#130: Waves

Concert first performed on April 30, 2022.

Saturday, November 13, 2021 – 7:30pm

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Petite Suite de Concert
  • Edward Elgar: Serenade for Strings
  • Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”

Luminous and lyrical melodies flow one upon another in the works of three turn of the century contemporaries. Circling around these melodies are the lush colors of Elgar’s serenade, the unfettered playfulness of Coleridge-Taylor’s suite, and the drama of Dvořák’s monumental symphony “From the New World.”

Conducted by Brian Dowdy

Works Performed

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Petite Suite de Concert
  • Edward Elgar, Serenade for Strings
  • Antonín Dvořák, Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”

Dates Performed

  • November 13, 2021

#129 Transformations

Concert first performed on June 19, 2021.

Saturday, June 19 at 7:00 pm

  • William Grant Still (arr. Lesnick): “I Ride an Old Paint” from Miniatures
  • Paul Bonneau: Caprice en Forme de Valse
    • Brian Hadley, Bassoon
  • Amy Beach: Pastorale for Wind Quintet
  • Missy Mazzoli: Kinski Paganini
    • Catherine Himmerich, Violin
  • Jonathan Russell: In the Fir Trees: Fireflies
  • Sahba Aminikia: House of Circus

Our season finale is the “second spring” of the 2020-21 season. The music of William Grant Still, Amy Beach, Jonathan Russell and others calls us back to nature. With new music by Iranian-American composer Sahba Aminikia, the world premier of House of Circus features the “Circus Heroes” of the Sirkhane Social Circus School and explores the transformational power of play.

Download the program for ‘Transformations’

Performers

Conductor
Brian Dowdy

Flute
Danielle Boor
Steve Cronk

Oboe
Diane Benjamin

Clarinet
Misen Luu

Bassoon
Brian Hadley
French Horn
Teresa Manzella
Tim Dwight

Trumpet
Buffy Larson
Gordon Meyers

Trombone
Brian McCullough

Tuba
Dean Shea
Violin
Catherine Himmerich
Joe Dolson
Isabel Arenivar
Rebecca Eilers

Viola
Lucas Moen
Blake Scheib

Cello
Kristin Snow
Marinos Glitsos

Bass
Jason Anderson

Percussion
Sarah Johnson

Conducted by Brian Dowdy

Works Performed

  • William Grant Still (arr. Lesnick), I Ride an Old Paint with soloist )
  • Paul Bonneau, Caprice en Forme de Valse with soloist )
  • Amy Beach, Pastorale for Wind Quintet with soloist )
  • Missy Mazzoli, Kinski Paganini with soloist )
  • Jonathan Russell, In the Fir Trees: Fireflies with soloist )
  • Sahba Aminikia, House of Circus with soloist )

Dates Performed

  • June 19, 2021

#128 Bartok in the Bronx

Concert first performed on May 15, 2021.

Saturday, May 15 at 7:00 pm

  • Violet Archer: Three Duets
  • Bela Bartók: Selections from 44 Duos for Two Violins

Join Concertmaster Catherine Himmerich and Associate Concertmaster Joe Dolson in the telling of a musical meeting between Violet Archer and her teacher, Béla Bartók.

Conducted by Brian Dowdy

Works Performed

  • Violet Archer, Three Duets
  • Bela Bartok, Selections from 44 Duos for Two Violins

Dates Performed

  • May 15, 2021

#127 Invocations

Concert first performed on April 10, 2021.

Saturday, April 10 at 7:00 pm

As winter reaches for spring, a century of music invokes the physicality of human experience – of sleeping and waking, of waiting and grief, of dancing and song.

Program

Anthony R. Green: Catto’s Courage

MPO Strings

William Grant Still: Invocation and Dance

Diane Benjamin, oboe & Kenneth Kusiak, piano

Lillian Fuchs: Selections from Twelve Caprices for Viola

Jon Poupore, viola

  • IV. Agitato
  • VII. Giocoso
  • XI. Fuga. Risoluto

Vaughan Williams: Selections from Along the Fields 

Janna Kysilko, soprano & Joe Dolson, violin

  • We’ll to the Woods No More
  • In the Morning
  • Fancy’s Knell
  • With Rue My Heart Is Laden

Ryan Brown: The Light By Which She May Have Ascended

Marinos Glitsos, Owen Davis, Joe Dillon, and Kristin Snow, cello

Jean Sibelius: Andante Festivo

MPO Strings

Conducted by Brian Dowdy

Works Performed

  • Anthony R. Green, Catto’s Courage
  • William Grant Still, Invocation and Dance
  • Lillian Fuchs, Selections from Twelve Caprices for Viola
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams, Selections from Along the Fields
  • Ryan Brown, The Light By Which She May Have Ascended
  • Jean Sibelius, Andante Festivo

Dates Performed

  • April 10, 2021

#126 Winter Pop-up: Eric Ewazen

Concert first performed on February 27, 2021.

Saturday, February 27 at 7:00 pm

  • Eric Ewazen: Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano

Eric Ewazen’s homage to Brahms moves through mystery, play, melancholy, song and celebration in the myriad colors of the French horn, violin and piano.

Conducted by Brian Dowdy

Works Performed

  • Eric Ewazen, Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano

Dates Performed

  • February 27, 2021

#125 Variations

Concert first performed on December 19, 2020.

Saturday, December 19 at 7:00 pm

Download the concert program or participate in live chat during the premiere!

From Libby Larsen’s Jazz Variations to Villa-Lobos’ Chôros No. 2, spontaneity and rhythmic vitality energize this program of 20th and 21st-century voices.

