Marine Safari and Whale Watch, Saint-Saëns' Cello Concerto No. 1, and Elgar's Enigma Variations.
The concert will open with Jeremy Cavaterra's "Marine Safari and Whale Watch," the final movement from his Monterey Suite, a work that Ramadanoff commissioned after hearing "a gorgeous song cycle" that Cavaterra had composed for chamber ensemble and soprano. Ramadanoff conducted the world premiere of Monterey Suite with the Master Sinfonia Chamber Orchestra in 2014. "I thought this would be a great piece to open the concert with and good for the kids to play a new work of a living composer," says Ramadanoff.
Cavaterra says Monterey Suite is a tone-picture set inspired by the scenery and history of the Monterey peninsula. The orchestra will play the final movement, Marine Safari and Whale Watch, the first half of which is a vivace scherzo that moves along at a buoyant clip.
Amos Yang has been Assistant Principal cellist with the San Francisco Symphony since 2006. He last appeared with YPSO in February 2013 when he played the Brahms Double Concerto with fellow San Francisco Symphony violinist Florin Parvelescu. Yang holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the Juilliard School and was a member of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra from 1981-86. "Playing with YPSO in 2013 was a wonderful experience. The orchestra was very responsive and David Ramadanoff pulled a great sound out of the orchestra. It reminded me of my time with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra," says Yang.
Yang first played the Saint-Saens Concerto at age 12 and hasn't played it since then. "It's wonderful going back to it as it brings back memories I'd forgotten. The concerto is full of grace and charm, with an innocence that is still vibrant and purposeful," he says.
The final and largest work on the program will be Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations from 1899, a piece that changed his life and put British composers on the map. Begun on a whim while at the piano on an October's evening in 1898 after a long day of teaching, Elgar's improvisations at the piano intrigued his wife, Alice Elgar. He played variations on his main theme in the styles of his musician friends.
"Commenced in a spirit of humour and continued in deep seriousness," is how Elgar later described the genesis of his life-changing composition. He was in his forties and still had to eek out a living with long hours of teaching and tedious work for his publisher. When he finished the Variations, Elgar sent the score to the renowned German conductor Hans Richter, who agreed to introduce the work in London.
The performances will mark Ramadanoff's first time conducting the complete Enigma Variations with YPSO. "It's been an exciting piece for me to work on," he says. Besides the Fall Concert, the Elgar will also be a work that Ramadanoff will likely program at least some of on YPSO's June 2016 tour to the United Kingdom where it will perform in London and in Coventry.
Celebrating his 27th season as Music Director/Conductor, David Ramadanoff conducts 90 YPSO young musicians who range in age from 12 to 18, represent 38 schools, and hail from 32 Bay Area cities in eight counties.
Founded in Berkeley in 1936, YPSO is the oldest youth orchestra in California and the second oldest in the nation. The 2015-16 season is the 79th season since violinist and conductor Jessica Marcelli founded YSPO at the suggestion of Clarabelle Bell, an amateur harpist and Berkeley resident, who got the idea after hearing a youth orchestra on a trip to Portland, Oregon.
Program:
Cavaterra - "Marine Safari and Whale Watch" from Monterey Suite
Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Amos Yang, guest soloist
Elgar - Enigma Variations,
Elizabeth Forsyth, guest organist, First Congregational
Church of Berkeley
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LocationFirst Congregational Church of Berkeley (View)
2345 Channing Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 5 |
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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