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The Livermore-Amador Symphony is set to present a selection of evocative musical pieces at its concert this weekend at the Bankhead Theater.
“Expressions of Youth” will see the orchestra players share a stage with the two winners of the annual LAS Competition for Young Musicians, the Cantabella Children’s Chorus and local Hindustani dancers — on top of their own performances of works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Johannes Brahms.
“This beloved work displays both Brahms’ skill and his sense of humor,” music director and conductor Lara Webber said of the piece her LAS is playing, “Academic Festival Overture”.
“When bestowed with an honorary college degree in England, he surprised his audience by celebrating and featuring the favorite drinking songs of the students rather than the traditions of the stuffy academic elite of the day,” Webber added. “The audience, full of students, of course, cheered upon hearing their tunes.”
The symphony is shining a spotlight on Coleridge-Taylor by showcasing his rarely performed “Symphonic Variations on an African Air” – with Webber lauding the late Black British composer from the turn of the 20th century as “a great prodigious talent” whose “work speaks directly to the heart and reaches the listener emotionally without any artifice or barrier”.
The concert on Saturday evening will open with a collaboration among LAS, the chorus and Hindustani dancers performing Indian-American composer Reena Esmail’s 2022 piece “Ram Tori Maya”. Webber said, “This work is a joyful opportunity to bring our community together through music that blends artistic and cultural style traditions that are part of our Tri-Valley.”
Featured performers will include youth competition winners Ariel Pawlik-Zwiebel on violin for Jean Sibelius’ “Violin Concerto” (1st Movement) and pianist Olivia Luan with Edvard Grieg’s “Piano Concerto in A Minor” (1st Movement).
Show time is 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 15) at the Bankhead in downtown Livermore. Webber will present an “Inside the Music” talk beforehand from 7-7:15 p.m., and the chorus will perform in the lobby during intermission. A complimentary reception with chocolate and Livermore Valley wines to pair will follow the Valentine’s Day weekend concert.
Learn more or purchase tickets at livermoreamadorsymphony.org; admission is free for children and young adults (under 22 years old).
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