  • Dušan Bogdanović – Jazz Sonata: I
    • Brian Dowdy, guitar
  • Heitor Villa-Lobos – Chôros No. 2 for Flute and Clarinet
    • Steve Cronk, flute
    • Paul Schulz III, clarinet
  • Bach – Partita No. 2 in D Minor – Sarabande
    • Derek Waller, violin
  • Libby Larsen – Jazz Variations for Solo Bassoon
    • Brian Hadley, bassoon
  • Anthony R. Green – Chorale for Phillis, Harriet, and Mum Bett
    • Solo Quartet:
      • Catherine Himmerich, violin 1
      • Joe Dolson, violin 2
      • Lucas Moen, viola
      • Kristin Snow, cello
    • Chamber Orchestra:
      • Violins:
        • Catherine Himmerich
        • Joe Dolson
        • Evan Page
        • Rebecca Eilers
        • Zac Charley
        • Ben Hanchett
        • Dan Beech
        • Susan Schmid
        • Maura Goodin
        • Derek Waller
        • Isabel Arenivar
        • David Otero
        • Joe Burling
      • Violas
        • Kirsten Erickson
        • Lucas Moen
        • Tom McKinney
        • Blake Sheib
        • Dan Sadoff
        • Jon Poupore
      • Cellos
        • Kristin Snow
        • Laura Bell
        • Marinos Glitsos
        • Luke Pickman
      • Basses
        • Jason Anderson
        • Alyssa Banker
  • Eugène Ysaÿe – Sonata No. 3 in D minor (Ballade)
    • Catherine Himmerich, violin
  • Claude Bolling – Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio
    • Luke Pickman, flute
    • Small Hand Piano, piano
    • Jack Amblin, drum kit

Conducted by Brian Dowdy

Works Performed

  • Dušan Bogdanović, Jazz Sonata: 1
  • Heitor Villa Lobos, Choros No. 2
  • Johann Sebastian Bach, Partita No. 2 in d minor, Sarabande
  • Libby Larsen, Jazz Variations for solo bassoon
  • Anthony R. Green, Chorale for Phillis, Harriet, and Mum Bett

Dates Performed

  • December 19, 2020

#124 Pop-up: Beginnings

Concert first performed on November 21, 2020.

Saturday, November 21st at 7:00pm

  • Astor Piazzolla: “Café” 1930 from Histoire du Tango
  • Heitor Villa-Lobos: Prelude No. 1 in E Minor “Lyrical Melody: Homage to the Brazilian Country Dweller

Meet composer Sahba Aminikia, whose House of Circus we will premier in May, and enjoy the music of Godwin Sadoh and Astor Piazzola, with a special guest performance by aerialist Jolie Meshbesher. This season opening pop-up concert is your chance to learn about the exciting musical and visual experiences we’ll bring you throughout the 2020-21 season.

Conducted by Brian Dowdy

Works Performed

  • Astor Piazzolla, “Cafe” from Histoire du Tango
  • Heitor Villa-Lobos, Prelude no 1 in e minor

Dates Performed

  • November 21, 2020

#123 “Soundscapes” (cancelled due to Covid-19)

Concert first performed on May 16, 2020.

Sibelius’ Karelia Overture celebrates the composer’s homeland, and MPO celebrates Minnesota’s Mina Kaiser in her Tombeaux & Rainbow. Persichetti’s Pastoral for Wind Quintet and Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia journey through landscapes real and imagined, and William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 5 “The Western Hemisphere”.

Conducted by Brian Dowdy

Works Performed

  • Jean Sibelius, Karelia Overture
  • Vincent Persichetti, Pastoral, Op. 21 for Woodwind Quintet
  • Mina Kaiser, Tombeaux & Rainbow with soloists Shelly Gruskin, recorder and Johanna Gruskin, flute
  • Alexander Borodin, In the Steppes of Central Asia
  • William Grant Still, Symphony No. 5 “The Western Hemisphere”

Dates Performed

  • May 16, 2020

#122 “Crossings” (Cancelled due to Covid-19)

Concert first performed on March 14, 2020.

Shimmering colors and unforgettable melodies flow from three works that challenged contemporary notions of the “traditional” and the “new.” Playfulness and groove drive Libby Larsen’s Overture for the End of a Century, juxtaposing the traditional sounds of 20th century orchestral music with orchestral invocations of mixing boards, computer screens and synthesizers.

The pastorale sounds of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” interweave with melodies inspired by Native American music and the rhythmic idioms of from Czech music. Finally our incomparable guest artists, Korey Konkol and Stephanie Arado, captivate us with melodic virtuosity in Bruch’s Double Concerto in E Minor.

Conducted by Brian Dowdy

Works Performed

  • Libby Larsen, Overture for the End of a Century
  • Max Bruch, Double Concerto in E Minor, Op. 88 with soloist Stephanie Arado, violin and Korey Konkol, viola
  • Antonin Dvořák, Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, “From the New World”

Dates Performed

  • March 14, 2020

#121 “Currents”

Concert first performed on November 9, 2019.

Symphonic hymns and airs resound with nature imagery in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Symphonic Variations on an African Air, Dvořák’s In Nature’s Realm, and Sibelius’ Finlandia. MPO and One Voice Mixed Chorus celebrate contemporary composers with local history in works by Dessa and Jocelyn Hagen, Mari Ésabel Valverde, and Lee Hoiby.

Conducted by Brian Dowdy

Works Performed

  • Antonin Dvořák, Nature’s Realm
  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Symphonic Variations on an African Air, Op. 63
  • Jean Sibelius, Finlandia
  • Mari Esabel Valverde, Cloths of Heaven with soloist One Voice Mixed Chorus
  • Dessa/Jocelyn Hagen, Controlled Burn with soloist One Voice Mixed Chorus
  • Lee Hoiby, Hymn to the New Age with soloist One Voice Mixed Chorus

Dates Performed

  • November 9, 2019